Dental Tourism — Dubai

Dental tourism occurs when people seek dental care outside of their own geographical location. This care is often paired with sight-seeing, or vice-versa.

The dental care sought ranges from braces and veneers, to more “run-of-the-mill” procedures such as wisdom teeth extraction, root canals, and other procedures.

There are many reasons why individuals may choose to seek dental tourism opportunities. These include monetary reasons (to save money), or simply as a way to ‘kill two birds with one stone,’ meaning they are able to get required dental treatment done and enjoy a vacation at the same time.

Recent studies have suggested that dental tourists are able to get the same — if not better — dental treatment they would receive in their home countries, at up to 75 percent discounts!

Why Dubai?

Dubai has become one of the most popular dental tourism destinations in the world. One of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai is known for its modernistic and progressive approach to society, including art, architecture, politics and more.

Dubai’s location makes it an attractive option for dental tourists living in Europe, India, and other parts of the Middle East. Recently, dental tourists living in the United States and Germany have also expressed increased interest in visiting Dubai on a dental tourism itinerary.

This is not surprising, given the fact that the area boasts more than 7,000 doctors, who speak more than 60 world languages.

The Dubai Difference

First-time dental tourists often express concern about the safety of having dental procedures performed abroad. The fact of the matter is that Dubai dentists are among the best in the field of dentistry.

Many of these professionals obtained their degrees abroad in places like the United States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Outside the Dentist’s Office

Dubai’s varied landscape makes it an attractive destination for a variety of dental tourists. In one day, tourists can go from the majestic mountains to sandy beaches, and even verdant city parks. 

From the quiet and solitude of the desert to the hustle and bustle of the city, Dubai offers a variety of attractions, including: 

General Attractions (Whole Family)

• Dubai Fountains

• Dubai Zoo 

• The Tower of Arabs (Burj al Arab)

• Emirates Towers

• The Lost Chambers Aquarium in Atlantis (The Palm) 

• Dubai Dolphinarium 

• Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo

• Bastakia Quarter

• Hatta Rock Pools

• Dubai Metro

Museums & Cultural Pursuits

• Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU)

• Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

• Dubai Museum

• Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary 

• Sovereign Art Gallery

• Raffles Botanical Garden

For the Kids 

• KidZania

• Wild Wadi Water Park

• Aquaventure Water Park 

• Wonderland Theme & Water Park

as well as many physical activities, such as golf, water sports, hockey, soccer, paintball, and more. Dubai is also known for its night life, offering several popular dance clubs and restaurants. 

About cosmetic dentistry in Dubai

Cosmetic dentistry is highly developed in Dubai. The reason for this is the rapid development of the city and the quality dentists. It is well known that Dubai is a popular tourist destination, and increasingly tourists opt for some type of cosmetic dentistry.
The most common surgeries that are done are:

•  Dental Implant
•  Cosmetic Dentistry
•  Teeth Veneers
•  Invisalign (Teeth Straightening without Braces) Orthodontics
•  Facial Harmony
•  Teeth Whitening
•  Tooth Bonding
•  Porcelain Inlays
•  Bad Breath

Many dental clinics have specially trained dentists in cosmetic dentistry. Many of them attended the prestigious European and American universities. If you decide to smile makeover Dubai certainly not a bad choice for you.

How to find good dentist in Dubai?

Dubai is full of good dentists and it is difficult to single out some individuals. If you plan on dental tourism in Dubai, quality dentists are identified by their degrees and work done so far. Also quality dentists investing in knowledge, new technologies and practice.

Certainly before the procedure visit different offices and select the one that you think is best. Compare experiences, price and quality of the work done so far. As a good source of information can serve Dubai Dental Oasis where you can find a list of doctors, contact details, prices and reviews.

