Growth in the global dental tourism market to hit 6,7 billion dollars

High premiums on oral and dental treatments in many countries are driving patients who want better services and treatments to look abroad, triggering a surge in global dental tourism. According to data from Future Market Insights, the value of global dental tourism will hit US$ 6.7 billion in 2022, just as many choose Turkey as their preferred destination.

LONDON - As more and more countries include dental plans in their regular insurance coverage, the consequent rise in insurance premiums is driving patients to look elsewhere for treatment providers. Patients seeking higher quality and affordable oral and dental treatments are turning to overseas alternatives. This is the chief driver for the recent growth of the global dental tourism market. According to Future Market Insights findings, this global market was around US$ 6 billion last year, and is expected to hit US$ 6.7 billion in 2022. Turkey is a preferred destination for patients who choose to travel for dental treatments. Data compiled by International Health Services reveals that Turkish health tourism is gathering pace. In 2021, the total number of health-related visits were just over 642 thousand, but that number has already breached 586 thousand visitors in the first half of 2022 alone.

Doguhan Berber, Director of Business Development at Istanbul-based Dentasay Oral and Dental Polyclinic explains that people who have had dental treatment problems in recent years resulting from changes in health policies at home, are choosing overseas health providers. Berber comments, “We're seeing that coercive procedures particularly in European countries, combined with failures to pay out under insurance policies, have led patients to seek out better terms for treatment abroad, and this is an opportunity for Turkish providers like us that have proven expertise in this area. Combining 15 years of experience with a presence in more than 20 countries, we provide our services in more than 10 languages to patients from Europe and North America, and we successfully treat our patients’ dental problems with our high quality and long-lasting solutions."

We welcome over 3,000 international patients a year

Noting that designing a solutions-oriented process for patients who visit their clinics is the first step, Doguhan Berber went on to explain, “Dentasay has a presence in more than 20 countries serving around 20 thousand patients annually; about 3 thousand of which are overseas. Our team of 25 doctors and 15 laboratory personnel help our patients choose the most appropriate treatment method to suit their needs. To ensure we create a tailor-made treatment plan, we ask our overseas patients to send us a panoramic X-ray by email. Implants tend to top the list of most requested treatments by foreign patients. In the case of any implant treatment and smile design for dental aesthetics, a plan needs to be designed before the patient visits Turkey,” he added.

Our Europe and North America growth will continue

Drawing attention to the fact that they perform more than 10 thousand implant therapies annually, Doguhan Berber said, “From our patients’ favorite implants to root canal treatments, from our 'Digital Smile Design' to dental prosthesis and porcelain veneers, we provide the most suitable treatment with a wide range of alternatives. Once we agree a date range with a patient, we can begin treatment as soon as our patients arrive at our clinic. We use the most up-to-date technologies which are available at our laboratories to achieve extremely fast and effective results. It goes without saying that not only are we present during the procedure, but we offer comprehensive after care for our patients. This ensures that their recovery is much quicker and more comfortable, and we are there to answer any questions that they may have about the process. Our holistic approach is the most important reason that our patients continue to increase exponentially. In the future, our target is to grow in European and North American markets to reach more patients,” he said.