Would you go abroad for dental veneers?

[Afternooninthepark]

My sister has decided to have a full set of dental veneers done in Turkey (obviously once the virus is under some sort of control).
She has told me that it’s ‘only’ around £5k over there as opposed to the £££’s it would be here in the U.K and she can combine it with a holiday.
I was horrified when she told me they will file down all of her teeth to little stumps, even the healthy ones and then replace with the veneers and all this can be done in 5 days.
Has anyone had this done? Seems to good to be true at such a low cost and speedy turnaround. What if she has some kind of issue a year or so later, surely it could end up costing her a fortune in the long run?

When I was a teenager ine if my front teeth was hit and turned black . I had one veneer at the age of 18 for cosmetic reasons . Am
Mid 40s now and have had it replaced 3 times .
No way would I advise damaging healthy teeth on purpose for what is in effect a temporary procedure . The tooth isn’t exactly a stump , but the enamel is filed off so there is no going back .
I only have one , but can’t imagine the frequency that one within a full set may need to be re glued . They can come off at any time and if you accidentny smash it you need a new one . It’s not until you lose a healthy tooth that yu realise how lucky you are . Don’t mess is my advice !

DH had a lot of dental work done in Budapest, not veneers though.
He was delighted with the work and the cost was far lower than the quivalent in the UK.
Nor sure whether I would choose Turkey over Budapest. The reputation of Hungarian dentists is far higher.

No way. How can she be sure of the reputation of the dentist.

Nope. I have a friend who did and who was delighted. But I wouldn't take the risk. Also, filling teeth down...?? Argh!! Makes me want to brush my teeth now!

I’ve had a quick look on YouTube, they really do file the teeth down to tiny stumps, I thought my sister was exaggerating!

I had this done in Greece. It was a 3rd of the cost of having it done in the UK with fabulous results.

However, my family are from there, so essentially he's my family dentist!

He speaks very good English though and is absolutely lovely 😁

I'm not sure if I would get veneers (the teeth filing bothers me too!) but if I did, and did go abroad, I'd need to do an enormous amount of research and see a lot of (verified) testimonials from other customers before I chose anyone.

True veneers are not filed down to stumps - that is done for crowns. For veneers the teeth are shaved down slightly.

I echo what @Candyapple49 says. I have 3 veneers from falling and breaking my teeth in my 20s. They are a pain in the ass. I've had them replaced 3 times, and the only reason it isn't more is because I am obsessively careful with them - I never use them to bite on food, clean and floss every morning and evening, and luckily my bite is such that my front teeth don't meet.

I cannot understand people who go for a mouthful of veneers. Unless they are planning to never chew again!

Having had lots of dental problems myself in the last few years I don’t think it’s an option I’d go for but she’s a grown woman, I just hope she does her research before she goes.

This thread has made me cringe! Filing teeth?! Bleurgh!

No I wouldn't go abroad for any medical/cosmetic treatment anyway in case it goes wrong. But the thing about these type of veneers is, I wouldn't risk it because what happens if you fall on hard times and can't afford to get them replaced? Then they start falling off and then you're left a tiny little stump teeth...

If you needed the full set I'd consider the permanent denture veneers they are screw in like dental implants more secure cheaper and have them at home.
My friend and her DH had their full set done in Turkey, not sure if they use cheaper quality veneers. They'll need them replaced every 7 to 10 years afaik.

I never know how people are brave enough to get this stuff done!

Shudder. Scary.

Does she really need them or has she been reading too many posts on social media making her think she has to have perfect looking pure white teeth to fit into society? If it’s just a couple of squint teeth or something that’s spoiling the look she could get them fixed here for cheaper than £5k and just get the rest whitened a bit?

Was it Pam Ayers who write the poem about I wish I looked after my teeth....?!

I don't know Turkey, so I can't comment, but I've had excellent work done on my teeth in Malta in a much better equipped clinic for a much lower price, and wouldn't hesitate to head out there if I needed something big done.

Why don’t you have composite bonding instead?, I had 4 upper teeth done, £99 each and your tooth underneath isn’t affected

Sorry, just read it’s your sister not you

I have veneers, had them done at 18 on the NHS as it was deemed necessary.

Had them redone at 37 privately (as had real difficulty getting into NHS) and was told they could last over 20 years, I'm now late forties and they're still good.

At the cost I paid for the last lot I would hate to have to have them done every 7-10 years

@CoRhona can I ask why you needed them? My poor DD just seem to have been unlucky and her big teeth have grown in and they’re not great (I feel awful even saying that!) and I wonder if she might get some treatment when she’s older.

Shes a fool OP.

Shes getting a full set of crowns. At some point those crowns will fail, all dental work has a shelf life. She will get problems and have no ability to sort them. Theres no where to turn when things go wrong

Crowning all your teeth is complicated, you have to be really careful to get the bite right otherwise it can cause problems.

A UK dentist is not going to want to touch it. It will cost a hell of a lot of money to sort and she could lose her teeth.

UK dentistry costs what it does for a reason. What corners are being cut?

I would never recommend anyone get a full set of crowns for aesthetic reasons, but getting it done abroad is jusg asking for trouble really.

@lovinglavidaloca I was given some medicine by a doctor that stripped the enamel from my teeth.

My dentist said if that happened now you'd sue, it cost me thousand but they're worth every penny quality wise, you wouldn't know I'd had them done as they just look normal (although gutting to have to spend thousands to look normal 🙄).

I'm sure your dentist can do something less intrusive than veneers though, you really wouldn't choose to have this done if there's an alternative

The dental social media stuff is often little more than adverts with wannabe influencers getting work done. The amount of preparation (filing) for these cases is massive and to me (I work in dentistry) looks pretty fake. As others have said, the restorations will need replacing in time. Also it's difficult to tell what's going on under all that bling and working to treat a natural tooth will damage the ceramic.
I don't know how good the standard of treatment is in Turkey but it's a long way to go for a repair and there won't be much of a guarantee. A nice looking surgery doesn't mean anything. I'd be wanting to know exactly what system is being used - they are all branded and there are forums for discussing this stuff. Anyone spending the money the OP mentions should be doing some research beyond youtube.

There are almost always less invasive options for treatment. For example adult orthodontics followed by crowns or composite where needed. The pics posted earlier showed a really nice result without irreversible loss of natural tooth.

Be a little careful of terminology too. Crowns, veneers, bridges, composites are all different. Just don't say 'caps'. Bleurgh.

I wouldn't go as far as Turkey.

As to PP: prices are cheaper because materials can be cheaper if bought in a different country and salaries are different as well.

I'd get them done as my teeth aren't very nice, I have about one without a filling and they're stained. But the money is always needed for something else.

Do speak to people who had it done.

@Monkeytapper you have beautiful teeth

I had extensive dental work done abroad and found foreign dentistry to be far superior

The problem is afterwards a dentist here will be reluctant to touch her teeth afterwards. I had veneers done here and they shaved off a wee bit of enamel however a friend had them done in turkey and are more like crowns than veneers.