Top 10 Dental Support Organizations – This is a self-instructional article worth 1 CE credit. Exercises can be purchased and answers/submitted on self-instruction.
With healthcare costs continuing to rise, many Americans and Canadians are making difficult decisions about their health, sometimes including forgoing routine preventive care as a way to save money. This includes dental care, which can result in patients needing more expensive and complicated emergency care down the road.
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One way many Americans and Canadians are choosing to save money on expensive dental treatment is by traveling abroad to get work done at a lower cost. Medical and dental tourism – patients traveling to other countries for cheaper medical or dental care – has been seen throughout history, and is as popular as ever today. An entire industry revolves around connecting patients to care in other countries. However, patients should consider several important questions before traveling to a foreign country for any type of dental treatment: Do the cost savings outweigh the risks of entrusting their oral health to a dentist in another country? What should they research to find the right dentist? And, what advice can dentists who hear patients expressing interest in dental tourism offer to help ensure the best possible results?
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Medical and dental tourists travel to other countries for several reasons. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some may be immigrants who want to return to their home country for care. Others travel because a certain procedure or treatment is not available in their country. Many others go for certain treatments because the cost is significantly lower. The CDC reports that most patients travel to other countries for cosmetic/plastic surgery, dental care, and heart surgery.
How much can patients really save? According to Patients Beyond Borders, a company that researches medical procedures in other countries to inform medical tourists, the top 10 destinations for dental tourism among U.S. patients are Mexico, Thailand, Hungary, Spain, Poland, Costa Rica, the Philippines, is Malaysia. , Turkey and Czech Republic. US patients can expect to save 40%–65% in Mexico, 45%–65% in Costa Rica, and 50%–75% in Thailand.
Below are the average costs for some common procedures in each of the top 10 dental tourism destinations.
How are such savings possible for patients in these countries? In a country like Mexico, the cost of living is significantly lower than in the United States and Canada, making it more feasible for dentists to own and operate a practice. Additionally, dentists in Mexico are not required to pay for malpractice insurance. Mexican dentists also carry less student loan debt than US dentists due to government subsidies. They repay this subsidy with one year of free service after school.
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Many patients associate dental care with vacation. The news media is full of testimonials from patients who saved thousands of dollars by getting dental care in another country while on vacation. a
“It would take a few days to build the crown, so my wife and I took a short flight to the Drake Bay area, where we snorkeled, swam and poked around the mangroves,” the reporter wrote.
With airfare, lodging, food and dentist work, his total trip cost about $4,000 — about $1,000 less than his out-of-pocket dental costs would have been in the United States alone.
U.S. residents who live near the U.S.-Mexico border — or who are willing to drive there — can save more by driving into Mexico instead of flying. Most of these dental care seekers travel to one destination – the small town of Los Algodones.
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On the other side of the Colorado River, about a 30-minute drive from Yuma, Arizona, the small Mexican town of Los Algodons calls itself “Molar City.” The city has only 5,000 permanent residents, but thousands of tourists flock to the city each year to take advantage of the approximately 350 dentists in the downtown area.
The economy of Los Algodons was built around dental tourism. A large number of dental offices there also have access to several dental labs in the city, which means dental work is quick — and cheap. Prices average one-third of their US equivalents, and some patients report even lower prices.
While many people report successful dental procedures in Los Algodons, some have not been so pleasant. And, if patients return from Mexico and find that the work they received is subpar, they turn to local dentists for help.
Craig Barrows, DDS, is a general dentist practicing in Yuma. About 90,000 tourists travel to Yuma and stay during the winter months — many of them Canadian — and many of those winter visitors also take advantage of Yuma’s proximity to Los Algodons, he says. He’s seen his share of patients who were unhappy with the work he got there, and he says U.S. patients who travel to Los Algodones “absolutely take advantage.” He describes a patient who received $25,000 worth of implants at Los Algodones and came to him for follow-up care after realizing the implants were infected. None of the transplants were guaranteed, which significantly affected the cost savings the patient initially expected by going to Mexico.
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With the growing popularity of dental tourism over the past 10 years, companies have been created to research and organize medical tourists. Companies like Patients Beyond Borders and Dental Departures connect patients with international healthcare providers through marketing services.
According to its website, Patients Beyond Borders is a resource for patients and healthcare professionals. Founder and CEO Joseph Woodman states that he has “spent more than a decade researching and vetting international options for quality, affordable medical care,” including dental care.
Prospective medical travelers can consult with companies like Patients Beyond Borders to select reputable clinics. Criteria the company uses to monitor healthcare sites include:
Another factor to consider is insurance. Some insurance companies, including JioBlue (which is affiliated with Blue Cross Blue Shield), Aetna, and Cigna, offer specific medical and dental coverage for people traveling outside the United States.
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Doing so saves insurance companies money because they pay much less for these procedures than in the United States. Some employers have even gone a step further and will cover entire medical tourism trips for employees.
Barrows’ wife is a public school teacher. He says Yuma city officials and other public employees are being made aware that their insurance covers medical and dental treatment in Los Algodons — his newest insurance card under his wife’s family policy specifically states that the policy is accepted in Mexico. Barrows says there are disadvantages to this, too, and cites a recent patient who presented to his office in Mexico with pain after having composite fillings on nearly all of his molars. At the patient’s request, Barros replaced all the fillings to relieve her pain. However, problems later arose because the patient’s insurance already covered a less expensive filling placed in Mexico, so Barrows’ claim for the filling instead was denied, leaving the patient to pay cash.
Dental tourism is broader than just North America; People from other countries are also traveling for dental care. This practice is also common in Europe. Britons often go to Hungary, Slovakia and Poland for lower prices.
Like Los Algodons, many European countries are declaring their desire for patients from countries with a high cost of living. Both Poland and Croatia have spent millions developing public relations campaigns to promote their medical tourism.
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US citizens can also take advantage of these European markets. With a valid US passport, patients can visit any country in Europe’s Schengen area for a period of up to 90 days without the need for a visa.
The Schengen Area includes three of the top 10 global dental tourism countries (Hungary, Spain and the Czech Republic).
While in Europe for dental treatment, the US Dental tourists can also travel to other countries in the Schengen area as part of a European vacation.
Within the European Union, a number of organizations are working to standardize the quality of dental education and care in member states to facilitate freedom of movement for healthcare professionals.
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Currently, the Association for Dental Education in Europe promotes this mission in the education sector, and the Federation of European Dental Competent Authorities and Regulators promotes standardization in the clinical sector.
These efforts benefit all patients because continuity of care is enhanced, although US patients should still expect regional and national differences in care.
Dentists may encounter patients who are interested in a dental tour. While they shouldn’t immediately discourage the idea, all dentists should insist on one central point: do your research.
The CDC advises anyone seeking healthcare outside the United States to do thorough research about medications, infection control, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Joint Commission International, DNV GL International Accreditation for Hospitals and International Society for
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