Dentist and dentures in Turkey - a cheap alternative?

Dentures made in Turkey "cheap alternative or risk"  Whether crowns or prosthesis - dentures are always expensive.

Whatever the reason is for problems with your teeth, apart from the pain you always need a huge amount of money to cure them. It seems that, for the foreseeable future, it will be wise to take out additional insurance to try to reduce the immense costs of dentures. Quite often the amount of money needed for remedial treatment is already about a thousand Euros so you need to try to save money.
Also, why not do something practical in addition to something pleasant? Making and wearing dentures in Turkey has become quite trendy lately. Even if you include the costs of travelling on top of the dentist's bill, there may still be a cost advantage for you.

Whether you are at the age of 80 or 8, your oral health is very important. Visiting your dentist regularly is also important because some diseases or medical conditions have symptoms that can appear in the mouth.

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Here are the simply signs you should go to dentist:

Your teeth are sensitive to cold or hot,
Your gums bleed when you brush or floss
You have fillings, crowns, dental implants, dentures, etc.
You have persistent bad breath smell or bad taste in your mouth
You have pain or swelling in your mouth
You have difficulty chewing or swallowing
Your mouth is often dry and you smoke
You have a medical condition such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, eating disorders, etc.
You are undergoing medical treatment such as radiation, chemotherapy or hormone replacement therapy

Why is Dentistry expensive in Europe?

This is not a question of materials alone. A lot of money is needed for wages and other working expenses. About 2-3 of all payable costs are for the specialised work in laboratories. Another reason is that prices issued by governments prevent effective competition. Whenever there is a guaranteed price given by a government there cannot be cheaper production. Several changes in the law should help solve these problems. We will see what happens in the future. There will always be someone saying: `Yes, but ???.` and nothing is really going to change. However, dentists in Turkey do not face these problems. They do not use cheap materials. It is just lower wages and lower rents for them which make it so attractive to go to Turkey for dentures.

How much money can be saved?

Some well known TV programs did some testing and compared prices between national and foreign dentures. As a kind of test one patient was told to ask for some dentures at a European dentist. For getting the money back from his insurance, he needed to get a written estimate. 

Does my insurance have to pay my dentistry cost?

Because of a decision in the European Law Court, insurance companies can pay for dentures in the EC if they wish. It is up to them whether they accept this type of medical insurance. This means that no decision has been made yet as to whether insurance companies have to pay these expenses. Whatever the situation, you should always talk to your insurance company before making any decision. This is just as important for Turkish dentures!

Forms and regulations for dentures in Turkey:

Your dentist at home should provide a complete plan for the treatment, including all the costs.
This complete plan should be sent to your dentist in Turkey by fax or email and he should fill in all prices based on Turkish treatment. If your insurance has lots of forms for you to fill in, this could help a lot.
After getting back the plan with the signature of the Turkish dentist, you should hand all the paperwork to your insurance company and ask for their ok.
Please bear in mind that it will be necessary to pay for all of your treatment in cash or by credit card. The insurance company will then reimburse you when you have returned home.

Do not forget: Private patients should never have any problems, because their insurance should accept worldwide treatment. But to be sure, give them the information about your intentions as well.

What kind of risks are there?

Saving money is always good. But, especially when your health is concerned, quality is important. Please get all the information you can before you do anything.

Poor education, non-professional and badly-equipped practices and poor quality of materials used - that's what a lot of European dentists say, when they warn would be dental tourists.
Of course, they want to keep all their patients but on the other hand there are still some risks. For instance, maybe dentures do not fit properly. These problems can occur some days later when the patient is back home again.
Your dentist might then say he will not do anything about it and send you back to the Turkish dentist. This would be the worst thing which could happen, returning to Turkey to try to solve the problem because, again, it means more costs.

However, many Turkish dentists have already become members of a kind of network of dentists all over Europe who are reliable and will put things right if there is anything wrong. So there is a kind of guarantee for the patient that it would not be necessary to come back to Turkey for small repairs. Please ask your Turkish dentist if he is a member of one of these networks.

Dentures in Turkey - what do you need to be careful about?

There is an enormous potential to save money, but there is a lot of paperwork and a few risks. This is a kind of checklist of what you need to be aware of:

Let your home dentist prepare a checklist of what needs to be done and how much it will cost. On this plan, make sure you have exact dates for when to start and how long it will take. Then you can plan your holiday around these times.

Try to find out as much as you can about the dentist at your holiday resort - will he will be able to speak your language, can he carry out your wishes, and more. It is always quite helpful, if possible, to get information from previous patients. Most dentists know these questions will be asked so they offer a list of their former patients. You can phone them, send emails etc. and get detailed information. When you have done all this, you should send the estimate from your home dentist to the foreign dentist and ask for another estimate. This is allowed by European regulations and laws.
After getting back this estimate, you should talk to your insurance company and find out if they will pay their part of the bill. Private patients should not have any problem because their insurance should be a world?wide one.
If you have got the permission of your insurance company, then talk to the Turkish dentist about exact dates. Think about adding extra days, so that if there is a problem, it can be solved there and then.
Try to find out whether the Turkish dentist has any connection to a British dentist near your home town so that, if there is a problem, you can go there quickly. You should try to get a guarantee based on European laws. This can help you get the money from your insurance.

Take enough money with you, if you don't have a credit card. You will need to pay the bill completely immediately the treatment is finished. After returning back home you can get your money back from the insurance company.
If you take note of these tips, it should solve most of the problems which can occur and it will also help to save you money.