A senior resident of QueenslandAustralian Ryan Bossley had trouble chewing hard food as his teeth rotted away a few years ago.He visited an ADA approved dentist and got a quote for dental implant costing $6000 to replace the missing teeth. But like many other Australians, he found the quote too pricey to pursue. He looked around for the other options available, and chose to fly to one of the South East Asian country to have his dental problem sorted. And on the return from the medical trip, he found himself saving $2000 per teeth against the quote offered. Ryan is one among the growing number of Aussies, who have their dental correction and treatment done in any one of the South-East Asian countries where Dental tourism is gaining ground.
If you can’t afford being treated by an Australian dentist, as is the case for many millions of Australians owing to the high price of even simple dental correction procedures and the waiting period for the treatment, they are getting it done for a fraction of the costs it takes in Australia.
Taking into account the disadvantaged people who require some help to gain access to dental care then there will be about 7 million people who will require assistance in accessing dental care. Some 24% of the Australian population, including many Indigenous communities, do not have access to this proven health measure. Moreover more than 49% of Australians delay or skip dental treatment for fear of price.
Dental tourism
“Dental tourism” is gaining mileage in Australia owing to the simple fact that more and more tourist service agents who are well aware of the drawbacks in the Australian dental treatment system are clubbing it up as a cheap medical tourism package favoring South East Asian countries, offering all-inclusive packages, including dental work, flights and accommodation.
It has become a trend s more and more people are choosing to fit treatment around pre-arranged holidays or business trips.Cost is a major factor in people’s decision to go abroad and, in many cases, they combine the trip with a holiday.Dental Implant Cost – Comparative Benefit
Dental implant costs in Australia range from $4500 – $7500 per tooth implant. Four dental implants cost anywhere between $20,000 to $27,000 – in comparison, a patient can get it done in Thailand or Malaysia or Singapore, for a fourth or fifth of the cost. A dental filling in Australia costs about $300-400 while in South East Asia or India it costs only $20-40 and a root canal will take $3000 and only $100-200 in Thailand, a denture costs about $1000 in Australia and $200 in Thailand. The popular procedures like crowns, cost$5000 in Thailand, dental implants are priced at $2600 and veneers priced at $350 per tooth while the same procedure in Australia can cost as much as $11,000, $5,000 and $800 respectively.
Going abroad, the main treatments they are after are the ones that are most expensive at home, including tooth whitening and procedures like veneers, crowns and implants.Australian dental tourists flying to nearby countries can expect to find the services on par with international standards while topping it with a 2 week holiday. Altogether the total cost of the holiday, accommodation , trips & dental treatment is cheaper than the price of the dental treatment alone in Australia.
Dental tourists travel chiefly to take advantage of lower prices. Reasons for lower prices are many: dentists outside the “developed world” are able to take advantage of much lower fixed costs, lower labor costs, less government intervention, lower education fees and expenses, and lower insurance costs.
Comparative Advantages
Taking up extensive dental procedures in Thailand or Malaysia, inspite of the travel expenses, can be significantly cheaper than the same procedures at home. Moreover, the bureaucratic red-tape that businesses in the developed world are prone to is eliminated in these third world countries and dentists are free to focus on their trade, dentistry. The customers looking to take up dental treatment abroad can find the pricing and qualifications of the dentists by looking through the websites or by contacting the dentists.
The whole travel and treatment itinerary can be setup via e-mail, in addition to references, testimonies from previous patients, payment options, and accommodations. Some companies even go the extra mile to include travel and accommodation in the prices they quote, while with others you make your own arrangements.Some dental procedures require prolonged recovery periods and you might have to fix your itinerary accordingly while most of the procedures would let you fly home immediately.
Making queries in advance about the after-care, mostly at no extra cost would get you the complete picture on the treatment procedure and the service. Dental treatment, might in most cases, lead to further treatment. So you may have to think about travelling abroad again – perhaps in a few months, or even, in some extreme cases, for a few weeks in a row.
