LEIPZIG, Germany: Dentists in affluent, high-priced markets, such as North America, Japan, Australia, and Western Europe may need to keep an eye on overseas and cross-border competition in the form of dental tourism. A dental tourism survey by RevaHealth.com, a medical and dental tourism search engine in Dublin, Ireland, claims 'high levels of satisfaction' among dental tourists it polled.

“Patients who travelled abroad to receive treatment revealed an average satisfaction rating of 84 per cent, along with an average cost saving of US$6,400, or 60 per cent of the cost of their treatment locally,” the company says in a release.

More than 95 per cent of respondents to RevaHealth.com’s survey cited cost as the main reason they opted to receive dental treatment abroad. However, they listed quality as the deciding factor in determining which clinic they went to.

“Patients reported wide variations in the amount of the money they saved and in the abilities of certain clinics to communicate effectively,” RevaHealth.com says. “There were also variations in satisfaction between countries as a whole, with patient satisfaction highest overall for clinics in Hungary, Poland and Thailand.”

Thailand has recently become one of the most popular destinations for medical tourists in Asia, earning the country more US$1 billion a year. The Thai government has invested in many areas of the country’s burgeoning medical tourism market, from speeding visa clearance for patients to guaranteeing the highest standards through accreditation programmes. According to RevaHealth.com, 90 per cent of Australian dental patients that go abroad are visiting the country for treatment.