Sunday, June 28, 2009
FAQ's about dental care in the Philippines
The following questions are the most asked.
Q: Will I actually save money with the extra costs by flying to the Philippines and staying in a hotel?
A: It is a common knowledge that dental treatment is very costly in Australia. For example, the common procedure of porcelain crown and bridge would regularly cost $800 to $1200 per unit. In the Philippines, the customary rate for this procedure is merely $100 to $200 and can be done in a shorter period of time because of the availability of local but world-class dental laboratories. Other dental procedures will cost much less and can save a substantial amount you can allot to pay for your airfare and other holiday expenditures.
Q: How do I find out the cost of treatment?
A: Send us your requirements (quotation request) or the best way is to send us a treatment plan given by your local dentist . Any X rays you have would also help. even pictures taken of your teeth help the dentists give you a close cost estimate.
Q: How long will i need to be away from home?
A: Of course it depends on the treatment required. We have found the average is 10 days but we have had people treated in as little as 5 days. If you send us your requirements, our dentists can give a fairly accurate length of time needed.
Q: People tell me it is not hygenic to have dental treatment performed in Asia. How can I be sure that the clinics are clean?
A: Filipino dentists can be at par with any foreign dentist. Through their continuing education, awareness, and access to modern equipment, local dentists can truly be comparable to foreign practitioners.
Q: Is the work guaranteed?
A: Yes, if any procedure does not meet your requirements before you depart, the dentist will make sure it is rectified.
Q: Would Ihave someone meet me at the airport on arrival?
A: Yes, everyone that arrives at the airport is met by the Meditour representative and escorted by private car to the Hotel. In Manila, you are also loaned a mobile phone with all the contact numbers needed for your stay. The Meditour representative is on call 24/7 and can assist you in many things, including shopping, tours etc.
Q: How will I get to the clinic?
A: The clinic will arrange for you to picked up and taken back to the hotel after each treatment.
Q: Who will arrange the travel from Australian to The Philippines?
A: All About Asia Pty Ltd, a licensed, wholesale travel agency, who have been arranging packaged holidays to the Philippines for over 18 years will arrange this through your local travel agency. They have special airfares arranged with Qantas, Philippine Airlines and Singapore Airlines that can be packaged, along with your preferred style of accommodation, at much lower costs than trying to arrange it separately.
Q: Will I need a special visa to travel to the Philippines?
A: All Australian passport holders receive an automatic visa for 21 days stay. As with most countries, you must have a least 6 months validity on your passport.
Q: How long is the flight from Australia to The Philippines?
A: As short as 7 hours from Brisbane to Manila, a bit longer from Sydney and Melbourne.
Responsibility: We book the travel you request, with suppliers and providers approved by you. We are not responsible for the way in which the suppliers and providers perform or fail to perform or wrongly perform the services they promise. In the event their performance (or lack of performance) results in loss or damage to your possessions, or illness, injury or death to you or your travelling companions, delays in or amendments to travel arrangements, medical complications, your recourse is limited to those suppliers or providers (and applicable travel insurance). It is your responsibility to obtain advice from a medical practitioner before travel on the medical risks you will be taking by the travel.
Q: Will I actually save money with the extra costs by flying to the Philippines and staying in a hotel?
A: It is a common knowledge that dental treatment is very costly in Australia. For example, the common procedure of porcelain crown and bridge would regularly cost $800 to $1200 per unit. In the Philippines, the customary rate for this procedure is merely $100 to $200 and can be done in a shorter period of time because of the availability of local but world-class dental laboratories. Other dental procedures will cost much less and can save a substantial amount you can allot to pay for your airfare and other holiday expenditures.
Q: How do I find out the cost of treatment?
A: Send us your requirements (quotation request) or the best way is to send us a treatment plan given by your local dentist . Any X rays you have would also help. even pictures taken of your teeth help the dentists give you a close cost estimate.
Q: How long will i need to be away from home?
A: Of course it depends on the treatment required. We have found the average is 10 days but we have had people treated in as little as 5 days. If you send us your requirements, our dentists can give a fairly accurate length of time needed.
Q: People tell me it is not hygenic to have dental treatment performed in Asia. How can I be sure that the clinics are clean?
A: Filipino dentists can be at par with any foreign dentist. Through their continuing education, awareness, and access to modern equipment, local dentists can truly be comparable to foreign practitioners.
Q: Is the work guaranteed?
A: Yes, if any procedure does not meet your requirements before you depart, the dentist will make sure it is rectified.
