Advantages
The Hungarian dental website features a color-coded map pinpointing dental offices in Hungary, as well as three international airports (Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest). Hungarian dental clinics offer tourist assistance, including free transportation from Vienna or Bratislava airports as well as advice on how to apply for passports.
Foreign patients can negotiate a preliminary estimate with Hungarian dentists well before flying overseas for actual treatment. Prospective “tooth tourists” first mail dental x-rays to Hungary or e-mail digital versions as a file attachment, plus any estimates from a local dentist, dental files and additional digital photos of the patient’s teeth.
Potential Disadvantages
Steep cost-savings and Eastern European tourist attractions make a compelling case for a bundled dental vacation. However, prospective tooth tourists should carefully consider potential issues with travelling thousands of miles to receive dental care.
Should there be any issues with treatment received at the Hungarian dental clinic, the long travel distance makes a series of follow-up visits prohibitively expensive.
Although some staff at the Hungarian dental clinics can communicate in English, German and Hungarian are the native spoken languages. Local language requirements can complicate any required investigations or legal actions.
Tourists must pay for dental treatments in advance, either in cash or in travellers’ cheques. For multiple appointments, half of the estimated total cost is due at the start of dental care with the remainder payable on the last visit. Payments can be in US dollars or euros.
