Some New Zealanders say they are saving thousands of dollars by heading overseas for dental treatment, but those in the industry here are urging caution over dental tourism.
Last month a group of seven New Zealanders travelled to Vietnam with a Kiwi-run dental tour company, bringing home smiles that saved them thousands of dollars.
“This is the first time I've smiled in many many years. My teeth have just worsened over time And I've just sort of smiled with no teeth," Alisha Tamepo-pehi said.
Tamepo-pehi is a nurse in Whanganui and paid less than a third of what she was quoted in New Zealand.
She received three crowns and 18 fillings.
"It sounds really bad, but New Zealand wanted to pull my teeth out instead of giving them fillings."
Chanelle Taylor from Waikato runs the dental tours and said that "anything that you can get done here in New Zealand, you can get done over there, from extractions, implants, bridges". They assist with pre-trip communication with the dentist, appointments, transport and accommodation.
Any post-care back in New Zealand is for the client to arrange.
Taylor and her husband started the business after he saved tens of thousands of dollars on his own teeth in Vietnam.
"He got quoted $22,000 here in New Zealand. [He] got his work done there for only $1700. It's been two years, no complications, nothing."
Someone else who travelled with them paid $9000, after being quoted $90,000 at home.
Taylor said the demand is there and they have another trip booked for next month.
'The infection will blow up'
Dentist Dr Saud Ibrahim warned against the trips, however.
He said he sees one patient a week with issues resulting from overseas work, often linked to untreated infections
"A month later, or six months later, or a year later, the infection will blow up, it's like a volcano... you don't know when that will erupt."
Dr Ibrahim said he had been called out for an emergency procedure at 1am by a client in severe pain who had travelled overseas.
The New Zealand Dental Association strongly urged caution for those considering travelling to get work done on their teeth.
It said dentists are increasingly fixing poorly performed overseas dental procedures, often without full records of what was done or materials used.
Dr Ibrahim said people "need a follow-up, they need maintenance, they need good control about their hygiene as well".
He said the reason treatment was so expensive here is because of the high standard of care.
"The cross-infection control standard here is amazing. We are concerned about [the] safety of the patient more than anything else".
Tamepo-pehi said "if there was a subsidy or if there was like a public system that we could access, it would be, yeah, it would really change people's lives here in New Zealand".
Until then, Taylor said "I guess I'll be doing dental tours over to Vietnam to help people out".
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