Cheap Dental Tourism Putting New Zealand Patients at Risk

25 July 2012

Cheap Dental Tourism Putting New Zealand Patients at Risk

One of New Zealand’s leading dentists is cautioning patients that cheap dental tourism in countries such as Thailand is not just false economy, it’s downright risky.

Dr Andrea Shepperson is concerned that patients are resorting to travelling overseas for medical treatment in the belief that they will receive a similar standard of care that they would in New Zealand. And that is simply not the case.

“Tourism companies selling a service for which they have no expertise or accountability are putting patients at risk,” says Dr Shepperson.

Shepperson explains that major dental surgery is no holiday activity. The expertise and experience required to manage extensive tooth wear is considerable.

“It takes planning, knowledge and test-driving prototypes to know before you start that the re-engineering required will work. That requires a process of building a relationship with each patient,” says Dr Shepperson.

“If the work is done rapidly by those who have not taken the time to recognise the fundamental forces that have destroyed the teeth in the first instance, the reconstruction may not have a great future, potentially costing the client significantly more.”

In the interim, the money has been paid; the dental tourism operator has clipped the ticket and the client risks breakage, accelerated tooth loss and a lot of heartache and disappointment.

Dr Shepperson’s concerns lie with the fact that dental tourism business operators are guided by business objectives such as profits and turnover rather than the professional ethic prescribed to by New Zealand dentists. Patients wooed overseas by tourism marketing are not protected by the strict code of ethics backed up with legislation such as the Consumer Guarantees Act and Health & Disability Act.

Dr Shepperson is also concerned about the growing perception that there is no alternative to taking such risks in the face of the possibility of expensive surgery.

“In many cases dentists are able to work with our patients to find ways to help them that they can afford, or design an option allowing stabilisation of the situation in the short-term followed by carefully guided results over time.”

Dr Shepperson explains that while extensive dental surgery is expensive for many New Zealand households, there are cost-effective alternatives to risking long-term dental health with unknown dental tourism programmes.

“Those alternatives may take longer to implement, but you can be certain that they have been conducted with a long-term solution in mind.”

“Despite the allure of a quick-fix, New Zealand patients must be aware that with dentistry you get what you pay for,” says Dr Shepperson.

“Playing Russian roulette with a solution that may effectively do more harm than good is not only wasted money; it is simply a risk not worth taking.”

ENDS

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