Dental Implant Myths: It’s Wise to Travel Abroad for Surgery
Dental Implant Myths: It’s Wise to Travel Abroad for Surgery
Dental implants have become the standard of care for the replacement of missing teeth in recent years, as advances in materials, techniques and technology have made implant-based treatment available to a wider variety of dental patients. As use of dental implants has risen, so too has misinformation about the process. Perhaps the most infamous and potentially harmful of dental implant myths prevalent today is that it’s wise to travel abroad for dental implant surgery. While prices can be much lower abroad, dental tourism has taught many patients that sayings like “you get what you pay for” are rooted in solid, old-fashioned common sense.
Dental Implant Myths: Dental Tourists Get the Same Quality Half the Price
Advertisements for cheap dental implants in foreign locales abound, offering dental restorations at rock bottom prices. To the average dental patient who is facing a hefty investment in their oral health, they can seem quite appealing. However, many of these ads are marketing serious medical care – surgery – as if it were as simple and inconsequential as shopping for the latest smart phone.
While products like smart phones may be exactly the same no matter where you buy them or what you pay, dental implant surgery and dental restorations are not. The dental implant restoration process is unique for every patient, with many variables involved – and many of those variables, unfortunately, offer cut-rate providers the opportunity to slash costs at the expense of quality.
For instance, upon seeing their regular dentist, many dental tourists have found that work provided abroad was done with low-grade materials, such as generic implants or flimsy aluminum crowns. Unfortunately, such patients generally have little recourse in these situations but to pay for the work to be done again at home, since the original dental practitioner isn’t subject to U.S. regulations.
Quality of care is another area in which dental tourist are often disappointed, and one that can have serious affects on the results of implant restoration and future dental health. Follow-up care or treatment of complications can be difficult, with patients left to pay for another trip abroad or find a dentist at home who is willing to take responsibility for work done by foreign practitioners. Dentists who do treat complications in dental tourists often find it difficult or impossible to obtain detailed records of that previous care, an issue that makes treatment more difficult and risky.
Other risks include loose or non-existent sanitation regulations in many countries, poor communication due to language barriers, rushed or non-existent treatment planning and questionable credentials and training in practitioners, among many others. The bottom line is that, despite popular dental implant myths to the contrary bargain hunting is not a good idea with dental care.
Dental implants are a big investment, so it makes sense to choose a provider close to home with a proven track record to ensure your dental restoration is done right the first time. Getting it wrong can cost you much more dearly than a good U.S. dental professional would, and that price you pay may involve more than just money if your health and appearance are compromised by poor-quality work or unnecessary complications.