Implants, crowns, root canals and bridges in Budapest

Having been unlucky with the choice of British dentists throughout her life, Viv Harvey aged 53, from South Yorkshire decided to fly to Budapest to get the dental treatment she needed - at a fraction of the UK price.

The first time she had trouble with her teeth she was just 14. She went to her dentist with crippling toothache and was booked in for an extraction. But when she came round, the pain was still there. 'You've taken the wrong one out!' she said, shocked.

She didn't get so much as a word of apology. Her dentist just put her back under and took out the right one. She didn't realise it at the time, but losing those two teeth had taken away support for the ones still in her mouth.

Several years later her canine tooth began twisting, and she was treated by another British dentist who botched the job. Further treatment from yet another dentist in the UK resulted in her losing her four front teeth which were replaced a denture.

Then things got even worse. Her lower gums started receding badly in her 40s, even though she was brushing and flossing religiously.

Terrified her teeth were falling out, she dug into her savings to go to a private dentist. After just five minutes in his fancy office, he packed her off to his hygienist, who charged £100 per hour to deep-clean her gums. £700 later and nothing had improved.

She demanded to see the dentist again and asked how he was planning to fix her teeth. 'Well, it will be £16,000 for implants, plus extra for bridges and bone grafts....' And that was just the top jaw! He refused to put an upper limit on the costs, but she worked out it was going to cost at least £45,000.

Luckily she saw a newspaper story about another woman with gum disease. She'd been told it would cost £50,000 to fix her teeth in Britain, so she'd flown to Budapest and paid just £16,000 for the work. She called up her husband, Ian. 'Get on the internet,' she said. 'Look up dentists in Budapest, because that's where I'm going.'

They found Vital Europe, a company who looks after several dental clinics in Hungary. They hold consultations on Harley Street, so last May she went to London. For £50 plus the cost of a train fare, what did she has to lose?

She was immediately impressed by their services. She had a full hour's consultation, then she received a written treatment plan with all the costs - something she said no UK dentist had ever given her. Over two stages, she'd have four implants to replace her denture, 23 crowns, five root canals, and bridges top and bottom - and the whole thing would cost her just over £7,000, plus flights and hotels. Her mind was made up.

Ian and Viv made two trips to one of VitalEurope’s dental clinics in the beautiful city of Budapest. In July, the dentist drilled into her upper jaw to put in four titanium implant 'pegs' her new teeth would be fixed to.

She had to wait 12 weeks while the titanium peg fused with her jawbone, then in October she flew back to finish what she'd started. Over five days, she spent 26 hours in the dental chair having her implants, bridges and crowns painstakingly attached and adjusted. ‘It was amazing work - the dental lab was on site so the doctors and technicians could work together to ensure my new teeth fitted together perfectly. It wasn't without pain, although not as bad as paying £45,000 would have been!’

As a health professional herself, she's been very impressed by the standard of care she received. In total the two trips cost £8,500, which wasn't cheap but still within reach.

‘Today it's all been worth it’ – she says. ‘For the first time in ten years, my mouth feels like my own and now there is no palate to scrub and sterilise every night.’ When she first met the dental team they said they couldn't work miracles, but as far as she’s concerned they have. ‘They've given me the perfect natural smile I've always wanted.'- she said.

Patient story supplied by VitalEurope.

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