The Evening Herald - Medical & Dental Tourism
"...they book your accommodation, pick you up at the airport, and give you a mobile for 24-hour contact should you be experiencing any pain after having any work...”
Living the high life has cost Fearghus de Mórdha his teeth, but getting them fixed is going to cost him his car.
By Fearghus de Mordha
Thursday July 31 2008
BEAUTIFUL SMILES are something that have always been in fashion. There’s no denying that a healthy set of choppers is a key component and a real status symbol, too. The only time you look cute with a gummy smile is when you’re a baby.
Realistically though, a display of teeth in the animal kingdom is a statement of how quickly you can tear your opponent to shreds. Not to be underestimated, either.
I met a friend for coffee the other day and he was looking forward to going out that night and having a steak for dinner for the first time in a year and a half, with his new set of teeth.
They did, indeed, look good together. It had taken 18 months of trips to Budapest to achieve a Hollywood smile. However, it was almost a little too much for a man of his years. People in their late 50's aren't really meant to have gleaming Hollywood choppers, are they?
I have never really been able to see myself with a set, but perhaps this is changing. I never got my full set of adult teeth, so I knew I would lose some, but being quite a bit more of a party animal than most people through my 20's has also taken a serious toll on my teeth. I showed a friend the other day the result of the damage and she gasped. A dental specialist has indicated that I would need bone grafts along my lower front jaw, if I want to have any type of teeth in future years. The bone and gum would have to be cut from the upper palate and grafted on.
I'm in my early 30's, so I would prefer to try to keep what I have left of the real ones, but permanent implants would not be an option either without the bone graft. The teeth need something to hold them in place.
The full estimate was €15,000 for a Hollywood smile and €10,000 for a good patch job in Budapest over two trips. A lot of cash, so I had to contemplate whether I was prepared literally to put my money where my mouth is.
It didn't take much thought to come to the conclusion that I'd prefer a nice smile to my car, so that was the decision made. The same dental work would actually cost three times as much in Dublin, so Budapest here I come.
What I was surprised about, though, was the professionalism of this foreign dental service, Access Smile. My own dentist was remarkably unhelpful and suggested that I have an assessment in six weeks' time and think about getting a set of false teeth.
I had asked this dentist's predecessor a couple of months before he retired what he thought.
He told me that given that I wasn't likely to become a Hollywood actor at this stage in my life, why bother trying to keep them? I assumed he didn't want the business. bizarre. In contrast, the dentist at Access Smile talked me through every step of the process and the success rates and affordable options over detailed X-rays.
They book your accommodation, pick you up at the airport, and give you a mobile for 24-hour contact should you be experiencing any pain after having any work.
Apparently, the most common use of the emergency phone is for people who have got a bit hammered in Budapest and have forgotten how to get back to their hotel.
With the prospects of a gummy smile fading, I am hoping the only type of gummy I experience in the next few years is a bear.
- Fearghus de Mordha
11:00 13/08/2010
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