Q: Would Ihave someone meet me at the airport on arrival?
A: Yes, everyone that arrives at the airport is met by the Meditour representative and escorted by private car to the Hotel. In Manila, you are also loaned a mobile phone with all the contact numbers needed for your stay. The Meditour representative is on call 24/7 and can assist you in many things, including shopping, tours etc.
Q: How will I get to the clinic?
A: The clinic will arrange for you to picked up and taken back to the hotel after each treatment.
Q: Who will arrange the travel from Australian to The Philippines?
A: All About Asia Pty Ltd, a licensed, wholesale travel agency, who have been arranging packaged holidays to the Philippines for over 18 years will arrange this through your local travel agency. They have special airfares arranged with Qantas, Philippine Airlines and Singapore Airlines that can be packaged, along with your preferred style of accommodation, at much lower costs than trying to arrange it separately.
Q: Will I need a special visa to travel to the Philippines?
A: All Australian passport holders receive an automatic visa for 21 days stay. As with most countries, you must have a least 6 months validity on your passport.
Q: How long is the flight from Australia to The Philippines?
A: As short as 7 hours from Brisbane to Manila, a bit longer from Sydney and Melbourne.
Responsibility: We book the travel you request, with suppliers and providers approved by you. We are not responsible for the way in which the suppliers and providers perform or fail to perform or wrongly perform the services they promise. In the event their performance (or lack of performance) results in loss or damage to your possessions, or illness, injury or death to you or your travelling companions, delays in or amendments to travel arrangements, medical complications, your recourse is limited to those suppliers or providers (and applicable travel insurance). It is your responsibility to obtain advice from a medical practitioner before travel on the medical risks you will be taking by the travel.
Testimonials
For over 4 years we have assisted people in obtaining dental procedures in the Philippines. The following will attest to the quality of services obtained. The dental program were enhanced by the travel experience brought together by Meditour. Please note that the following testimonials are the opinion of indivuduals and may not represent the exact views of Meditour.
Steve & Grace Conescu- Mackay September 2008
"Just a note to say thanks for your assistance with our Dental Holiday. We are very happy with both the dental work & our accommodation, etc.
The people in Manila were some of the most friendly people we have ever met whilst overseas.
Dr Joel & his wife were great and we enjoyed going out to dinner with them. His dental work is great and we couldn't compare the service with Australian dentists as you would never get that type of service here.
We would thoroughly recommend it to anyone and wouldn't hesitate on doing it again."
Melva - Sydney- July 2008
"Many Thanks for your help during my stay and dental treatment in Manila. Dr Joel has made a marvellous job of my teeth!! I feel a new woman!! What a wonderful group of friends you have there. Best wishes Melva." ( It was Melva's, in her 60's, first trip overseas)
Steve & Grace Conescu- Mackay September 2008
"Just a note to say thanks for your assistance with our Dental Holiday. We are very happy with both the dental work & our accommodation, etc.
The people in Manila were some of the most friendly people we have ever met whilst overseas.
Dr Joel & his wife were great and we enjoyed going out to dinner with them. His dental work is great and we couldn't compare the service with Australian dentists as you would never get that type of service here.
We would thoroughly recommend it to anyone and wouldn't hesitate on doing it again."
Melva - Sydney- July 2008
"Many Thanks for your help during my stay and dental treatment in Manila. Dr Joel has made a marvellous job of my teeth!! I feel a new woman!! What a wonderful group of friends you have there. Best wishes Melva." ( It was Melva's, in her 60's, first trip overseas)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dental work in the Philippines can save 80%...while you visit paradise!
©2009 Glenn Anthony Johns.
