Dental tourism may save money, but Arizonans should understand the risks

Dr. Nate Farley

Submitted photo/ Revive Dental Implant Center

When treatment is done close to home, complications are often easier to manage. The dentist who knows your case is available for follow-up. The patient can return for adjustments. They can address problems before they become larger issues.”

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OPINION — As the cost of dental care continues to rise, more Arizonans are looking outside the United States for major dental treatments such as implants.

For patients facing the expenses of implants and full-mouth reconstruction, dental tourism seems like the practical solution. The marketing is “travel abroad, pay less and come home with a new smile.”

As a practicing prosthodontist, I understand why that message is appealing. I’m also not afraid to admit that there are many great dentists and surgeons all over the world. Not every patient who goes overseas will have a bad experience. Many will get dental work done abroad and be satisfied with the outcome.

However, Arizonans should go into dental tourism with their eyes open. Lowering the costs of dental care does not lower the stakes. The risk of receiving poor work is often greater than the benefit of receiving good work.

The issue is not whether good care exists in another country. It does. The issue is that complex dental treatment rarely ends with the procedure itself. It often requires months of planning, healing, monitoring and adjustment. Even under the best circumstances, things do not go exactly as planned. Complications can occur with any provider, and treating them is much harder when you are in another country.

When treatment is done close to home, complications are often easier to manage. The dentist who knows your case is available for follow-up. The patient can return for adjustments. They can address problems before they become larger issues.

Responding to these issues is much harder when treatment was received overseas.

Even in Arizona, dental care can be difficult to navigate. Here, patients and providers generally share the same language and work within the same medical and legal system.

Once care moves to another country, the challenges increase. Communication is harder, standards and expectations differ, and follow-up may be limited or impossible. What will your dentist do thousands of miles away if something goes wrong when you return home? Gaps in proximity and treatment matter more than many patients realize.

It’s also difficult for patients to know whom they are trusting with their care. Patients are not trained to evaluate a treatment plan, assess surgical quality or distinguish genuine expertise from persuasive marketing. If a patient doesn’t know much about a procedure, it doesn’t take much for someone to sound like an expert. A nice website with before-and-after photos can create confidence in a provider, whether or not that confidence is deserved.

I understand the financial realities many patients face. Implant treatment is expensive and often feels out of reach. Insurance does not always solve the problem. In many cases, it functions more as a basic safety net than a pathway to ideal care. If someone is losing teeth, insurance may cover a denture to restore basic function, but it won’t cover implants. Insurance won’t cover the more stable, long-term solution.

This reality is why dental tourism is so attractive to Arizonans, but I’ve seen the downsides. I’ve treated patients who returned with implants exposed through the tissue, failing restorations and work that simply did not hold up.

Telling a patient they need more work to fix mistakes is hard. Treatments abroad can be cheaper, but that doesn’t mean they cost less. In some cases, the patient ends up paying even more when they pay for a procedure and then pay again to fix it.

Many people will participate in dental tourism and have no regrets. I’m happy for them, but I’ll always be nervous because any medical travel is a gamble. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Arizonans considering dental tourism should not assume disaster, but they also shouldn’t assume complete safety. Ask your provider tough questions. Understand the risks and make sure your savings are worth the uncertainty. Complex dental care at the lowest price can end up costing the most.

Dr. Nate Farley is a board-certified prosthodontist who is founder and CEO of a Valley-based implant center. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.