Thinking of going abroad

[Leila]

I need six implants in total in my upper jaw and a bridge on top. I have been considering going to Hungary to have the work done as the prices seem to be cheaper than London. Are there any risks involved?

[admin]

Thank you for your post. Implant treatment is usually very complex treatment that requires many visits to the clinic for reviews and treatment.

For example after an implant is placed, usually the patient should be seen one week afterwards for review of the surgical site. If the site has healed well, the resorbable sutures should be removed. If the healing cap has become loose, the cap should be tightened. If the gum flap has opened up, it should be sutured back again.

The patient is usually seen again after eight weeks to check the healing and if all is well, impressions are taken for a temporary crown. The temporary abutment and crown are usually fitted 2 weeks later once they are produced by the lab. Without a temporary abutment and crown or at least a change of healing abutments, the final result may not be very aesthetic.

The last two appointments are usually repeated after 1 month, for the production of the final abutment and crown. You may then need review appointments after the final crown fit to check the gum healing and bite.

If the number of appointments are cut down, it may result in corner cutting and this may end up causing long term problems for the patient that could become much more costly to resolve.

So you can see that for quality aesthetic implant treatment, you will need to see your oral surgeon many times in a five month period. By visiting Hungary you will have to take a lot of time off work and pay a lot for travel and accommodation. Once the total costs in time, money and damage to the environment are calculated, its likely to be a higher cost with more hassle than implant treatment in the UK.

[Roberto]

I had four tooth crowns done in europe about three years ago. They started causing me pain last year and I had to have them redone here because they did not fit properly to start with. Also I needed deep canal fillings on two of them to stop the pain. It ended up costing me much more.