Our latest patient research shows some interesting trends emerging in February of this year. It was our busiest month yet for traffic on RevaHealth.com, with over 20,000 visitors from Ireland alone. Patients are understandably becoming even more price conscious in these hard economic times and shopping around for value for money dentistry.
There was an increase of nearly 75% in people in the Republic of Ireland looking for dentists in Northern Ireland. At the same time, there was a drop in interest of 24% in expensive "cosmetic" dental procedures, indicating that people are less willing or able to pay for top end treatments at the moment.
Over the same time period however, twice as many people from Ireland contacted cosmetic and plastic surgery clinics through our site, with rhinoplasty, breast implants and botox being the most popular treatments sought. Clearly, some people aren't quite feeling the pinch yet and are still prepared to go for a bit of a nip and tuck.
Our press release about the increase in the number of people heading north for dentistry is up on our site now, and here are all the facts and figures from our February research:
Irish Visitor Research – February 2009
|
Month
|
Visitors From Ireland
|
|---|---|
|
February 2009
|
700+ per day
|
|
Destinations (IRL)
|
Enquiries (As % Of Irish Total)
|
|---|---|
|
Ireland
|
53.29%
|
|
Hungary
|
16.09%
|
|
Poland
|
11.25%
|
|
Turkey
|
6.40%
|
|
Northern Ireland
|
3.11%
|
|
Bulgaria
|
2.94%
|
|
Spain
|
1.73%
|
|
Thailand
|
1.73%
|
|
Romania
|
1.21%
|
|
Portugal
|
0.69%
|
|
Dental Treatments
|
Enquiries (As % Of Irish Dental Total)
|
|---|---|
|
General Consultation
|
21.63%
|
|
Braces
|
18.32%
|
|
Implants
|
17.88%
|
|
Veneers & Lumineers
|
14.35%
|
|
Teeth Whitening
|
14.35%
|
|
Crowns
|
10.38%
|
|
Fillings
|
5.96%
|
|
Others
|
15.01%
|
Note: Visitors can choose more than one treatment per enquiry, meaning the percentages above can add up to more than 100%. The figure represents the percentage of all dental enquiries originating in Ireland that expressed interest in that particular treatment.
|
Plastic Surgery
|
Enquiries (As % Of Irish Plastic Surgery Total)
|
|---|---|
|
Rhinoplasty
|
22.47%
|
|
General Consultation
|
20.22%
|
|
Breast Implants
|
15.73%
|
|
Laser Hair Removal
|
11.24%
|
|
Botox
|
11.24%
|
|
Lip Augmentation
|
4.49%
|
|
Others
|
25.84%
|
Note: Visitors can choose more than one treatment per enquiry, meaning the percentages above can add up to more than 100%. The figure represents the percentage of all cosmetic and plastic surgery enquiries originating in Ireland that expressed interest in that particular treatment.
Most patients in the US are also traveling to have a plastic surgery in Poland, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and other countries. Main reason is the price. Patients are getting more practical now. So medical tourism seems to be the best option when having a plastic surgery – affordable yet high in quality.
Medical tourism is indeed another trend for this year. Even expats in Asia are interested in having their dental treatments there. The deciding factor however is the quality of dental treatments they will get in a cheaper price.