Sometimes treatment abroad seems so much cheaper than it is at home that it shouldn’t take much thought to decide to travel. However, as with any travel plans there can be unexpected complications that result in additional costs. Here we talk to a patient who has ended up spending more on her treatment abroad than she would have here in Ireland, and all because an airline changed its routes.
Braces
Zuzana
Zuzana is from Slovakia and lives here in Ireland. Last year she decided she wanted to get braces so she asked around about how much it would cost her. Her friend here had recently had braces fitted at a cost of €5,000. Another work colleague had them fitted for €4,500. She also called a few local clinics and the price quoted again was €4,500. This price included all fittings and adjustments. The clinics also offered to spread the cost into affordable monthly payments.
Using family connections at home, Zuzana found out the braces there would cost €500 for the initial fitting, €30 per adjustment (every two months) and finally €200 to remove the braces. For a two year period of treatment with 12 adjustments this would cost Zuzana €1,060 excluding any travel costs. As the dentist in question was also in her parents home town she would not have any accommodation costs.
Decision Time
Zuzana recognised that travelling home to Slovakia for each adjustment would be expensive so she checked with a local dentist whether or not they could take care of her braces. The dentist said that they wouldn’t be happy taking care of another dentist’s work and that if they did they would still have to charge €2,500 to look after all of the adjustments.
In the end Zuzana decided to undergo treatment in Slovakia and use the trips to keep in touch with her family and friends at home. When asked about what influenced her decision, price was the number one reason, but not the only one.
“The main reason for me was money of course. Secondly, I fell the service I get back home is much better than in Ireland. My dentist was even kind enough to see me in the evening time when my flight was arriving late, or on weekends when that was the only time I could get a good deal on flights.”
Her dentist even went so far as to make special arrangements for her because she was travelling so far for her treatment.
“She also wouldn’t charge me extra because it was the weekend and I would go to see her every day while I was at home. If I went home for three days she would look at my braces each day and make changes to try to do the best job she could. My dentist has other clients from overseas too and that’s why she is so flexible.”
Unexpected Costs
Even with flying home every two months Zuzana’s total treatment was going to be significantly cheaper than having the treatment done here in Ireland. She was paying as little as €50 return for a direct flight to her home town, but then that route was cancelled meaning she would have to fly to Bratislava first and then on to her home town. She could also have gotten a train from Bratislava but it would have taken 5 hours in each direction, meaning she’d have very little time with her dentist or her family.
Then came the news that her dentist wanted her to keep the braces on longer than expected. The resulting extra travel costs had a big effect on her overall treatment cost.
“If I only had to wear the braces for one year then it would have worked out much cheaper than in Ireland, but because it is taking longer in my case (2 years and 3 months so far) the additional costs for the flights and visits means it is now dearer than the price I would have paid here in Ireland.”
Despite the cost overrun, Zuzana still thinks that she is getting good treatment from her dentist.
“The reason it has taken longer is because my dentist didn’t wanted to remove any of my healthy teeth just to make the others straighter. There was not much space for them so she had to make changes really slowly, kind of pushing my teeth more to the front which gave the others some more space. When I asked my dentist questions about why it was taking so long she was always kind enough to explain everything and show me how it was working, so it helped me to understand more about the treatment.”
Advice
Travelling abroad for treatments that require a lot of follow up visits is always risky because travel and accommodation costs can change dramatically, and they are not under your control. Zuzana offers some advice on the back of her own experiences.
“My advice would be try to find a dentist in a city that has lots of direct flights from Dublin. If my dentist was in Bratislava my treatment would still have cost me very little, but because I now have to fly to my town my flights cost double. I don’t think it’s very comfortable to fly and then have to take a train for another 5 hours.”
Even with the difficulties she has run into, Zuzana is still happy to be travelling home for other reasons.
“For me its still worth it because I see my family which is very important because my parents are getting older and I love to see them more often and spend some quality time with them. Plus I can visit my friends and if I decide to go for a spa treatment or eat out in a restaurant it will cost me a lot less than I would spend on weekend like this in Ireland.”
Have you had treatment abroad? Did you run into any unexpected costs? Let us know in the comments below.
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