Australian Dentists Laugh Like Sharks
By Glenn Anthony Johns
Freelance Journalist, Melbourne/Manila24th April 2009
THE AUSTRALIAN dental industry both public and private is the laughing stock of the developed world. Unacceptable waiting lists’, scaremongering, over inflated and un-regulated pricing all mean Australia lags behind the rest of the developed world for dental health care.A recent report co-produced by the Council of Social Service of New South Wales (NSW) was very damning stating 67% of all patients in the public health servicein that state were waiting for over six months for public dental care. There were no shining lights in other states, it just happens that NSW wasthe worst performer. In some cases patients waited over 2 years.Dentistry reform has been identified as a priority by the Rudd Government's National Health and Hospital Reform Commission.Partly funded by a new levy on income earners there’s division as to whether this is a breakthrough or in fact unworkable.How a government can be allowed in a developed country like Australia to provide only 300 dentists in the state of NSW to service the vastmajority who can only afford public services (read free) while they let the private sector run amok with no pricing regulations therefore puttingupward pressure on a severely retarded system is a major concern.The private sector charge like wounded bulls and are beyond reproach. Take it or leave it means many suffer in silence, dreaming of having atthe very least enough teeth to eat with.Denticare, as it will be called, will supposedly help address this by emphasising preventative rather than emergency treatment.Neil Hewson, President of the Australia Dental Association said on the 7.30 report on the ABC in March this year that the public sectoris “a system that for many years had been grossly under-resourced and it needs more resources and it needs to be re-structured.”He also believes the government’s proposal will only “dilute the benefit to the people most in need by distributing it to the whole population.”He’s an advocate of the private sector supporting the public sector. How will that work when the stratospheric cost of preventative,reconstructive and cosmetic surgery in the private sector is the reason why there’s so much demand on the public system in the first place?Regardless, everyone knows that going to a private dentist has little to do with the pain of needles or drills. It’s the pain and ease with which adentist can extract money out of your pocket without question, without challenge. Its not rocket science for a patient on an average wage todecide to have a tooth pulled out rather than crowned because the saving can be up to AUS$1400. At up to AUS$300 to have to tooth out, it’sstill nearly a third of the average Australian weekly wage and takes 10 minutes. How many people no matter what they earn can affordAUS$1850 for a porcelain crown?If you’re on the public system or don’t have health insurance that decision is made for you. Even if you do have private health insurance, thegap is great enough for that decision to also be made for you.This form of daylight robbery masquerading as dental care shot out of the report compiled by health, welfare and patient groups like a rootcanal gone wrong. It was the reason 70% of patients shied away from proper dental care until the last minute.Considering the seriousness and importance of dental treatment as a matter of course in this shift to preventative health care, identified as aprimary consideration of the proposed Denticare, over pricing and under service directly affects other sectors of an already overburdenedhealth system. Jaw surgery to repair botched dental work is not uncommon and the psychological effect on a patient with sore, discoloured orhaggly teeth may never fully be known because of the reluctance of patients to admit their teeth are affecting their everyday life.By comparison, a patient can choose to travel to a third world country like the Philippines and have the work done for a fraction of the cost ofthe same work in Australia.Not only that, the service is more personal with some dentists picking their patients up in their private car and driving them to the clinic tocommence or continue dental treatment.Dr Joel Gutierrez, D.M.D.,F.A.I.D., F.I.C.D., Affiliate member of the American Dental Association, is a dentist who operates out of Manila.He has a constant flow our international patients who choose to visit him on price, quality and the chance to perhaps mix in a holidayat the same time as saving ten’s of thousands of dollars and having the work completed in days or weeks; not months.“Most patients I see from Australia come to me because of the cost,” says the 30 year dental veteran and member of the prestigious PiereFauchard Academy, an International Dental Honour Society where admission is by invitation only.“Here in the Philippines we have the people and means to work to international standards but where you might pay $1800 for a crown inAustralia, I can do the same work here for AUS$300-$400”.“We also can get the work done sometimes in as little as a few days,” he added.Having a dental laboratory specialising in the manufacturing of porcelain crowns and bridges a few floors below his 21st floor clinic in amodern downtown Manila office building, it serves dentists from different parts of the Philippines and the United States of America and thisallows a quick turn around. Some products used in his clinic are manufactured in Bayswater, Victoria.All dental practitioners graduate with the Degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine after 6 long years of study - both in theory and practice. Thus,they are called Doctors in the Philippines. As is the case with most graduates of Dental Medicine worldwide.A third world and mainly Catholic country, most western patients are concerned with regulatory authorities over seeing best practice withregard to operating procedures and sanitization. Dr Gutierrez assures that’s an important consideration.