Questions to ask before dental treatment abroad

[Draft guide: Ana to check facts, Arthur to approve, before publishing]

Before you read on

Treatment through Smile Passage takes place in Georgia, at independent clinics. Smile Passage is not a clinic and does not give dental advice.
A dentist must assess you before any treatment plan or price is final. Nothing here replaces that assessment.
Ask every clinic, in writing, how follow-up and complications are handled once you are home, and who pays for them.

The UK’s dental regulator, the General Dental Council, suggests talking to your own dentist first and asking plenty of questions, even blunt ones. If an answer doesn’t satisfy you, you don’t have to commit to anything that day. These are the questions we would want answered.

1. Who will treat me?

What is the dentist’s name, and what qualifications do they hold?
Which body licenses the clinic and registers dentists in that country, and can I check the dentist on its register myself? [Ana: name the Georgian licensing body and its public register, if there is one]
If the dentist calls themselves a specialist, what training backs that up?
Will the same dentist see me on every visit?

2. How will I be assessed?

What records do you need before you can give me a real plan (for example a recent X-ray or scan), and how do I send them securely?
Will you ask about my medical history, medicines and general health? (A careful clinic always will.)
Is the plan you send before I travel provisional? What could change once you examine me in person, and how would the price change?

3. What exactly is in the plan?

Can I have the plan in writing, in English, tooth by tooth?
What materials and, for implants, which implant system will you use?
How many trips will I need, how long is each one, and how long between them?
What are the risks and alternatives, including doing less or doing nothing?

4. What does it cost, all in?

What is included: consultation, X-rays or scans, extractions, temporary teeth, medicines, follow-up visits?
What might be extra (for example bone grafting), and roughly how much?
Which currency is the price in, when do I pay, and is the deposit refundable if the dentist decides I’m not suitable?

Our guide to comparing quotes goes through this in more detail.

5. What happens after I go home?

Is the work guaranteed? For how long, what does the guarantee cover, and can I see it in writing?
If something goes wrong, who pays for remedial work, and for any extra flights and hotel?
Who can I contact with a question after treatment, and how quickly will they reply?
Will you give me copies of my records and X-rays, in English, to take to my UK dentist?
Do you have a written complaints procedure I can see?

6. Travel and insurance

Is it safe for me to fly soon after this treatment? Ask the clinic for its advice for your specific plan.
Does the clinic carry insurance for this procedure?
Check with your own travel insurer whether it covers a trip taken for treatment, and what it excludes.

Questions to ask us

You should also ask Smile Passage how we are paid and what we do and don’t do. Short version: partner clinics pay us a fee when someone we introduce books treatment, it is not added to your price, and the clinic alone decides your treatment. Full detail in our terms.