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Dental Tourism in India

With dental costs skyrocketing in Europe and the United States, patients are seeking less expensive alternatives for unavoidable and necessary procedures. Since the 1990s, an increasingly popular trend has been emerging in tourism; that of medical tourism. While patients have been traveling the world for approximately 20 years to seek out low-cost plastic surgery, most recently they have been joined by those seeking cheaper dentistry.

  1. About

    • India is fast emerging as one of the preferred destinations for dental tourism. Each year, thousands flock to India to take advantage of low-cost dental surgery and procedures such as implants. Keen to promote visitors, service providers are growing in number and offering surgical procedures from world-class medical practitioners, combined with sightseeing tours.

    Implants

    • The most common form of dental surgery requested is dental implants. These are artificial mounts that are surgery fixed into the jawbone, which, over time, will fuse with the bone. Into these mounts replacement teeth are screwed. This type of surgery has been popular in the United States since the late 1990s, but remains extremely expensive.

    Cosmetic Dentistry

    • Cosmetic dentistry is also popular, particularly as it is rarely covered by dental insurance providers in the U.S. Procedures such as teeth whitening, gum reshaping and tooth veneering can cost around 300 percent less in India.

    Costs

    • The cost savings in going to India for dental procedures can be enormous, even after factoring in air travel and accommodation. The average 2010 cost of a root canal in the United States is $1,000. In India the average cost is $100. A dental implant in the U.S. might cost $3,500, and in India will cost around $800.

    Legalities

    • Receiving medical care in India, may subject patients to unfamiliar legal issues, such as limited litigation, and a lack of personal insurance to cover any malpractice. Practitioners may also lack appropriate insurance coverage and medical indemnity. This accounts, in part, for the reduced costs of treatment.

      Because medical tourism represents more than $2 billion of business to India, each year, the Ministry of Tourism is keen to promote legitimacy, and extend its Market Development Assistance scheme to cover hospitals and surgical providers.

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