IBN Live
21 October 2011
Chennai , India

Simon King, from North Shields, UK, underwent extensive dental treatment at Dr Smilez Dental Centre in the city. While it has become fairly regular for patients to come to India for dental treatment from all over Asia and the Middle East, patients from Europe are a rarity. He contacted the dental hospital through their website and was informed that full implants and immediate bridge would be provided for him.

One of the main reasons for a sharp spike in dental tourism is the high cost of treatment in their own countries. The most common procedures for which patients travel is for implants and cosmetic dental procedures. In the UK, it would cost him £2,000 for each implant which is very high compared to £500 to £700 in India.

The process involved an initial consultation before the patient came to Chennai through web-conferencing and examination of the CT scans and blood tests of the patient to ascertain that he was fit for implant surgery. On his arrival, initial measurements were made and on the second day, the surgery was done under intravenous sedation. Five dental implants were placed in the upper jaw within an hour and he was discharged after three hours.

Measurements to fabricate the teeth were made immediately and sent to the dental lab. They were fixed the next day using a screw–retained approach. The patient was able to start chewing from the time the teeth were fixed and will be returning home within a week of surgery.

“I can now smile with confidence and I have had the pleasure of complete comfort during my entire stay here,” says a smiling Simon King, after the operation was carried out at the hospital's Ashok Nagar centre.