Nowadays, people from all around the world suffer from different dental problems. Unfortunately, the dental treatments are really expensive in some countries and not everyone can afford to go for dental check-ups regularly. Some dental treatments like dental implants, veneers, cosmetic dentistry, implantation, root canal treatment are very financially demanding for some patients and therefore they decide for dental tourism.

On the other hand, some patients may decide to go for a treatment abroad because they are searching for more specialized professionals or high-quality dental clinics operating with the state of the art equipment. Some patients even manage to do some free times activities, such as spa, shopping, sightseeing, etc., before getting their dental treatment done.

We are aware of the fact, that researching for the high-quality dentist abroad can be sometimes really difficult and therefore we decided to prepare for you 5 steps of how to choose a dentist abroad.

Learn more about best dental clinics in the countries you are interested in –  Check the GCR country reports.

How to choose a dentist abroad?

Do extensive research

If you would like to receive your dental treatment abroad, e.g.: veneers, teeth whitening, dental implants, dental crown, cosmetic dentistry we recommend that you do proper research beforehand.

Firstly, you need to determine what kind of clinical quality is important to you. We really believe that you should look at every clinic from a holistic point of view. This means, that you should check the quality of the facilities, services, the expertise of the doctors in the clinic and also patients’ feedback.

A very useful platform for this objective and complete overview is certainly Global Clinic Rating, which evaluates medical facilities based on 100+ data. Within a few seconds, you can find the TOP dentists in more than 100 countries. After seeing the top results, don’t forget to check the individual profile of these clinics.

Be very curious

Once you’ve selected some clinics, you should get in touch with these via e-mail or by phone to ask any questions you might be interested in. These are some examples of questions that may be helpful for you:

• What kind of treatments does this clinic offer? What are their success outcome data?
• Which doctor will be carrying out your medical treatment?

• What kind of specialization or certificates does this doctor have?

• What is the expected cost of your chosen treatment?

• How long can certain procedure take?

• Where can I check any pictures of your clinic?

• Is your dental team able to speak the language(s) I speak?

• Where can I check the patient reviews or testimonials?

• Do you provide any guarantee for your treatments?

• What happens if I am not satisfied with the medical treatment?
• What kind of aftercare do you provide for your patients?

There are many more questions you can ask and do NOT be afraid to ask everything that you need to know. If you are not sure with your choice you can still continue with your research.

Double Check the clinic before booking

We believe that you’ll manage to choose the most suitable clinic for you based on the answers from the clinic. Before making a booking, still make sure not to forget to check these 4 important areas:

Payment methods

When choosing dental clinic somewhere abroad, always keep in mind to check the possibilities of settling the payment. You should ask if you can pay by credit or debit card, or even if they offer monthly installments for more expensive services.  

Expertise

You should always ask about the expertise of the medical staff in the clinic you are about to visit. You should definitely check the range and quality of medical expertise of the medical staff (education, practical experience, number of languages spoken in a clinic, number of medical specialists available, etc.).

Facility

Another important part of every clinic is the range and quality of medical/ non-medical facilities and technologies. You check out if the clinic owns the diagnostic devices, special facilities, and technologies or if it provides non-medical facilities such as parking, disabled access, free WI-FI, etc.

Services

You should also check the medical and non-medical procedures, services, amenities provided as for instance free extra services (consultation, diagnostics), special support for international patients, communication services (website, social media, etc.).

Feedback Score

This point is also very important. Nowadays, you can find past patients’ treatment reviews all around the internet. The most valid reviews tend to be published on Google, Facebook, GCR.org, etc. Thanks to the patient feedback, you can learn how other patients evaluate the certain medical facility. Moreover, you can see their positive and negative comments.

Location

Location of the dental clinic is also really important part of your decision. You should calculate what will it cost to get into the certain country, if you’ll need visa permission, if the region is not too dangerous to visit, etc. If you need to visit a dentist as soon as possible, we suggest you choose a dental clinic which is located closer to your country (or within the convenient reach of the available transport services).

Payment methods

When choosing dental clinic somewhere abroad, always keep in mind to check the possibilities of settling the payment. You should ask if you can pay by credit or debit card, or even if they offer monthly installments for more expensive services. 

Consult your treatment with your personal doctor

Once you are 100% decided for treatment abroad, you should also discuss it with your personal dentist. They can tell you more about your state of health and perhaps give you some recommendations.

Use the clinic services

Many dental clinics, especially those which are focused on international patients have their own international department, which provides different services. They can help you with arranging your travel plan, pick you up at the airport, provide you with accommodation, etc.

Please, let us know what do you think about this guide. Did you find it helpful? Where did you decide to travel for dental treatment?