Dental tourist Paula's* recent experience of combining a holiday in Budapest with affordable dental care have been altogether positive.
"I'd lost some of my back teeth and I was getting a little bit worried that I'd have to get dentures," she says. However, dentures were looking increasingly likely as the alternative was prohibitively expensive. She was referred by her dentist in Kerry to a consultant in Dublin, who gave her an estimate of €17,000 for three implants and a number of crowns.
"I really felt I'd like to get my teeth done, but it was just too expensive," she recalls. The treatment would take three months and would involve several trips to Dublin, adding further to the expense.
Paula was aware that her brother and his wife had got dental work done in Hungary and were pleased with the results, so she went online, did some research and decided to go through dentalhungary.ie.
In May of this year, Paula hopped on a Malev flight to Budapest with her husband and was met by a driver at the airport, who whisked her to the clinic for her first examination. "The clinic itself was in an old building, but was extremely nice," she says.
During the week-long trip, the dental surgeons carried out preparatory work, such as putting in the bases for the implants and some temporary crowns.
"Then I needed four months' healing time," Paula explains. She returned to Budapest in September, but most of the work had been done in the first trip, so this was a less gruelling week.
Paula paid less than €8,000 in total, but got considerably more work done than was originally quoted for by the Irish consultant. In the end, she had two extractions, five implants and seven crowns. She estimates that this would cost up to €30,000 in Ireland.
The holiday element of each trip, such as flights and accommodation, cost roughly €1,200. "We were very impressed with Budapest," she says. "It's a fabulous place."
So would she recommend it? "If you want to get your teeth done, if it's something that you really need to have done, I think it's well worth it," she says. "I'm very pleased with it."
*Not her real name
