Americans are the biggest ‘dental tourists’

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: You’ve heard of the “accidental tourist?” How about the dental tourist? Jim Paggi was such a traveller. The 56-year-old Benicia man went more than 6,000 miles to Hungary in March to get his teeth fixed for less than a third of the $50,000 or more it would have cost in this country.

Paggi is one of a growing number of Americans traveling to far-flung locales to undergo medical and dental procedures at low rates.

While statistics on medical tourism aren’t available, the trend by all accounts is gaining steam. A growing number of countries, including India, Thailand and Singapore, are marketing medical and dental services to foreigners, boasting of “first world medicine” at cut-rate prices.

Patients from wealthier countries often travel to these destinations for some sun and relaxation, plus a hip replacement, vision correction or perhaps cardiac surgery.

Dental procedures are a common choice because only about 50% of Americans have insurance for such care. And those people who are insured often face stiff dental bills. Insurance plans, typically offered through employers, require patients to pay a significant share of the costs of procedures beyond standard preventive care.

Employers generally choose not to cover high-priced cosmetic services, instead offering routine dental coverage as part of a package of health benefits, he added.

With treatment so expensive, Paggi researched options on the Internet and discovered the dental tourism industry. He homed in on Hungary because of the country’s reputation for quality dental care and found several companies that specialise in arranging dental tours to that country.

Other popular dental tourist destinations include Mexico, Turkey and India.

“Hungary is considered to be the dental capital of the world,” said Christopher Hall, director of Hungarian Dental Travel.

Hall said his company, based in London, typically arranges trips for patients seeking procedures not covered through the National Health Service.