So today we’re gonna talk about vacation dentistry. I have a lot of patients that say, Hey, I could save some money and at the same time, get a vacation, go somewhere beautiful like Costa Rica, Mexico, Thailand or Turkey. They always ask me, “Why shouldn’t I go there and save some money and get a vacation at the same time?”
The Allure and the Risks
So my answer to them is kind of a complex answer because on the surface, yes, you absolutely can save money on getting a dental procedure done in a foreign country. And to be honest, there are plenty of great dentists and providers in those countries. I have plenty of colleagues from Mexico, from Costa Rica, from Turkey, from Thailand, uh, from the uk, from anywhere in Europe to do amazing dental work. So it’s not that you’re going, you’re guaranteeing you’re not gonna get quality work. The concern is a lot of that tourism dentistry or vacation dentistry, uh, is advertised and is provided by some of the lesser quality dental providers, and that’s how they’re able to save you so much money because there’s not the oversight, there’s not the safety regulation, not the same health safety and infection control procedures that, you know, in the United States at a quality dental practice that you can expect and know will keep you safe.
Cost Comparison and the Hidden Trade-Offs
Let’s say you’re having a dental procedure done in the United States, it might cost you $6,000 to $7,000. And then you compare that to, let’s say you can fly to Cancun and with your flight and the dental treatment and everything, it’s only a thousand dollars, maybe $1,500. So if you’re sitting there comparing, Hey, $1,500 to $7,000, why wouldn’t I choose this one and get a vacation in there?
On the surface, that seems like a really logical decision, but when you dive deeper into the kind of risk that you’re taking and the trade offs that you’re making to save that money over the long term, I would highly recommend going with someone you trust in the United States. And I wanna break down some of the reasons why.
Multiple Appointments and Hidden Time Costs
One of the most common mistakes that I see people make when kind of factoring whether they want to go for vacation industry or stay local, is that a lot of these dental procedures are actually more than just one appointment.
When you think about it, to do this correctly, you need an exam and you need to have a game plan made before you start, and then the other appointment to actually have the procedure done.
When you compare the vacation industry to coming to see us, a lot of times you have to take into account all those travel days. A lot of times the actual procedures take multiple appointments and with each appointment, if you’re traveling overseas or abroad, you have to factor in multiple travel days of missed work and time in addition to the cost of the flights and traveling and lodging.
Whereas if you can get it done in one day, one trip, you save a lot of money and time.
Safety and Standards of Care
It’s the most highly regulated and safest environment which you can get dental care done. We have lots of regulations. We have lots of rules and procedures that we have to follow to provide a safe working environment.
Unfortunately, sometimes when you have these travel dentistry locations, they cut corners, and they don’t have the same standards of safety and healthcare.
Concerns Over Material Quality
One of the main things I’ll be worried about in going to a foreign country to get dentistry done is the quality of the materials that they’re using. A lot of times if you go somewhere where you’re not quite sure whether there’s the right oversight and you don’t know what kind of materials they’re using, not only could an inferior material break or break down over time, but also is prone to infection and causing problems. A lot of patients that we see that have done this travel dentistry, unfortunately, we see them years later. When those materials and components start to break down, it becomes a very difficult process to kind of figure out not only what materials were used, but sometimes we have to remove the work that was done and start over from scratch.
Implant Specifics and Long-Term Complications
At that point, it’s even more involved and more costly than the original cost of getting the treatment done here correctly, and the implant industry is very specific. There’s no one size fits all. You have to know the exact brand and size of the implant you’re working with. And so if I can’t just pick up the phone and call that office and figure out exactly what they were using, it becomes a lot more involved and a lot more legwork on our end to make sure we use the right components in your mouth.
A Real-Life Example
One story that comes to mind is I had a very sweet lady who was a flight attendant, and actually decided to travel down to Costa Rica to get an implant done. She did, she felt like she did a research. The place she went was not quite as reputable as she thought it was, but she was there and wanted to get the tooth extracted and get the implant placed because it was significantly less expensive than getting it done in the United States.
Long story short, she had the implant placed and everything was fine. The tooth looked okay, everything was, was well, it wasn’t the best, but she was okay with it. About three years later, we started to see breakdown and infection around that tooth in the implant. Upon inspection, we realized that the materials they used were an inferior material. It was a cheap kind of knock off, off off-brand version. And so unfortunately, that patient ended up losing that implant. So we had to extract the implant. We had to do a big bone graft, come back later, do a new implant, and build the tooth on top. And when you factor in the expense of the repair and the replacement, it was actually significantly more expensive than if she had originally got it done in the United States.
Final Thoughts: Is It Worth It?
Vacation dentistry, in my opinion, is not worth it. Now granted, you’ll absolutely save money.
There’s no doubt about that. It is much less expensive, but that comes at a trade-off. It comes at a cost because you only get one mouth, and if you cut corners to try and save money on the short end, unfortunately, you might sacrifice health and happiness. Long-term dentistry in itself is, is not cheap. It’s an expensive undertaking. And anytime you have to redo something or remake something or correct an error, the expenses and the fees are way more than they were originally. So for me, it makes a lot more sense to do it once, do it right, and avoid using vacation dentistry.
A Better Option: Stay Local
If you’re looking to do vacation dentistry, I would recommend Brookhaven, Georgia, come see us. We’d love to take care of you. I’m Dr. Brett Langston, and I’m here to help you watch your mouth.
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