Being well informed is the cornerstone of being able to make a good decision. Before you travel abroad to visit a dentist, doctor or cosmetic surgeon you should satisfy yourself that you are 100% happy to be treated by this person at their facility. Here are ten questions that will help you become an informed patient. 1.What are your qualifications and specialisations? You should take the time to check that your dentist, doctor or surgeon is fully qualified and currently registered to practice in their local country. To do this, contact the local medical or dental council. If you are receiving specialist treatments, look for a further qualification in that area of specialisation. For further peace of mind, check if the person in question has been licensed to practice in your own local country. 2.With my medical history, am I suitable for this procedure? To minimise the risk of unnecessary complications, you should disclose any possible medical reasons that might make you unsuitable for treatment. That could be something as simple as being a smoker, which might disqualify you from receiving dental implants. Your prospective practitioner should be asking these questions anyway, but if they don’t you should volunteer the information and ask about the implications. 3.What are the normal treatment and recovery times recommended? One commonly voiced concern amongst local dentists and doctors when talking about patients seeking treatment abroad is that they compress too much treatment into too short a space of time. If you are getting complicated treatment done abroad, ask your overseas clinic what their recommended time between treatments is, what their recommended recovery times are, and if they differ significantly from what is suggested at home, ask them why that is. 4.What happens if something goes wrong? The biggest fear that people have when looking for treatment abroad is that something will go wrong, either while they are still abroad or, worse still, once they return home. You need to know before you travel what procedures the clinic has in place for dealing with everything from pulled stitches to post operative infections. In the worst case scenario, what will they do if the procedure fails completely? Do they offer guarantees, refunds, or free remedial treatment? If you have returned home before the problem arises, will they pay for you to return? Be satisfied that you can live with the answers they give. 5.What other options do I have? Often times you will have heard of a procedure from a magazine or a television programme that seems like it might be something you’d be interested in having done. Even if you are suitable for the procedure, ask about alternatives. There may be a newer procedure, or a less risky procedure or a cheaper procedure that you would be even more interested in, but if you don’t ask you may never be offered them. 6.How much is it going to cost? If you are travelling abroad without having received a pre-consultation at home, any prices you have been quoted are likely list prices for a given procedure. You need to ask if there are any extra costs that are likely to arise: x-rays, anaesthetic, prescriptions, etc. The last thing you want to have happen is to get to your clinic and find out that the treatment you thought was going to cost â'3,000 is actually going to cost â'5,000 when everything is included. It is not unreasonable if you do have a local pre-consultation to ask for a fixed price guarantee. You might also want to enquire about possible payment methods. 7.Where is the treatment going to take place? You will want to know in advance what type of facility you are going to be treated in. Is it a small clinic located in an office building, is it a larger purpose built clinic, or is it a hospital? There are implications involved in each case, but you will need to be satisfied that you are happy to be treated in whichever facility your prospective doctor, dentist or surgeon is located in. 8.What is your success rate? Some procedures, such as dental implants, have a failure rate that is measurable. You should ask how many times your practitioner has performed the specific treatment you are interested in, and what the long term success rate of his or her use of this treatment is. 9.Can I speak to some previous patients? One of the best ways you can get honest answers about treatment in a specific clinic is to talk to someone who has done it already. Ask the clinic to put you in touch with someone in your country who has had the same procedure performed. If they can’t or won’t, try and find someone yourself by searching online. People who are very happy or very unhappy often blog about the treatment they received. 10.What brand of implant do you use? In order to accurately compare the price at home to the price abroad you really need to compare like with like, and that means asking what brand name of implant, crown, or veneer that the dentist is going to use is. The same applies for any cosmetic implants or fillers, and similarly there are a wide range of laser eye treatments available under the umbrella terms LASEK or LASIK. Know exactly what it is that you are buying or you might end up unhappy with the results.
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