Dental Treatment in Poland

Jacey4

Has anyone got any experience of dental treatment in Poland? I need some implants and have been quoted €9000 in Dublin. I'm a bit nervous about going abroad for treatment but €9000 is a lot of money. Can you suggest a dental practice? How many visits would it entail?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

davo10

There are good and bad clinics everywhere in the world, so do your research carefully and do not base your decision on cost alone nor what has been said on the inter web.

Typically it takes 4-5 visits, consultation/surgery/exposure/impressions/fit. You will need to consider the qualifications and skills of the person placing the implant, the type of implant used, the quality of whatever is going to be placed on top of the implant (no use having a great implant and a poor crown), the costs, the number of visits and follow up care (if a generic implant system is used, it may be difficult to get components/instruments to do maintanance work and you may have to return to the clinic to have a simple procedure like the abutment screw tightened).

I'm not going to get into the merits/drawbacks of traveling for this type of work, to be honest I'm sick of it. So op, do your research and if you like what you find, go for it.

Jacey4

Davo10. Thanks for your reply. Have you had a negative experience?

davo10

Jacey4 wrote: »

Davo10. Thanks for your reply. Have you had a negative experience?

I work in the profession, Jacey4 you will no doubt find really good clinics in every country, they often are not the ones with the flashy websites who try hard to get you to travel, they are the ones that locals go to to get a high standard of treatment.

I often think the best thing to do is start with the implant, go to the brand website and find the clinics in that country who place those implants. Then look at the clinic website, qualifications, before and after photos etc. Good implants are not cheap, generics are, and as each brand of implants are all supplied at the same worldwide, if the price seems very low, then the clinic is not using a main brand implant.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Because dental tourism is generally not a good idea due to lack of aftercare and the time pressures, and the geographic distance of the patient from the operator...the type of dentists that will do that and advertise are generally not the best clinics in the area.

There are plenty of polish/hungarian/eastern europian dental clinics in Ireland run by polish dentists, offering much the same level of quality at much the same price. However you need to ask whether you are confident enough that you will allow metal cylinders to be drilled into your skull by the dentist that values their work the least.

You will get what you pay for, and the only thing more expensive than paying a professional is paying an amateur. Use the forum search function and you will find all the information you need.

uck51js9zml2yt

Just to add to the conversation.
I'm going to need some major work done that a Slovak dentist flagged a few years ago and my Irish dentist confirmed.
I'm getting it done in Ireland. A 2 week holiday is fine for a scale and polish and some minor work but not for what i need.
My wife got a crown done in Slovakia. She was home for 8 weeks and had time to get it done and return to him for follow up.
I hope the difference is clear.

Bravobabe

Whats the situation for people who cannot afford €9000?
Is €9k a justifiable cost or is it VERY expensive?

There is little doubt (IMO) - that the general health of Ireland's teeth is lagging behind other European countries - Why is this?
Obviously the Government will be the first to be blamed for poor health services , however why Americans generally have better teeth? Its not like US Public Health service is funding the system better than here?

davo10

Bravobabe wrote: »

Whats the situation for people who cannot afford €9000?
Is €9k a justifiable cost or is it VERY expensive?

There is little doubt (IMO) - that the general health of Ireland's teeth is lagging behind other European countries - Why is this?
Obviously the Government will be the first to be blamed for poor health services , however why Americans generally have better teeth? Its not like US Public Health service is funding the system better than here?

Having worked in the US I can assure you that in general Americans teeth are no better than here. In affluent areas and where employment/social norms demand it, their teeth are good but where it isn't, they aren't.

Americans pay high costs for private health insurance to cover dental treatments, private fees if the patient has to pay are a lot higher than here. I suppose you could say, like Australia, Americans tend to acknowledge that health/dental is important and expensive to provide, they tend not to bitch as much about cost.

greensheep777

davo10 wrote: »

Having worked in the US I can assure you that in general Americans teeth are no better than here. In affluent areas and where employment/social norms demand it, their teeth are good but where it isn't, they aren't.

+1. I work in IT and the majority of companies I've worked for are American multinationals. It's a myth that all Americans have amazing teeth. For every American I know who does, there's another who doesn't. And some of these are software engineers on $100,000+, so in many cases they could probably afford it but just aren't bothered for whatever reason.

greensheep777

As regards dental treatment in Poland... I'm not a dentist, so I don't have a dog in this fight. As a patient, I considered getting 6-8 veneers to cover up gaps etc before I decided that orthodontics was a far better option for me.

I've seen all the ads and YouTube videos for these clinics who market to Irish people and the below were my thoughts.

1. Many of the glowing reviews you see from Irish patients are things like "The reception was really impressive, it had a giant fish tank!". I have 2 fish tanks in my flat. Doesn't mean I should be going near anyone's teeth.
Or "everything was really clean!!!". Hygiene is a requirement in dentistry, don't treat it like a bonus or selling point!
Similarly, you see patients say things like "I could tell all the equipment was really top notch". Sorry, but unless you're in the dental industry and know all the makes and models of the machinery you saw - no you couldn't. That X ray machine you walked past could be 2 or 20 years old and you wouldn't know the difference.

It's like reading Amazon reviews where all the person has written is "5*, arrived really quickly" about a bottle of shampoo. That's great, tells me all about if it's any good for my hair.
Same with reviews of these clinics... what was the actual product like? Are your teeth comfortable, do they look natural, is the work going to last?

2. Why are these clinics marketing to Irish patients? Why aren't they already busy enough with the locals?
These clinics are focusing their efforts on patients who will receive a large amount of aggressive treatment in a short amount of time, and who will have to go to great trouble and expense to revisit if they run into any issues.
What decent dentist would prefer to work in these scenarios rather than treating the locals at a slower pace, give them proper time to heal between treatments and know they can pop back at short notice with any issues?
Also, if the dentist is negligent, you have no comeback in Ireland. The courts here have no jurisdiction. You're going to have to find a lawyer in that country, where English is not the first language, and make a complaint via the courts there. That's a lot more trouble than the locals have to deal with. Why are these dentists marketing to you and not them?

3. These clinics specialise in aggressive, extensive treatment at a low cost. 10 crowns, 12 crowns, I've even seen reviews of people who had 20 crowns.
If you need 10, 12, 20 crowns you probably haven't been looking after your teeth. The majority of the "before" pictures they use are of people with visibly decayed teeth. Who's to say you're going to suddenly start looking after them now? And now you don't just have your teeth to worry about, you have all those crowns too. Are you just going to get another cheap dental job done if these fail too?

All in all, it doesn't sit right with me. If I happened to personally know someone who could recommend a normal, regular clinic that locals go to, I might consider it.

DublinCDT

davo10 wrote: »

Having worked in the US I can assure you that in general Americans teeth are no better than here. In affluent areas and where employment/social norms demand it, their teeth are good but where it isn't, they aren't.

Americans pay high costs for private health insurance to cover dental treatments, private fees if the patient has to pay are a lot higher than here. I suppose you could say, like Australia, Americans tend to acknowledge that health/dental is important and expensive to provide, they tend not to bitch as much about cost.

Even though I've worked in the profession for 25 years I'm still interested in what patients experiences are like and what they really think. Hence I joined a few denture forums on Facebook. I nearly cried. .... American after American, many under 40 with FULL dentures. Blue collar America has awful teeth and are paying huge money for dentures when they eventually need to be extracted.
As a comparison I rarely treat a patient under 50 never mind 40. Complete (full) dentures are really the preserve of the over 65s and a minority of them these days here.