“We are allowed to practice our profession only after taking and passing the National Licensure Examination. I took this exam in December1978”, he says in the familiar Fino-American drawl most Filipino’s have. Dr Gutierrez topped his exam with the highest score among theexaminees that year.“We have a Government agency that oversees that all clinics comply with the acceptable international protocol in infection control andregulates the practitioners in terms of continuing education, skill development, and ethical practice.”Chairman of the Philippine Dental Association’s Dental Tourism Committee, Dr Gutierrez says the aim of his group is to make their membersaware, follow, and execute the guidelines on global compliance“Our foremost concern is proper sterilization of our equipment by using autoclave sterilizers and prevention of cross contamination. Weconduct mandatory continuing education to upgrade our skills and to keep us abreast with global practices.”Australian dentists can claim world’s best practice, world’s best procedures and are thoroughly modern and up to date with the latest intechniques, tooling, bonding and building agents just as they are in the Philippines.Often when patients mention travelling to places like the Philippines to their Australian dentist, they ‘tut-tut’ and warn of all the things DrGutierrez and his industry peers are clearly succeeding in over coming. The notion that third world dentistry is somehow inferior to thatperformed in Australia. That it represents more dangers and risk than you face sitting in a chair in a developed country that makes those whoneed it most wait six months to get a filling or mortgage the house to save a tooth.This doesn’t make sense when you consider a dentist 5000 miles away will see you before your tooth needs pulling and can fix it or replace itat a price that allows you a little holiday, airfares and accommodation for the same price as a root canal, some crowns and a few x-rays wouldcost in Australia. You’ll get change, your smile back and be treated with respect and dignity.Interestingly, the price available to foreigners is almost the same for locals.That explains why jeepney driving local Filipinos, if they’re lucky, earning AUS$30 a week, all have magnificent smiles and yet in Australia, theonly ones with great smiles are foreign car driving types with a fin, albeit an invisible one, protruding from between their shoulders.Perhaps this is where the phrase “laughing like a shark” gained its origin.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Glenn Johns is a qualified freelance journalist with 25 years radio/print media experience. At his own expense he recently travelled to the Philippines for major dental work that he estimates would have cost AUS$30,000 - $40,000. The work included but was not exclusive to;13 porcelain crowns, 2 root canals, 2 bridges, 4 composite fillings, scaling and polishing, bottom teeth bleach, 10 x-rays, travel, accommodation, spending money. The work was completed over 2 weeks of which one was spent travelling around the Philippines in between visits.
Contact Jetset or www.meditour.com.au to find out more
Australian Dentists Laugh Like Sharks
By Glenn Anthony Johns
Freelance Journalist, Melbourne/Manila24th April 2009
THE AUSTRALIAN dental industry both public and private is the laughing stock of the developed world. Unacceptable waiting lists’, scaremongering, over inflated and un-regulated pricing all mean Australia lags behind the rest of the developed world for dental health care.A recent report co-produced by the Council of Social Service of New South Wales (NSW) was very damning stating 67% of all patients in the public health servicein that state were waiting for over six months for public dental care. There were no shining lights in other states, it just happens that NSW wasthe worst performer. In some cases patients waited over 2 years.Dentistry reform has been identified as a priority by the Rudd Government's National Health and Hospital Reform Commission.Partly funded by a new levy on income earners there’s division as to whether this is a breakthrough or in fact unworkable.How a government can be allowed in a developed country like Australia to provide only 300 dentists in the state of NSW to service the vastmajority who can only afford public services (read free) while they let the private sector run amok with no pricing regulations therefore puttingupward pressure on a severely retarded system is a major concern.The private sector charge like wounded bulls and are beyond reproach. Take it or leave it means many suffer in silence, dreaming of having atthe very least enough teeth to eat with.Denticare, as it will be called, will supposedly help address this by emphasising preventative rather than emergency treatment.Neil Hewson, President of the Australia Dental Association said on the 7.30 report on the ABC in March this year that the public sectoris “a system that for many years had been grossly under-resourced and it needs more resources and it needs to be re-structured.”He also believes the government’s proposal will only “dilute the benefit to the people most in need by distributing it to the whole population.”He’s an advocate of the private sector supporting the public sector. How will that work when the stratospheric cost of preventative,reconstructive and cosmetic surgery in the private sector is the reason why there’s so much demand on the public system in the first place?Regardless, everyone knows that going to a private dentist has little to do with the pain of needles or drills. It’s the pain and ease with which adentist can extract money out of your pocket without question, without challenge. Its not rocket science for a patient on an average wage todecide to have a tooth pulled out rather than crowned because the saving can be up to AUS$1400. At up to AUS$300 to have to tooth out, it’sstill nearly a third of the average Australian weekly wage and takes 10 minutes. How many people no matter what they earn can affordAUS$1850 for a porcelain crown?If you’re on the public system or don’t have health insurance that decision is made for you. Even if you do have private health insurance, thegap is great enough for that decision to also