The Risks of Medical Tourism |In Chair with Dr. Bobby
It is only human to be swept up in the allure of medical tourism; who doesn’t love a ‘discount’ and a holiday?
At Dr. Bobby Chhoker, we understand why Australians are romanticized by the idea of travelling abroad for medical treatments, however, we often wonder; at what cost is the ‘discount’ really worth?
Samantha came to us after a dental procedure in India, where she was hoping to receive new molar implants over five years ago. After experiencing ongoing complications and trauma associated with her treatment, she booked her consult at our Bondi practice where we were able to discover the issue. The original dentist inserted a large implant into Samantha’s sinus, and she will now require many more procedures to repair the damage and restore her teeth.
‘I took a chance, I thought everything was fine and it wasn’t. So I am back to square one. In the end, I spent a lot more than I would have if I had just started from scratch here in Sydney. It has been over five years of complicated trauma.’
We do not support the idea of medical tourism, however, if you are committed to travelling for a procedure, here are our top five tips to help keep you safe:
- Make sure your clinician has the right qualifications and experience.
- Ensure the surgery has the right level of cross-level control. You can insist on walking around the surgery and see the back end of it to ensure you are not going to get an infection or contract a disease.
- Read the contract very carefully and change the contract so it is adapted to your needs, not theirs.
- Insist you have some kind of ‘money-back guarantee’.
- Ensure all of the remedial work is covered and you have a warranty that will also include return flights in the case that you require any additional procedures.
If you are considering travelling abroad for dental treatment we encourage you to take advantage of our free consultation offer so you can come in and discuss your desired procedure and outcome. This will allow you to make an educated and informed decision while giving you a marker to understand what treatments and costs are involved.
You will also be surprised to learn how affordable and accessible our treatments are, which is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
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