Dubai is going from strength to strength as a dental tourism destination

If there is one field of medicine that can make a strong case for the merits of medical tourism then it is surely dentistry. Travelling abroad for treatment can be an overwhelming experience, especially if the procedure involves a long period of recovery or rehabilitation. In dentistry, however, an operation has to be pretty serious if the patient can’t walk out of the clinic and onto a plane a matter of hours after a trip to the dentists. Traditionally, too, dentistry has been a field of medicine where both price and quality can vary hugely across the globe. But with the emergence of stricter regulation, online training, and a burgeoning international community, the standard of dentistry is starting to improve across the globe – prompting a fierce battle for patients from competing healthcare systems.

Even before the emergence of Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai has been well known for its dental community. The cluster of clinics on Dubai’s Jumeira Beach Road has been a destination for dental tourists for more than a decade – providing both aesthetic and traditional treatments. Nevertheless, the number of residents in Dubai who still leave the country for treatments is still higher than it should be, says Dr Sanya Mooraj from the North Carolina Dental Practice at Dubai Healthcare City. “Dubai comprises a largely expatriate population and this is one of the reasons people wait to go home to get their treatment done,” she says. But patients rarely recognise that, due to the advances in the field of dentistry, they are often paying out extra for the exact same procedures, using the same equipment, that practices are carrying out in Dubai. “Dentistry has evolved in terms of modern dental care… and the equipment and materials assure that patients can expect a certain result,” she reasons. One of the biggest drivers of dental tourism – as opposed to general medical tourism – has been aesthetic concerns.
People can have healthy teeth but still be unhappy with their color, shape or other aspect of appearance. It might be prohibitively expensive to have addressed in their own countries, or it might not be available at the right quality, but aesthetic dentistry is certainly proving popular with North Carolina Dental Practice’s patients, says Mooraj. “We provide patients with the possibility of full mouth ‘smile makeover’,” she explains. “This involves simple teeth laser whitening to cosmetic veneers – we also provide full mouth rehabilitation and implants for people with missing teeth,” she adds. And yet, getting most patients to visit the dentist when it is just down the road can be difficult enough. So what is the key to convincing patients to travel hundreds of miles to visit a dentist? The answer, says Dr Hans van der Elst, clinical director of the German Dental Oasis, is trust. “You have to trust somebody you don’t know and who is going to take influence on an essential part of your body – your mouth,” he reasons. This is why, he argues, DHCC’s growing reputation is so important to protect and to continue to build.

For instance, his native country of Germany has long been a destination for patients from the Middle East and he believes DHCC has the potential to provide the exact same level of treatment. But the big advantage Dubai has in the dental tourism stakes is the tourism. Van der Elst believes that, once all are equal in clinical terms, Dubai has a real opportunity here. “All patients, especially from Europe, love to come to Dubai,” he says. “You can relax at the beach, shop in the malls, play golf on the most beautiful courses in the world – and at the same time patients can have their teeth fixed in high-end clinics, which are equipped with the best equipment and some of the best European doctors are available to make the treatment as comfortable as possible.” Van der Elst suggests that Dubai might want to think about having formal partner clinics across the world, where dental records can be shared and trips of this sort can be arranged seamlessly. “This would be a challenging project for the tourist industry,” he admits. “But in my opinion this will be a huge opportunity and travelling agents should start thinking about programmes that might be fitting to the European customers and also can be adapted to the European insurance market.” There is an argument, too, that Dubai’s dental community could work closer with its medical colleagues to create these sort of packages. Indeed Mooraj is keen to dispute the idea that a distinction exists between ‘medical’ and ‘dental’ tourism. “It is my firm belief that oral health should be considered a part of an individual’s general health,” she reasons. “If a person is suffering from anemia it will manifest itself in the mouth in the form of a pale mucosa and ulcers. In this way many systemic conditions may be diagnosed by looking at the health of the oral cavity. Based on this we should consider it as ‘health tourism’ as opposed to ‘dental tourism’.”

