Britons jet off for dental savings

For people who grew up in the days when it was taken for granted a dentist would be free, or at least cost very little, the potential to hop on a plane to get treatment for less than it would cost in London, and perhaps take a city break at the same time, can be very appealing. Resesarcg by Dr Bela Batorfi shows that the majority of UK patients he sees in Budapest are in their forties and fifties, or older, and they are unsurprisingly, looking to make a large saving on treatment. As one would imagine this is normally for serious work which would cost several thousands of ponds at home but which, Batorfi predicts, can normally be carried out in Hungary for around half the cost, if not less.

While such savings are understandably attractive, the obvious concern any patient will always have is how well qualified are the dentist in a particular country? Here Bartorfi believes Hungary is well positioned because it has a long track record in ensuring its professionals are qualified to the highest standard.

“A Hungarian dentist has to spend six years in college and then four to five years working in dentistry before they are a fully qualified doctor and able to set up their own practice,” he says. “The standards in Hungary have always been very high and so this is why it’s a top destination for Britons to come to when seeking treatment abroad.”

While the cost of travelling to a foreign city, such as Budapest, may sound like it could eat in to any savings made on the treatment, Batorfi insists that his clinic can offer deals on accommodation to decrease the cost of travelling. “We have deals with top hotels in Budapest and we include all transport between the hotel and the clinic so it’s not expensive to seek treatment in Budapest,” he says. “We also do deals where we can include accommodation and flights within the price. We also have a clinic in Paddington, which we’re hoping to move more central soon, so people can come and get a free consultation in London so they know what treatment we are proposing. They can also have the treatment in London or if they choose to come to Hungary they can cut down on the need for multiple trips by having check-ups and possibly further treatment done in London.”

The savings are considerable with an implant that might cost around L2000 in the UK being offered for around L530 in Hungary or L800 in the Batorfi Dental Implant Clinic in London. If several implants are being done at the same time, this can obviously lead to savings of several thousand pounds.

While the advice for anybody researching dental treatment abroad is to always ensure the dentist they are considering is well qualified than sometimes be forgotten that the dental professional abroad could actually be far better qualified than their equivalent in patients home town.

Dr Joseph Xuereb, for example, is a Fellow of the Royal College and Surgeons who, nevertheless, is under no illusion that, despite his training, Britons come to his clinic in Gozo mainly for the savings on offer.

“People like coming to a peaceful, beautiful island like ours because it’s so relaxed and it’s warm all year round but I know it’s mainly the savings they are coming for,” he says. “We can normally expect to do treatments for around half the cost of a British clinic and we guarantee our work for a set number of years, depending on the procedure. In addition to the savings, though, we find we get a lot of Britons coming to us through word of mouth, mainly because people enjoy the relaxed island atmosphere and the way they are treated individually - we’re not a conveyor belt just churning out customers.”

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