HealthAbroad.net: Point of View

The number of people traveling from Western Europe to Poland for cheaper medical care is likely to rise by 20 percent per year.

Visitors from Western Europe can get some medical treatments in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary for upto 60 percent of the costs in their own countries. The proliferation of low cost airlines has given an additional impetus to this trend.

Tourists from Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway and England are coming in droves to Croatia’s glittering coast for its pristine beaches and natural beauty but also for dental surgery. Good dental surgeons, competitive prices and better transport links have led to this growth.

While a porcelain tooth crown costs about 500-600 pounds (730-800 euros) in Britain, the same is being offered for 200 euros in Croatia. Breast implants cost around 3000 euros in Croatia while in Italy they cost between 6,000 and 8,000 euros.

The country’s tourist officials have also recognized the immense potential of health tourism, especially during July-August peak travel season “when most of the eight million annual tourists - nearly twice Croatia’s population - visit.”

While dental surgery is highly popular, patients are also coming in for “rhinoplasty or nose jobs, liposuction, breast implants, and a growing number of men seeking face-lifts.”

Croatia is one of the many former eastern European countries which have become the hub for cut price dental surgery. However, there are no official figures on the number of foreigners coming to Croatia for dental services.   

The Sunday Business Post reports that health tourism is taking off in Ireland in spite of short wait periods, as Irish patients seek treatment unavailable at home at a low cost. A holiday serves as an added incentive.

According to a third-party facilitator in Ireland, cancer therapy, neurosurgery and paedriatic care tend to be the areas with most demand. India, Thailand and Singapore are attractive destinations but closer to home private hospitals in France and eastern Europe are also competing for a cut of the pie. Hungarian and Polish dentists advertise dental work at a third of Western prices. A heart bypass surgery in Belgium costs Euro 10,000 less than in Ireland. Cheaper air travel within Europe has also fueled the growth in medical tourism.

Although figures for the number of Irish going abroad for medical treatment are unavailable, an increase in the number of private agencies offering surgical, dental and cosmetic treatments indicates that medical tourism is a growing trend.

In spite of being well known for dentistry, cosmetic and plastic surgery, the absence of a cohesive advertising strategy is hurting Bulgaria’s chances of establishing itself as a medical tourism destonation.

Bulgarian doctors believe that the country has enormous potential for developing medical tourism, with its wealth of well trained doctors and excellent medical centers. Faced with soaring prices, unending waiting lists and reluctant to take a long journey to Asia, many Europeans hav opted for Bulgaria and have not been disappointed with their choice.

However, the Government of Bulgaria has done little to advertise the country as a destination for low cost and high quality medical procedures. In addition, no organization exists to oversee the private clinics and there is no ranking of services.

On the matter of endless waiting lines-

In UK for isnstance, a myoma operation should be planned for as much as three years ahead.

The treatment of sterility in Spain is delayed by an average of five years when it is financed by the country’s health insurance fund.

Off late, a lot is being written about Hungary’s ascendancy as the top destination for dental work. Came across this article in the San Francisco Chronicle, which documents the visit of a Californian, Jim Paggi, to a hi-tech dental clinic in Gyor, Hungary.

The cost of 24 crowns, seven implants, two root canals and two bridges totalled to $15,900. Total cost, including airfare for him and his wife and hotel stay at $52/night would still be less than $20,000. For the same procedures, he would have paid upto $60,000 in the US. With a insurance cover that did not cover implants and even basic dental work, Paggi had a fairly easy call to make.

The article also points out that dental procedures are common choice, “as only 50 percent of Americans have insurance for such care. And those people who are insured often face stiff dental bills.” According to Jell Album, spokesman for Delta Dental of California, the state’s largest dental managed-care company, “Employers generally choose not to cover high-priced cosmetic services, instead offering routine dental coverage as part of the package of health benefits.”

To many, Hungary might seem like a strange choice for a place to get one’s teeth fixed- as the country still remains an unknown quantity, conjuring up images of crude Soviet style dentistry. However, the country’s top-notch dental universities are churning out well trained dentists and medical workers who by creating “islands of excellence” are enhancing the country’s reputation, thereby attracting inadequately insured individuals such as Jim Paggi.

According to The Times, Britons- the butt of jokes across the world for their bad teeth, are flying to Hungary to avail of cheaper cosmetic surgery.

Some important cost comparisons given in the article are:

• A single veneer at Goolnik’s City clinic costs £850, while the same costs £150 in Budapest.
• Teeth implants cost between £1500-2000 in the UK while an implant in Turkey costs £566 with free consultation.
• In the UK, the cost of 12 crows or units of bridgework at £450 a unit totals £5400. At Kreativ Dental in Budapest, the cost would be £2,400 plus 10 percent to cover any extras (total £2640), a saving of more than £2,700- more than enough to cover cost of budget flights (SkyEurope flies from Stansted to Budapest for £17 each way) and accomodation (recommended hotel in Budapest costs £28 a night).

Most popular dental work is for crowns, implants and bridge work as the financial savings are quite substantial.

Most popular destinations are France, Spain, taly, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Turkey with Poland and India soon to join the list.

Using a research published by Bath University in 2004, the article states that on an average the NHS has fewer that 4 dentists for every 10,000 people. In Austria, Italy and Poland there are 5 per 10,000, and 6 per 10,000 in the US. Sopron, a small town in Hungary; the self styled dental capital of the world has one dental practioner per 80 inhabitants.

Some medical travellers and obviously the British Dental Association remain sceptical about treatment and hygiene standards of dental clinics in Eastern Europe. However, professionally run clinics matching international standards of treatment and post-operative care but at a fraction of the price, are slowly but surely winning over new converts.