Medical Tourism. Have you ever?

[NinjaPoodle]

I'm considering going outta' the country for some dental work. I'm just curious if anyone had done this. I have a friend that went to Thailand and had her teeth done over a year ago. She's super happy with the results. Of course I'm doing research and wanted to include opinions from others.

[DubaiSis]

I know a smidge about it. Depending on what you are having done I can highly recommend Dubai for some things. I just wouldn't go there for anything experimental or life-saving. They won't give bad news so things like cancer aren't really their forte. But anything relatively cosmetic is great there.

[NinjaPoodle]

I need some basic stuff done, fillings plus an implant<--not basic.

[andthen]

I was actually seriously considering going to Costa Rica to get some dental work done. A colleague of mine had gone to a dental clinic there several times to get dental work. I believe it was Mezza Dental clinic in Costa Rica, the staff spoke excellent English, and he even made a vacation out of it.

[ComradesTrue]

Serious, not snarky, question.

Are you comfortable sharing why you are considering this? For something like dental work I would think that you could get excellent care stateside for much, much less money than paying for the travel.

What benefit does Thailand have over experienced dentists in your area? Again, I don't mean that as a snarky question. I have just never heard of doing this. Experimental medical treatments? Sure. But never for anything routine.

[ree-Xi]

I'm sure that you know of the possible risks, but have you thought about what you'd do or have to do should something go wrong and you have to go to into a hospital? A country where you don't know the language, where the standards of care may vary from anything you've ever experienced, possibly alone and no one to help make decisions should you be unable to make them for yourself?

In addition, you would not have access to the service provider after you leave; what if you needed an adjustment or had later complications (like the filling fell out or your bite was misaligned)? Would you have access to your records (in English, no less) and have a report of exactly what was done?

I've spent a lot of time in hospitals and have had many procedures and cannot imagine having to go through that in a foreign place.

I agree, that unless it's something experimental, you'd have to accept a huge possibility of risks. I know that dental work can be extremely expensive (I have a friend who is facing about $50k when it's all done), but I would try every possible outlet (medical loans, medical credit card, payment plans, even crowd funding) before heading to a 2nd or 3rd world country for medical care of any sort (unless it was something experimental and my "last shot" at life).

If you DO do this, please, research and get first-person recommendations for everything, from your travel plans (including even small details like public transportation), exact names of doctors, procedures, medications and anesthetics used, recovery time, etc., a translator to accompany you, etc. If you don't know this info first-hand, FIND someone who has been there and done it (don't just rely on "my friend's mom did it" and leave it at that).

[PiKA2001]

I know a lot of people who live within driving distance to Mexico that have gone to get dental work and lasik. Typically they weren't insured or their insurance didn't cover what they needed plus the whole trip only took a day at most. I can't see any benefit of traveling all the way to Asia just to get dental work..a trip to Tijuana or Juarez would be a hell of a lot cheaper.

[DubaiSis]

Medical tourism to Costa Rica is very common and the healthcare there is very good.
And without looking at her particular situation, the cost, including an airline ticket and hotel, can be less than if she did it here. American health care is both meh and wildly overpriced. That is not necessarily the case in all situations, but definitely worth considering. Plus, her insurance could possibly cover it since they don't want to pay full boat either.

You wouldn't have a language barrier at virtually any hospital in the world. While healthcare here is not the greatest, our healthcare EDUCATION is. So many many doctors around the world attended med school here. And if not here, possibly England. Somebody would be able to help in a crisis.

[MaggieXi]

I have a friend who went to Mexico for dental work for herself and her 2 kids. I believe it was a cleaning and an implant for her and some extensive orthodontia for her children. The work that was done on her and her one child was fine. The other child had some issues and that had to be rectified in the states because it needed to be fixed asap. When all was said and done, she spent more between the airfare, the cost of the work in mexico, and then the fix in the US then if she had just done it in the states in the first place. (She didn't need lodging because she was staying with a family friend - she is a SAHM and her kids were out of school for summer break so there was no work income loss).

[andthen]

For me my decision to not travel for dental work boiled down to lack of time. I changed jobs a few months back and took a couple of days off which realisitically would have been a good opportunity to travel and get these things done. But I didn't plan well enough to get the logistics sorted out to do this.

I did unexpectedly have a dental issue a few years back while traveling in Japan. Granted it wasn't quite medical tourism, the dentist I saw was Japanese but she did her dental school training in the US and spoke excellent English and the treatment was cheaper than what I would have paid with my insurance here in the US and I thankfully didn't have any problems afterwards.

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I know a lot of people who live within driving distance to Mexico that have gone to get dental work and lasik. Typically they weren't insured or their insurance didn't cover what they needed plus the whole trip only took a day at most. I can't see any benefit of traveling all the way to Asia just to get dental work..a trip to Tijuana or Juarez would be a hell of a lot cheaper.

Originally Posted by ComradesTrue

Serious, not snarky, question.

Are you comfortable sharing why you are considering this? For something like dental work I would think that you could get excellent care stateside for much, much less money than paying for the travel.

What benefit does Thailand have over experienced dentists in your area? Again, I don't mean that as a snarky question. I have just never heard of doing this. Experimental medical treatments? Sure. But never for anything routine.

I'd actually go to Mexico since I'm in San Francisco. Why? No insurance. The services here, including clinics designed for low income, are too expensive. UOP, UCSF are the area dental schools I looked into. State aid covers children only. The "free" services are only for people who are living on the street or shelters. When I was working full time, I had a great dentist until I had no insurance. The cost of me driving to Mexico, getting the treatment would cost less than some of the dental work I already have.

[NinjaPoodle]

The area I'm looking into (researching really) is next to Yuma, AZ.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Los+...x-a&channel=sb