Dental Implants in Turkey: What to Weigh Up
The short answer.
Implant quotes in Turkey are often lower, but compare what each covers, the number of trips, recovery away from home and follow-up care. Check the dentist's registration and the implant brand, and keep your records for your dentist at home.
Turkey has become a popular destination for dental treatment, including implants, mainly because quotes are often lower than in Australia. An implant is surgery with months of healing and years of maintenance, so the price is only part of the decision. This guide explains what an implant involves, what to compare, and what to check before you travel. If you’d rather explore treatment closer to home, read about dental implants at Dental Spot in Croydon.
Understanding Dental Implants
A dental implant has three parts:
- The implant post: a screw-shaped post, usually made of titanium, placed in the jawbone to act as the root of the new tooth.
- The abutment: the connector that sits on the post and holds the replacement tooth.
- The crown: the visible tooth, made to match your natural teeth in shape and colour.
Most implants are made of titanium, which fuses with the bone in a process called osseointegration. Zirconia implants are a tooth-coloured alternative used less often, for example for some people with metal sensitivities.
Endosteal implants, placed directly in the jawbone, are the most common type. Subperiosteal implants, which sit under the gum on top of the bone, are used in some cases where there isn’t enough bone.
How Treatment Works
Treatment follows several stages:
- Consultation and planning: an examination with X-rays or a 3D scan to check your bone and plan the implant.
- Bone graft, if needed: where there isn’t enough bone, a bone graft prepares the jaw first, and it needs time to heal.
- Surgery: the implant is placed, usually under local anaesthetic.
- Healing: the implant fuses with the bone over several months.
- Abutment and crown: the abutment is attached and the crown fitted.
- Maintenance: regular check-ups and cleaning help the implant last. Our guide to how long dental implants last explains what affects this.
What to Weigh Up
What the quote covers
Some quotes cover the implant post only. Ask each clinic in writing whether the price includes the scan, the abutment, the crown, any extraction or bone graft, and the follow-up visits, and what happens if the implant doesn’t integrate.
In Australia, CHOICE’s guide to dental fees (updated 9 March 2023, using the Australian Dental Association’s 2022 fee survey) puts the average fee for placing one implant at $1,334 to $3,000, and for the abutment at $400 to $1,404, depending on the state. The crown is extra: the survey’s closest item, a veneered crown on a natural tooth, mostly costs $1,250 to $2,100. Scans, extractions and bone grafts add to that. These are published Australian figures, not our fees: your quote depends on your teeth, so ask us for a written one if you’d like a like-for-like comparison.
Trips and time away
Because of the healing time between stages, treatment in Turkey usually means two trips or a long stay. Add flights, accommodation and time off work, and plan to rest and eat soft foods after surgery.
The dentist and the implant
In Australia, dentists must be registered with the Dental Board of Australia through Ahpra, meet its standards and complete continuing professional development. Wherever you go, ask about the dentist’s registration and implant experience, the implant brand and model, and how the clinic sterilises instruments. Keep the implant details in writing, so a dentist at home can maintain and repair it later.
Follow-up care at home
Implants need follow-up during healing and regular check-ups afterwards. If something needs attention after you’re home, the treating dentist won’t be close by. Plan where you’ll have check-ups and what happens if a problem comes up.
Communication
You need to understand the treatment plan, the risks and your aftercare instructions. Ask for everything in writing, in English, and ask questions until you’re sure.
Insurance and recourse
Australian private health insurance generally doesn’t cover treatment overseas, and travel insurance may not cover complications. In Australia, some extras policies pay a benefit towards implants. If something goes wrong overseas, pursuing a complaint or compensation can be harder than at home.
Before You Book
Smartraveller, the Australian Government’s travel advice service, notes that elective procedures can cost much less in some countries, and that while many hospitals overseas are of a similar standard to Australia’s, quality and standards in some countries can be poor. Its advice before you book treatment overseas includes:
- check that the dentist is registered with the local authority and has indemnity insurance;
- check whether your travel insurance covers complications from the treatment;
- get copies of your records to bring home.
For other destinations, see our guide to dental implants overseas.
Talk to Us
Choosing where to have dental implants is a significant decision. If you’re weighing up Turkey, we’re happy to explain what treatment here would involve and cost, so you can compare like with like.
Sources
- How much does the dentist cost? (another site), CHOICE, updated 9 March 2023
- Medical tourism (another site), Smartraveller
- Dental Implants (another site), StatPearls, 2023
This guide is general information, not advice about your own teeth. Your dentist can tell you what applies to you, including the risks of any treatment.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
