In Britain, Dental Tourism Comes to You

Sept. 4, 2008— -- People in wealthy countries worldwide have turned to dental tourism as a cheap source of dental care. But for the British, dental tourism is coming home to them in the form of a mobile, inflatable dental office tour.

Hungarian Dental Travel expanded its dental tourism business to Britain four years ago, but reportedly had trouble getting British patients to jump on the dental tourism bandwagon.

"Hungary has become the dental capital of the European Union," said Cecilia Varga, head of marketing at Hungarian Dental Travel. "But because the British are very traditional and suspicious about all sorts of things, we were constantly on the phone answering questions."

Varga said Britons often asked many more questions about dentists' qualifications, the materials, the methods and safety than dental tourists in other countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

"So we decided to bring the Hungarian dentists over to the U.K. so the patients could meet the dentists," Varga said.

The tour of the inflatable dentist office will kick off Thursday in Lincoln, U.K. Varga said patients can call ahead of time to book a 30-minute appointment to consult and design a treatment plan. If the British patient then wants to go through with the treatment, he or she can book hotels and surgery times with Hungarian Dental Travel.

Varga and her colleagues expect the tour to be a success. "There are huge waiting lists here [for British dentists]," Varga said. "People actually started doing DIY [do-it-yourself] dentistry."

Even a dental association in Britain acknowledges the temptation.

"National Health Services covers dentistry," said Simon Howell, director of campaigns at the British Dental Health Foundation. "But it's a contribution, it's not free like medical services."

Adding to the price is that, statistically, there are not enough National Health Service dentists and the general rate has increased, Howell said. Patients are left with pricey private dentists or the cheaper options to fix their teeth.

"They'll give you a nice set of plastic dentures, but probably not what you want to kiss your husband with when you're 50," Howell said.