If you’ve decided to invest in dental implant restoration, you’ve probably seen quite a few advertisements touting the benefits of traveling for cheap dental implants. Dental tourism is what it’s typically called, with Americans traveling abroad, most often to developing nations, for lower cost dental care. While you’ll pay less abroad than you would for dental implants in Ventura, CA, a fact that makes these offers tempting for many, entrusting overseas practitioners with your dental care – especially dental implant surgery – is a gamble that can turn out badly.

While some people do get lucky, coming home from Mexico, Costa Rica, India or Thailand with great dental restoration work done cheaply, many others have a very different experience. Having work done abroad isn’t at all like getting dental implants in Oxnard, Ventura, since practitioners in foreign nations, especially developing ones, aren’t subject to the same regulations and sanitation standards as American dental professionals are. Unfortunately, those differences can lead to increased risks for patients, and those who do have problems have little recourse, since foreign practitioners are not subject to U.S. Consumer protection laws.

Why Cheap Dental Implants Should Not Be an Option?

Cheaper is definitely not an option for dental implants. Remember whatever you pay and spend on your dental implants is really worth it because it’s after all a matter of your health, hygiene and personal appearance as well. So why should you compromise on it at all?

The cost of dental implants varies widely across the country and often dental insurance barely covers even half of the amount of the total cost. And the cost of the entire implant can depend on your particular dental situation. If the condition is severe, you might be in for an expensive dental implant surgery but then again keep in mind the comfortable functioning that dental implants will bring to you and the success rates of the implant surgery is also very high, thereby consolidating it as the gold standard for tooth restoration.

The cost might double if you are in need of bone grafting along with the surgery too. As a result of the high costs, a lot of people consider going to different countries to get cheap dental implants and then they suffer. This is because a lot of people don’t really examine the pros and cons associated with getting dental implants from abroad. They don’t pay attention to issues such as aftercare, difference in culture and communication with the doctors, unavailability of insurance in case the surgery goes wrong, risks associated with getting a dental implant surgery from a foreign country and then of course the cost of travel, accommodation, food and a surgery in a totally new place. If you take into consideration all of this, you will surely know that traveling abroad to get a dental implant is nothing but a recipe for disaster by all means.

Don’t forget the cheap dental implants will definitely be compromising on the quality the higher priced implants promise to deliver. And where is the guarantee that getting a cheap implant is going to yield positive outcomes for you? If you really care for your health, then you should know that it is really not worth it to get cheap dental implants and have yourself, and your health, at a risk.

The biggest disadvantage of getting a cheap dental implant, even from abroad, is the bad and compromised quality of aftercare. Dental implants take about half a year to heal and you simply cannot forgo your aftercare in this period. Imagine if you chose to get dental implants that are cheaper abroad, how will your doctor be available for aftercare in case you chose not to stay. Suppose you opted for a doctor with a cultural and language difference. How would you communicate if an issue arose?

Remember that only getting a dental implant is not the concern. There are issues that you need to look into even after your surgery. Therefore, going abroad or opting for cheap dental implants is not at all an option worth considering. Also keep in mind that your insurance might not pay up for an elective procedure performed abroad and you might end up bearing the entire cost of the procedure yourself.

Problems with Dental Tourism

One fairly common problem with dental implants done abroad is the use of low grade materials, such as generic implants or flimsy replacement teeth, an issue many patients don’t discover until they’ve returned home and have been examined by their regular dentist. Traveling for dental implants can also bring a higher risk of implant failures, nerve injuries or sinus damage, since professional qualifications may be more lax than in the U.S., allowing procedures to be performed by practitioners with less training and experience. Sanitation is another issue of concern, with many foreign locales having few or no regulations regarding water safety, equipment sterilization, use of masks and gloves or other precautions meant to protect patients against infection or diseases, such as viral hepatitis, HIV or tuberculosis.

Other important concerns include the fact that dental tourism arrangements often leave little, if any, time for planning, an essential part of successful implant placement surgeries. Technology and equipment used to improve safety and accuracy, such as 3-D imaging and computer guided implant placement, often aren’t used in practices that cater to dental tourists, and follow up care is often difficult. Of course, traveling back and forth to another country for follow-up care isn’t a practical option for many, nor is it an economical one, and finding a local dentist who is willing to take responsibility for work done abroad can be a challenge, as can getting accurate records from the foreign practitioner to guide that follow-up care.

Patients getting dental implants in Ventura may pay a bit more than those traveling to foreign lands, but they have quality and safety assurances that simply aren’t available when work is done in other countries. Patients who receive shoddy work or have serious complications due to poor equipment, practitioners or sanitation often end up spending much more than they bargained for in correcting these problems. So the bottom line is this: Oral surgery is nothing to scrimp on, so make sure yours is done by a qualified, experienced professional right here at home.

ABOUT YOUR OXNARD, CA, DENTIST:

We look forward to providing families with exceptional care and advanced treatment options. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Jivraj contact our Oxnard, CA, dental office today by calling 805-800-8289. Our office welcomes patients in and around Oxnard, CA, including Santa Barbara, Woodland Hills, Ventura, and the surrounding Southern California communities.