be made for you.This form of daylight robbery masquerading as dental care shot out of the report compiled by health, welfare and patient groups like a rootcanal gone wrong. It was the reason 70% of patients shied away from proper dental care until the last minute.Considering the seriousness and importance of dental treatment as a matter of course in this shift to preventative health care, identified as aprimary consideration of the proposed Denticare, over pricing and under service directly affects other sectors of an already overburdenedhealth system. Jaw surgery to repair botched dental work is not uncommon and the psychological effect on a patient with sore, discoloured orhaggly teeth may never fully be known because of the reluctance of patients to admit their teeth are affecting their everyday life.By comparison, a patient can choose to travel to a third world country like the Philippines and have the work done for a fraction of the cost ofthe same work in Australia.Not only that, the service is more personal with some dentists picking their patients up in their private car and driving them to the clinic tocommence or continue dental treatment.Dr Joel Gutierrez, D.M.D.,F.A.I.D., F.I.C.D., Affiliate member of the American Dental Association, is a dentist who operates out of Manila.He has a constant flow our international patients who choose to visit him on price, quality and the chance to perhaps mix in a holidayat the same time as saving ten’s of thousands of dollars and having the work completed in days or weeks; not months.“Most patients I see from Australia come to me because of the cost,” says the 30 year dental veteran and member of the prestigious PiereFauchard Academy, an International Dental Honour Society where admission is by invitation only.“Here in the Philippines we have the people and means to work to international standards but where you might pay $1800 for a crown inAustralia, I can do the same work here for AUS$300-$400”.“We also can get the work done sometimes in as little as a few days,” he added.Having a dental laboratory specialising in the manufacturing of porcelain crowns and bridges a few floors below his 21st floor clinic in amodern downtown Manila office building, it serves dentists from different parts of the Philippines and the United States of America and thisallows a quick turn around. Some products used in his clinic are manufactured in Bayswater, Victoria.All dental practitioners graduate with the Degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine after 6 long years of study - both in theory and practice. Thus,they are called Doctors in the Philippines. As is the case with most graduates of Dental Medicine worldwide.A third world and mainly Catholic country, most western patients are concerned with regulatory authorities over seeing best practice withregard to operating procedures and sanitization. Dr Gutierrez assures that’s an important consideration.“We are allowed to practice our profession only after taking and passing the National Licensure Examination. I took this exam in December1978”, he says in the familiar Fino-American drawl most Filipino’s have. Dr Gutierrez topped his exam with the highest score among theexaminees that year.“We have a Government agency that oversees that all clinics comply with the acceptable international protocol in infection control andregulates the practitioners in terms of continuing education, skill development, and ethical practice.”Chairman of the Philippine Dental Association’s Dental Tourism Committee, Dr Gutierrez says the aim of his group is to make their membersaware, follow, and execute the guidelines on global compliance“Our foremost concern is proper sterilization of our equipment by using autoclave sterilizers and prevention of cross contamination. Weconduct mandatory continuing education to upgrade our skills and to keep us abreast with global practices.”Australian dentists can claim world’s best practice, world’s best procedures and are thoroughly modern and up to date with the latest intechniques, tooling, bonding and building agents just as they are in the Philippines.Often when patients mention travelling to places like the Philippines to their Australian dentist, they ‘tut-tut’ and warn of all the things DrGutierrez and his industry peers are clearly succeeding in over coming. The notion that third world dentistry is somehow inferior to thatperformed in Australia. That it represents more dangers and risk than you face sitting in a chair in a developed country that makes those whoneed it most wait six months to get a filling or mortgage the house to save a tooth.This doesn’t make sense when you consider a dentist 5000 miles away will see you before your tooth needs pulling and can fix it or replace itat a price that allows you a little holiday, airfares and accommodation for the same price as a root canal, some crowns and a few x-rays wouldcost in Australia. You’ll get change, your smile back and be treated with respect and dignity.Interestingly, the price available to foreigners is almost the same for locals.That explains why jeepney driving local Filipinos, if they’re lucky, earning AUS$30 a week, all have magnificent smiles and yet in Australia, theonly ones with great smiles are foreign car driving types with a fin, albeit an invisible one, protruding from between their shoulders.Perhaps this is where the phrase “laughing like a shark” gained its origin.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Glenn Johns is a qualified freelance journalist with 25 years radio/print media experience. At his own expense he recently travelled to the Philippines for major dental work that he estimates would have cost AUS$30,000 - $40,000. The work included but was not exclusive to;13 porcelain crowns, 2 root canals, 2 bridges, 4 composite fillings, scaling and polishing, bottom teeth bleach, 10 x-rays, travel, accommodation, spending money. The work was completed over 2 weeks of which one was spent travelling around the Philippines in between visits.
Contact Jetset or www.meditour.com.au to find out more
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
