Turkish clinics offering cheap Hollywood smiles are 'preying' on Irish patients
TURKISH clinics offering cheap “Hollywood smiles” are inflicting a lifetime of dentists’ visits and bills on Irish patients, an expert has warned. Thousands are flocking east to clinics which “prey… Turkish clinics offering cheap Hollywood smiles are inflicting lifetime of dentist trips on thousands of Irish patients, according to an expert. Thousands are flocking to clinics which “prey” on people’s dental insecurities, while TV shows such as RTE’�s Keith”s Teeth add to the allure of having perfect teeth. One Co Louth man had six months of hell trying to get a tooth fixed after flawed surgery, experts explain how an often unnecessary quick fix will see patients “feeding the monster” for life. Cost-cutting and cheap deals can see teeth crowns “fused together” into a single unit, leaving customers unable to properly tend to their teeth. Former Boyzone star Keith Duffy’'s Dental Odyssey examined Irish people's increasing obsession with their teeth, and one man who insisted on going for the full package when teeth whitening didn’t cut it in his teens was Sean Malone from Dundalk.
प्रकाशित : 2 साल पहले द्वारा Danielle Masterson में Health
TOOTH BE TOLD Dodgy Turkish clinics offering cheap ‘Hollywood smiles’ are inflicting lifetime of dentist trips on thousands of Irish
TURKISH clinics offering cheap “Hollywood smiles” are inflicting a lifetime of dentists’ visits and bills on Irish patients, an expert has warned.
Thousands are flocking east to clinics which “prey” on people’s dental insecurities, while TV shows such as RTE’s Keith’s Teeth add to the allure of having perfect teeth.
But as one Co Louth man told us of his six months of hell trying to get a tooth fixed after flawed surgery, experts explain how an often unnecessary quick fix will see patients “feeding the monster” for life.
Carlow dentist Dr Caroline Robbins told The Irish Sun: “My concern is when I see so many young ones going out and they’ve got actually really healthy teeth before they go.
“Then their healthy teeth get cut down and it shortens the life of the natural tooth. And they’ve also got that dentistry in their mouth for the rest of their lives.
“Whereas if they had actually just left it alone, they’d probably be 80 years old and still have those teeth as they were 60 years ago.”
She explained that cost-cutting and cheap deals can see teeth crowns “fused together” into a single unit — leaving customers unable to properly tend to their teeth.
The Kiwi Clinic dentist and VP of the Irish Dental Association said: “There is a degree of mass production. There’s a commercial-ness to this. They are preying on people to go over. It’s almost like a chain, you’re on a conveyor belt.”
The principal dentist at the Kiwi Clinic warned crowns are much more invasive than getting veneers.
She said: “For crowns, the whole tooth has been shaved down. The whole thing has gone.
“That’s the crown prep. So that is much more invasive.
“Often, now not always, and it is very much depending on the homework that they do, but what we see is that these crowns come back fused together.
“What we see is the person comes back and they might have six crowns fused together, stuck in.
“So they’re all going in as one unit. They can’t floss between the teeth anymore, so then they can’t keep them healthy.
“And then if one breaks, in that case, you’ve got a problem with six teeth. It’s cheaper for them to produce them fused together.”
Irish dentists offer individual crowns so you can floss around them and maintain a healthy mouth. Dr Robbins added: “Don’t be spurred on by looking out for five-star reviews.
“I’ve had so many people come back and say, ‘They got five-star reviews and I was so disappointed’.”
Former Boyzone star Keith Duffy’s Dental Odyssey, which aired on RTE last Wednesday, examined Irish people’s increasing obsession with their teeth.
One man who insisted on going for the full package when teeth whitening didn’t cut it in his teens was Sean Malone from Dundalk.
He forked out €4,000 on crowns in Istanbul for his “Hollywood smile” after previously being quoted up to €15,000 in Ireland.
Sean, 24, got ten crowns on his top gnashers and ten on the bottom set. The “scariest part” for him was having his teeth shaved down.
He said: “That’s like your natural teeth disappearing.”
While thrilled at how they looked, he warned that it came at a cost. He said: “I went to Turkey about a year before. I’d seen their company advertising about teeth.
“I went, ‘I am just going to do it’. So then I just bit the bullet. I wanted the whitest, Hollywood kind of smile.”
But 11 months after he returned, he lost a tooth biting into a slice of pizza. He said: “I literally just bit into it and then I looked in the mirror and it [the tooth] was gone. That was quite awful.”
Sean turned to his Turkey contacts for help.
He said: “I emailed the company. They wanted to charge me €1,000 to €1,300 just to get it fixed. That wasn’t included in the (original) price, so I said I’d try somewhere like Dundalk.”
However, most dentists weren’t jumping to his rescue, and it was eight months before it was all finally sorted.
He said: “Some places wanted to give me an implant. Others were quoting nearly €2,500 themselves.”
Sean bought himself some time by opting for a temporary tooth but knew it wasn’t going to be a long-term solution.
He said: “I just bit the bullet and went off to Newry. That is where I got everything sorted for half the price of places in Dundalk.”
Dr Robbins revealed that crowns aren’t a way of avoiding future trips to the dentist.
She said: “Don’t just put those on and think your teeth are perfect for the next 20 years.
“You need to maintain them and come and get them cleaned regularly.”
She added: “Now you’ve actually created a monster and you have to keep the monster fed. You need to keep it clean. You have to get the dentist to show you how to clean between the teeth. Or if you have a bridge, how to clean under the bridge and floss.”
Sean warned: “I definitely don’t think people realise the money they have to spend afterwards, a year or two down the line.”
Turkish clinics are quoting rates for a full crown makeover on WhatsApp in a matter of minutes.
A crown can set you back anything from €400 to €800 in Ireland, compared to Turkish rates that can be as low as €115 per crown. But if anything goes wrong, some of these clinics hit customers with more bills.
While carrying out an investigation for The Irish Sun, I was quoted €3,000 for 20 zirconium crowns. That price included treatment, four-star hotel accommodation and VIP transport.
But one Istanbul clinic told us that clients need to pay for any damage caused by themselves.
They said: “We have never experienced anything like this before, luckily. But in that case, if it is our fault you will be coming again and treatment will be for free, you will just book your hotel and transfers.
“But if it is not our fault, you can get this done again by paying for it, for sure.
“Because, for example, in cases like accidents, even original teeth are damaged.”
A Turkish plastic surgery clinic offering cheap dental work said customers need to pay for the “materials” to fix any lost veneers.
Dr Robbins suggested to anyone considering dental work abroad to avail of the free PRSI dental check-up. She said: “Go see your dentist, make sure that the teeth are healthy and the foundations are healthy.
“Maybe even get a clean before you go out there, because there’s no point making something look nice on a dicky foundation.
“It will look nice, but it’s not going to solve a problem that lies underneath.”
विषय: Turkey, Turkish