Dental Tourism and HCMC recommendations

[ethernet]

Dental Tourism and HCMC recommendations

1) For crowns- anyone got a personal recommendation for a Vietnam dentist ?

1a) Yes, Itardbook, dental departures and other comparison sites are up there, but don't list the Dentists who work, their qualifications. Post specialties are a good indicator - even for Australian fang merchants.

2) Which ones offer locally made crowns rather than upsell to fancy sounding exotic brand names. How
would you know the $40 one they installed was the $400 princess one (made at the same lab) you paid for?

At $3300 for one molar tooth with root canal.The Dental guild is taking the piss out of me. My Bupa basic plan
only covers $160 of that because preventative insurance does not cover much. I think the term junk plan is appropriate. My bad for not upping my plan earlier - but teeth gave me no advance warning just 1 month after my last check up and clean.I checked university school dental clinics, but they are full with health card only referrals. YMMV. I would have it done locally if it was affordable. CHOICE magazine reports Australian dentists are now unaffordable, and the AMA are envious.

Vietnam has one or two five star accredited dental clinics - but they charge the same as .au or USA. I am
aiming below this. September hol season was a bad time - but Jetstar ($400 odd rtn) won the business for HCMC. Xian for $550 return was the next lowest cost destination. Both need visas, so Visa on Arrival at HCMC wins out.

A scan of AFF reveals not much for medical tourism since 2014 - other than staying away from India because of MSRA and worse. Bangkok is a fairly safe bet, but I suspect some of my redone fillings caused the nerves to suffer a few years down the track. Columbia or Brazil remain good choices if you have relatives there.

I have nothing but praise for an International clinic in Danang - but I think you need to visit the place
personally. I think they stopped offering locally made crowns at some point. They have a QA system in placevery good indeed If they are not booked out - they are on my short list. October rooms in Danang are 67% off. But that would mean a short 2 way flight.However after that huge toxic outfall fishkill drama I am
unsure about the live seafood shops in Danang https://phys.org/news/2017-06-vietnam-environment-
mass-fish.html.

 

[drron]

Vietnam also has a high incidence of multi resistant bacteria.
High prevalence of antibiotic resistance in commensal Escherichia coli among children in rural Vietnam.
And specifically HCMC-
Prevalence of multiresistant Gram-negative organisms in a surgical hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. - PubMed - NCBI

The chance of picking up an infection is probably not high but if you do a strong possibility it could be serious.

 

[ethernet]

Vietnam also has a high incidence of multi resistant bacteria.
High prevalence of antibiotic resistance in commensal Escherichia coli among children in rural Vietnam.
And specifically HCMC-
Prevalence of multiresistant Gram-negative organisms in a surgical hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. - PubMed - NCBI

The chance of picking up an infection is probably not high but if you do a strong possibility it could be serious.

Noted. Yes, so is driving to the airport, breathing the germs at 33K, the seat food tray, or the plane toilet.
Interesting, and more unfortunate for the dentist and the assistant (or hospital surgeon). Crossing the road in HCMC is more terrifying for me.Not riding a motorcycle is also a risk reduction protocol for me. Obviously I look for a cleaner more upmarket place Makes you wonder why Australia /Customs allow raw shrimp to be sold in Australia - White spot is nothing Test finds 60% of raw shrimp tainted with bacteria, including superbug MRSA

However dentists are of this, and of infection control. I observed big places have separate rooms for implants, and not one room does it all .Should I eliminate a clinic where the assistant is not properly masked up and protected from the patient?
Lucky i don't need a poverty kidney transplant by disreputable surgeons in Mumbai. Yes abuse of antibiotics is a problem and Vn prawn farmers are still using heaps.

Thankfully dentistry has less blood than medical procedures and I am not after an implant. Maybe I should ask when they had their last resistant infection complication. I have my hep B shots, which I think is a must have for SE Asia. I look that the handset is stripped and autoclave working. I also try to pick women dentists, because some males will hurry up and do a rush job. So a big clinic with lots of assistants is good. And a telephone to tell them to call best times. And take the first appointment in the morning.

All AFF tourists face this

,

 

[ozbeachbabe]

What city are you in Ethernet?

The Aussie dentist I go to in Brisbane is of Vietnamese descent and he recently had to fix up dental work (crowns etc) for his father who had that work done in Vietnam so while there may be good dentists in Vietnam there are also not so good dentists.

My private health insurance is AHM for extras and Australian Unity for hospital cover which is a combination recommended to me by I-Select. I didn't know until then that I could have two separate funds for the above. Maybe call them and see if there are any deals going with any health funds who may offer immediate cover or short wait time (eg 3 months) for major dental.I-select receive a commission when you sign up however you don't pay anymore on your premiums because of this. Just tell them what you requirements are and they do the comparisons and make a recommendation.

Coverage can differ widely for crowns as some funds may pay slightly more for crowns but limit the number or crowns you can have (per membership year) where other funds pay less but have a more generous limit to the number of crowns you can have.

As whether the health fund membership is calendar year or financial and whether any benefits roll over from one year to the next if you don't use it all. AHM is financial year so if you needed more work done than you receive benefits for you could get some done prior to 30 June then the rest done after 01 July to maximise your benefits.

Plenty of dentists here in Australia would do a consult and give you a treatment plan and cost breakdown. Not sure whether they have any payment plans for medical (like vets) or whether a bank would do a loan for such.
.

 

[JohnK]

I need to get 3 implants/crowns done. I think Thailand is a good place to get them done and there are a few AFFers (and some I know personally) who can recommend a reputable dentist/clinic.

