Choosing a clinic
Read the guideSigning consent in a language you do not read
Consent you did not understand is not consent. What the form must contain, when to ask for a translation, and the three sentences that get one.
What to check before dental treatment abroad
Practical guides on travel, verifying a clinic and comparing costs. Every page names its sources, carries the date it was last verified, and gets re-checked on a schedule rather than left to rot.
49 guides
- Travel3 min read · verified
Landing at Chișinău airport, step by step
RMO is small, close to the city and quick to clear. Taxi from 40 lei plus 6 per km, transit at 7 lei. What to do on arrival, including at 1am.
- Aftercare3 min read · verified
Keeping your dental file usable for the next dentist
A photograph of a screen is not a record. The formats that open anywhere, the three things to store, and where to keep them so they survive a new phone.
- Choosing a clinic4 min read · verified
Who regulates dentists in Moldova
Moldova is building a national certification system with a public register. Here is the authority responsible, what you can check today, and what to ask for instead.
- Choosing a clinic4 min read · verified
How to complain about treatment you received abroad
Most problems are solved at step one, by the clinic. Here are the five steps in order, what evidence each needs, and where the route runs out.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
Before-and-after photos, and what they do not show
Lighting, angle and a retractor change a smile more than some treatments do. Six things to look for, and the one request that settles it.
- Cost4 min read · verified
Deposits and refunds, agreed before you transfer anything
A deposit is normal. A deposit before a treatment plan is not. The four clauses to get in writing, with the wording to send.
- Comparison9 min read · verified
Moldova, Turkey or Hungary for dental work: an honest comparison
Turkey wins on price and flights, Hungary on EU regulation, Moldova on cost with EU-adjacent rules. Which fits which patient, and what nobody advertises.
- Comparison5 min read · verified
Moldova or Romania for dental work: the comparison nobody publishes honestly
Romania is in the EU; Moldova is cheaper with a smaller, more checkable market. Both have direct flights. Which trade-off fits which patient, including where Moldova loses.
- Comparison4 min read · verified
EU or non-EU: what patient rights actually mean when treatment goes wrong
Inside the EU you have statutory routes for complaints and device rules. Outside it, your protection is the contract. What that difference means in practice.
- Comparison5 min read · verified
Is dental tourism worth it? The honest arithmetic
On four implants the saving runs to thousands; on one crown it disappears. Here is the threshold, calculated, and how to tell which side of it you are on.
- Cost6 min read · verified
The real total cost of dental treatment abroad
Four implants and crowns: £8,400 from a UK price list, about £1,798 from a Chișinău one. Here is the same sum with travel, second trips and the missing lines added in.
- Cost4 min read · verified
Hidden costs in dental tourism packages, and the questions that surface them
Most hidden costs are not hidden — they are unasked. Eleven exclusions that turn a quote into a bigger invoice, and how to get them listed in writing.
- Cost4 min read · verified
How to compare dental quotes from different countries
Quotes are not comparable until they describe the same work. Normalise per tooth, list exclusions, add travel, then compare against a written quote from home.
- Cost3 min read · verified
Paying a dental clinic abroad: deposits, transfers and what protection you actually have
Card payments leave a record and sometimes a route to dispute. Bank transfers do not. What to agree in writing before sending a deposit anywhere.
- Cost3 min read · verified
Who pays when treatment abroad fails?
Guarantees usually cover the restoration, not the flight to receive it. Four questions to settle in writing before you pay, and what UK guidance warns.
- Cost5 min read · verified
What one implant costs at home, and what it costs abroad
One implant and crown: £2,100–£2,950 in the UK, about £710 in Budapest, about £450 in Chișinău. The published prices, and what each one leaves out.
- Cost4 min read · verified
What each NHS dental band actually covers
Band 1 is £27.90, Band 2 £76.60, Band 3 £332.10 in England. What each covers, what falls outside all three, and why implants are not on the list.
- Cost4 min read · verified
What full-mouth dental implants really cost
£13,400 per arch in the UK, £26,800 for both. A Bucharest clinic publishes €2,800 for four implants and a temporary. What separates those numbers.
- Cost3 min read · verified
What a crown costs on the NHS, privately, and abroad
An NHS Band 3 course is £332.10. Budapest publishes £180–£290, Chișinău about £150–£214. One crown is not worth a flight; six changes the answer entirely.
- Comparison4 min read · verified
Is Hungary still worth it for dental work?
Budapest publishes in pounds: £420 an implant with the abutment included, £290 a zirconium crown, £105 a CT scan. Against £2,100 at home, the answer is still yes.
- Cost3 min read · verified
What a treatment week in Chișinău costs beyond the clinic
Meals from 200 lei, taxis at 40 lei plus 6 per km, transit at 7 lei. A realistic daily allowance for a dental trip, and the one line we will not put a number on.
- Cost4 min read · verified
What a root canal costs abroad, and when the trip pays for itself
An NHS Band 2 course is £76.60. Budapest publishes £130 to £390 by number of roots. Where one tooth becomes several, and the trip starts to add up.
