Quality of Irish Dentistry V's Abroad

cork_ie

I have read several of the posts regarding the potential dangers of getting dental treatment abroad and how it is much better to have the work done here in Ireland despite the costs being many times greater. While I have no doubt that many of the Irish dentists are excellent I cant help noticing that many of our immigrants from other countries have perfect teeth too and suspect that some of the posts warning against having work done abroad are by vested interests.
The position is that the vast majority of the Irish population cannot afford the dental treatment they need or require and many of us just have to make do and mend. My own experience has been particularly bad.
Many years ago when I was a student I availed of the public dental service here in Cork.I had a few fillings done which constantly fell out and eventually had a number of extractions.I didn't know any better at the time. I had a partial denture which fitted so badly that it was unwearable and caused my gums to get very sore and bleed and I went without it not realising that as my eye teeth had been extracted I would suffer from recession in my lower jaw. Five years later while on holidays in the UK I got a severe absess and my upper lip got quite swollen. I went to a GP in England who immediately told me that I had to see a dentist straight away as I was at severe risk of it ascending and could at worse cause brain damage. I went to a dental surgery in England that afternoon and explained my position and that I had very limited funds and fair dues to them they said that this was a real emergency and they would do the work first and we would try and work out payment later. I had 4 root canal treatments and a lot of antibiotics. I was told that my dental work was a disgrace to any dentist and that I should immediately change dentist.I explained that I just couldn't afford a dentist here in Ireland outside the public system so they offered to do the work for me at a very cheap rate if I would consent to students being allowed to do some of the work under supervision. To make a long story very short the infection never cleared properly and after a lot of discussion because of the danger involved I agreed to having five upper teeth extracted and a denture made. I have never regretted it to this day. They did a first class job , the denture was great and comfortable and I paid a total of £230-00 at the time. I will always be eternally grateful to them. Since then I have had my denture remade on three occasions by a dental mechanic here in Cork,who I got to know and who always did a first class job. Right now I need a little more dental work many years later and have decided that when the Irish health service let me down the English dentist stood by me and I have arranged to take two weeks hols there in early September and go back to my old friends.I know I will have to pay full fare this time but at least I know I will get a good job.

Daveyn

I agree Cork.ie, I lived in England when i was younger and got all my dental treatment free whilst i was under 18, this included a year of wearing braces including several checkups and adjustments. since i 've lived in Ireland i've been to one dentist who charged me 80 Euro just to look in my mouth no work.I didn't go back. although my teeth are in good nick, i've heard Hungary is the place to go for major Dental work.

eth0_

There are bad dentists in every country, just like with every profession.
There are reasons dentistry is expensive here - Ireland is an incredibly litigious country and dentists on this forum have explained that malpractice insurance is very expensive in ireland, as is everything else related to dentistry.

Personally I wouldn't go outside Ireland for dental work - what if it went wrong and you had to fly back to Hungary in agony to have your dentist fix things? Would you be so eager to fly to Hungary for cosmetic surgery, as a matter of interest?

Also - personal recommendation is a great thing.

Big_G

cork_ie wrote:

While I have no doubt that many of the Irish dentists are excellent I cant help noticing that many of our immigrants from other countries have perfect teeth too and suspect that some of the posts warning against having work done abroad are by vested interests.

Are you trained to assess the oral health of people coming into this country? Looks aren't everything. I am trained to do this and I can say the vast majority of people I have assessed coming into Ireland from abroad have a poor standard of dentistry in their mouths, some of which is negligent.

cork_ie wrote:

The position is that the vast majority of the Irish population cannot afford the dental treatment they need or require and many of us just have to make do and mend.

You mean the dentist has to make do and mend.

cork_ie wrote:

I had a few fillings done which constantly fell out and eventually had a number of extractions.I didn't know any better at the time.

So you were in no way responsible for what happened to your teeth?

cork_ie wrote:

To make a long story very short the infection never cleared properly and after a lot of discussion because of the danger involved I agreed to having five upper teeth extracted and a denture made.

The success rate for root canal treatment is roughly 90%. You had no successful root canal treatments out of four. That is a zero percent success rate. You see, I can criticise your UK dentist without having all of the facts, just as he criticised your previous dentist.

cork_ie wrote:

They did a first class job, the denture was great and comfortable and I paid a total of £230-00 at the time.

I'm glad you think so.

I have commented on this ad nauseum in other threads.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Yawn....this is getting tiresome:rolleyes:

Please OP take some personal responsibility for your own oral health. Maybe its just cork dentists who are bad?.Or dentists with brown hair? Or dentists with red cars?...to generalize with only your own experience to go on is a bit dangerous.

I don't really think your post has added anything to our forum here. Myself and others give freely of our time and advice in a non professional capacity here on these boards. Every time anyone challenges somebody posting about "what a bargain getting your teeth done in Mongolia in two days for 5 euro" we get accused of having vested interests....or... Maybe its because we actually have some experience in these matters unlike most other posters.

However as always you are free to do whatever you wish, go where ever you wish and be treated by any dentist you wish,

I thought this forum would be use to discuss trends in dental science, allay peoples fears and give general advice on what can be done to improve you teeth and oral health, however most disappointingly many recent posts center on money or are spam from marketeers. However there are a few genuine posters out there who are actually looking for advice and support, and not just a sounding board for their own opinions.

I think Agatha Christie but it best when she said:

"Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it."