Personally I think the risk/cost is worth the savings to be had and if something goes wrong quite easy to go back and fix there as opposed to fixing here.

 

[Happy Dude]

Ethernet, you appear to be well aware of the many risks, to the point of being a germophobe wrt seafood, so why risk all the uncertainty to save the difference between having it done in AUS and the cost (which includes the effort and pre- & post-treatment anxiety) of travel to Vietnam?

 

[QF WP]

Personally, I would only trust those Vietnamese dentist that have Australian qualifications. There have been quite a number of Vietnamese students (since the late 1980's) who got their qualifications in Australia (BDSc or BDS depending on which State they obtained their qualifications) and have gone back to Vietnam to ply their trade. The more recent the better, but that still doesn't tell you about how good they are.

Choice article here is a recent and measured article: The rise of dental tourism - dentists and dental care

ADA stance on Dental Tourism (their Fact Sheet seems to be missing): News & Media - Australian Dental Association

 

[MEL_Traveller]

To the OP, why not go to Bangkok? Close to Viet Nam but at least there are a lot more reviews and recommendations there. The big dental hospitals for starters are supposedly very good, and then there's a host of smaller clinics... but for those you really need a solid recommendation.

I think the 'risks' for medical dental work are in finding a good dentist. Once you find one the risk should be no greater than going to one in Australia. The difference... aside from the $1000 extra we pay here... is that if the dentist mucks we can supposedly go back for them to fix it up. But even that can be difficult in Australia. Very few dentists are going to admit they got it wrong

 

[ethernet]

OK Mel Traveller,

My own answer is I-Dent dental Implant centre. They do general dentistry as well,and did a great job on my crowns.
I agree. But if you are in Vietnam, I can recommend identdentalimplantcenter.com who will take good care of you, and are on
the international GCR rating list. One tenth of the Australian price, and more professional. Sure airfare and hotel costs
take a bite out the apparent savings I am still $2000 ahead, and before tax $2500. Sure, thats if I do not value my time.
But as a self funded retiree, I got time.

In fact the hotel wireless internet speed here is faster than my ADSL connection in Australia, so I have been productive.
BTW my AUD $23 per night hotel room at AVA2 an AVA3 will do and ticks all the boxes for me.
One drawback is I-Dent offer no pensioner or senior citizen discounts, and their online promotions are ellusive. The second
is they provided me with an interpreter as their English is not great. Not needed if you speak French. I think I will post
a country report - and post that later. For many reasons, including getting an overqualified dentist, I-Dent is a winner.

All their prices and info is in their website.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For many reasons, including getting an overqualified dentist, I-Dent is a winner.

Excellent! Good to have more options in more countries

 

[ethernet]

Excellent! Good to have more options in more countries

Medical Tourism for All. See Global Clinic Rating - The Trusted Standard For Medical Clinic Ratings

Cardio,Plastic Surgery and more! I started with a methodology rather than random google searches that really promote paying
advertisers.GCR provides you with success metrics on over clinics in the world and GCR is currently the fastest growing
accreditation service in the world.Now I dont trust GCR entirely, as Croatia figures high in dental nirvana, but where Swiss and German dentists do not come in the global top 10. Hmmm. But it is better than nothing.GCR is useful at giving you the top 10 clinics that paid to get on that list but also willing to accept scrutiny. If I consider the top ten, then eliminate the ones trying to
buy their way to the top.For Dental work in Vietnam, I-Dent did all the right things like shaping the teeth better than the originals
to eliminate flossing gaps (Caused by another dentist ripping out good teeth when I was young- because of overcrowding), rather than just cast off the original. Dr Tung's impressive qualifications are listed.

I also enjoyed a difficult root canal, where my Thai crown (without a root canal) needed one when the gum line receded enough to hurt at times 3 years later 1.2 Million Dong is AUD 68 dollars for the best part of three hours in the chair. Yeah five out of five there, for sure. It sure costs more in Australia!

Go on, hop over to GCR and look up the top 10 dental clinics in Australia. The ADA has some work to do.

 

[Steady]

enjoyed a difficult root canal

Your one sick puppy ethernet

 

[bushtuckerman]

I need to get 3 implants/crowns done. I think Thailand is a good place to get them done and there are a few AFFers (and some I know personally) who can recommend a reputable dentist/clinic.

Personally I think the risk/cost is worth the savings to be had and if something goes wrong quite easy to go back and fix there as opposed to fixing here.

My dentist of some 15 years is in Bangkok...quality workmanship using US implants at half Australian price. Don't be unduly influenced by the Australian Dental Association's self-serving scare tactics.
I can recommend Bangkok International Dental Center in Th Ratchadpisek without hesitation.
Cheers
Bush

 

[ethernet]

Today, another trip to Ident Implant clinic for a clean/checkup at 193A-195 Hung Vong, Phung 09 Quan 5 HCMC or www.nhakhoaident.com Clean and Polish 200K dong and resin filling 200K for a grand total of 400K or AUD $25 -taxi was another 60K each way from D1. Dr Huynh Thi Thuy Tien gave me the most relativity painless ultrasonic descale in recent memory, so I would say she would be excellent with Children and discomfort shy adults.

Its rainyslow season in Vn now, so I got in the next day. I unconditionally recommend this place, having been back many times over the years. Their website will augment all the plusses and advanced qualifications of each dentist. From D1 a 60K taxi fare each way. They do everything here, more than implants, and they have a clinical rating. Clean safe quality ticks all my boxes.

So if you are passing that way, drop in.