- Cost4 min read · verified
Why the NHS does not cover dental implants — and what people do instead
Implants sit outside all three NHS bands. Band 3 is £332.10 and stops at dentures and bridges. Here is what the alternatives actually cost, and how people choose.
- Comparison5 min read · verified
NHS, private, or abroad: the same treatment three ways
Three routes to the same finished mouth, with the published figure for each. Where the NHS wins outright, where private is worth it, and where flying pays for itself.
- Cost4 min read · verified
What an All-on-4 price actually covers
The same phrase is used for a same-day temporary and for a finished permanent arch. One question separates them, and it changes the total by thousands.
- Comparison4 min read · verified
Two treatment trips compared — Chișinău and Budapest
A tooth is about £450 in Chișinău and £710 in Budapest — but one list prints the abutment and the other does not. What actually separates the two trips.
- Cost3 min read · verified
What PRSI dental benefit actually pays for in Ireland
A free oral examination once a year, and a scale and polish where you pay no more than €15. What the scheme covers, what it does not, and where the gap starts.
- Cost4 min read · verified
When cheap dental work ends up costing more
Redoing a failed implant means paying twice plus the removal. Here is the arithmetic, and the five checks that keep you on the right side of it.
- Choosing a clinic7 min read · verified
How to verify a dental clinic abroad: 9 questions that get straight answers
Ask who is treating you, what the plan says, and who fixes problems at home. Nine verification questions and the answers that should worry you.
- Choosing a clinic4 min read · verified
Finding out who will actually treat you
The website shows a team. The surgery is done by one person. Here is the exact wording that gets you their name, and what each kind of reply tells you.
- Choosing a clinic4 min read · verified
Reading a dental guarantee before you need it
A ten-year guarantee that excludes the return flight is a coupon, not cover. The four conditions that hollow one out, and the six questions that expose them.
- Aftercare4 min read · verified
Will my dentist refuse to see me after treatment abroad?
The fear that stops more people than cost. What actually happens, why disapproval is not refusal, and how to arrange the handover before you fly.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
Dental clinic accreditations: which ones mean anything
A logo is an image on a page. Here is how to tell a real accreditation from a paid membership, and how to verify either one in about five minutes.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
How to check that a dentist is really registered
Ask for a full name and registration number, then check it against the national register — not the clinic's own website. What to do when no public register exists.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
How to read dental clinic reviews without being fooled by them
Reviews written the week of treatment tell you about hospitality, not dentistry. Read for timing, specificity and what happened months later.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
Red flags in dental tourism marketing
Countdown discounts, quotes before imaging, no named dentist, and pressure against a second opinion. Twelve patterns that should slow you down.
- Choosing a clinic4 min read · verified
Getting a second opinion on a treatment plan from abroad
The cheapest protection in dental tourism: take the written plan and your imaging to a dentist at home before you book anything. How to make it useful.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
The records to take home, and why your own dentist needs them
A dentist who does not know which implant system was placed cannot maintain it confidently. The six documents to collect before you fly home.
- Choosing a clinic3 min read · verified
The email to send before you book anything
One numbered email, fourteen questions, written answers. What you learn is not only the content but how the clinic behaves when asked precisely.
- Travel6 min read · verified
Do you need a visa to visit Moldova for dental treatment?
UK, EU and US citizens need no visa for stays under 90 days in Moldova. Flights, documents, timing and what to arrange before a dental trip.
- Travel4 min read · verified
Getting to Chișinău from the UK and Ireland
Direct flights run from London Luton, London Stansted and Dublin to Chișinău. Around 3h20 from London, with Wizz Air, FlyOne, HiSky and SkyUp.
- Travel3 min read · verified
Where to stay in Chișinău during dental treatment
Stay within a short ride of the clinic, not the airport. What matters after a procedure: quiet, a lift, soft food nearby, and a flexible booking.
- Travel2 min read · verified
Getting around Chișinău during a treatment trip
Arrange the airport transfer before you land, use a ride app rather than hailing, and plan appointment days around traffic rather than distance.
- Travel3 min read · verified
Money in Moldova: currency, cards and paying for treatment
Moldova uses the leu (MDL), not the euro. Cards work in Chișinău, cash is still useful, and treatment is usually quoted in euro but paid in several ways.
- Travel3 min read · verified
The language barrier: consent you did not understand is not consent
Ask who interprets during the consultation, not just at the airport. Consent forms and treatment plans should be in your own language, in writing.
- Travel3 min read · verified
Travel insurance does not cover the treatment you flew out for
Standard travel policies exclude planned treatment abroad and its complications. What insurance does cover, what it does not, and what to arrange instead.
- Travel3 min read · verified
What to bring: the documents that decide how well your trip goes
Your records, imaging and medication list matter more than anything in your suitcase. A checklist of what to carry, and what to leave with before you fly home.
- Travel3 min read · verified
How long does dental treatment abroad take to plan?
Trip length comes from the treatment plan, not the flight sale. How to sequence records, plan, second opinion and booking — and why staged work needs two trips.
2 further guides are written but not published: they make clinical claims, and nothing clinical goes live here until a named dentist has reviewed and signed it.