Dental Tourism An Increasingly Popular Choice For Canadians
A growing number of Canadians is visiting other countries to save money on dental treatment, according to recent figures.
Mexico is a very popular destination for Canadian and American dental patients, as there are several state of the art clinics, which are designed specifically for the dental tourism industry and fees are significantly lower. Travel time is also very short, so you can have treatment without having to worry about taking a long time off work or spending a long time on an aeroplane.
Don Stillwell, from Alberta, is one of the many Canadians who have visited Cancun for dental treatment; earlier this year, he was sat on the beach with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore having had dental treatment at a clinic nearby. Mr Stilwell needed four dental implants and had been quoted between $16,000 and $20,000 for treatment at home, which had put him off. After doing extensive research over a period of four years, Mr Stilwell arranged a trip to Cancun through a medical broker based in Arizona and after two trips to the Riviera Maya emerged with four perfectly placed dental implants for a total cost of $6,000.
Mr Stilwell was extremely happy with the level of service he received, but he stressed that he had done a lot of research and organised the trip through a medical broker and urged people to do the same, as there are some clinics, which are substandard and some dentists who are on the lookout to make a quick buck.
Dr Randall Croutze, a dentist from Alberta, said that Mr Stilwell is one of the lucky ones and warned people against travelling to Mexico and other central and southern American countries for treatment, as the risks of complications are very high. He added that he had seen numerous patients who needed dental work correcting following treatment in Mexico and described standards as “abysmal.”
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