For developments such as Dubai Healthcare City, this sort of collaboration between medical professionals makes perfect sense. The health city was created to foster clusters of excellence, and Mooraj reckons the development of future ‘heath tourism’ should be a shared goal of the health disciplines in the freezone. And despite Dubai’s relative abundance of dental clinics, Mooraj believes the strict standards in DHCC are starting to differentiate its clinics from the rest. “There are a multitude of dental clinics in Dubai,” she says. “[But] being in DHCC there is great importance placed on the qualification of the practitioner. To get a license to practice in the candidate has to go through a comprehensive process of documentation to be able to get a license. It is a tedious process but one that ensures that only those doctors who have met a certain criteria can practice. It raises the bar for us and this serves to motivate us to improve ourselves.

Dubai is now firmly established as a centre for cosmetic surgery

Self-improvement was once the last thing on people’s minds when they booked a holiday. Whether travelling for pleasure, excitement or any other type of edification, holidays are usually a chance to let your hair down and return to the daily grind invigorated – or at least that is the plan. But now, due to the increasing popularity of cosmetic medical procedures, many people are booking a flight and returning, quite literally, a different person.

The rise of Dubai’s cosmetic surgery sector has broadly mirrored the growth of the emirate itself. As the towers on Sheikh Zayed Road climbed skywards, so did Dubai’s reputation as a destination for aesthetic surgery. With the establishment of Dubai Healthcare City and its tough clinical and regulatory standards, however, cosmetic surgery has only gone from strength to strength, argues Sam Bahsoun, from DHCC’s American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital (AACSH). The secret to its success, he believes, is that medical tourism – and especially aesthetic procedures – chimes with much of the Dubai masterplan to grow its reputation as a major tourist destination. “Medical tourism is a global trend and many countries all over the world have tried to develop it,” he says. “But I am convinced that Dubai is the best place for medical tourism – it is a crossroads for cultures and is a very well established travel destination, whether for business, leisure or shopping,” he says. “Medical tourism comes as a complement to the others types of tourism already established and working in Dubai and the region.” That may well be the case, but Dubai, like the rest of the world, has not been immune to the global downturn. While tourism is now picking up again, the strain on disposable income will surely have halted the ascent of cosmetic surgery.

Not so, says Bahsoun. “Demand has actually increased with the financial crisis, contrary to the widespread opinion,” he says. “Surgical procedures have increased since the financial recession started – perhaps because after all the stress and hard work people are thinking about themselves again.” Indeed, for those who are considering undergoing elective procedures and want to combine it with a luxurious break then facilities such as AACSH, which also contains a boutique hospital, are likely to prove appealing – and convenient. After all, Dubai certainly does luxury well. “AACSH is very much similar to the other activities Dubai has developed,” says Bahsoun. He points to the sheer number of high-end hotels and restaurants in the emirate, or facilities like the Atlantis or Ski Dubai, as evidence that Dubai continues to attract high-spending tourists. “Dubai is a dream for a lot of tourists to come and enjoy and this has helped develop the concept of medical tourism in parallel to all other activities of the city.” In the past, medical tourism was mostly a one-way stream for Dubai. It may have been able to attract small numbers to specialist clinics, but in general more people were leaving Dubai for medical treatment than visiting. Not any longer, he says. “People from Europe turned their eyes to Dubai for a medical solution of their problems instead of travelling to the US,” he says. “Same thing has happened with people from the Middle East – today we can see at the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital more and more visitors choosing Dubai as the destination for medical trip instead of Lebanon.” Of course, you don’t have to be a tourist to enjoy the services on offer at DHCC. Indeed, many Emiratis and long-term Dubai residents have been medical tourists in the past. Bahsoun hopes that the availability of Joint Commission International-accredited facilities within the emirate itself will keep patients away from the airport.
He also believes Dubai has the potential to act as a cosmetic surgery hub for the region. “More and more citizens of the United Arab Emirates and the surrounding region – such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain – can now find the specialists for their health problems just next door here in Dubai,” he says. “They no longer have to travel to other countries for treatments.” And it is not just major surgical procedures that are proving popular, either. Indeed, many people still consider the idea of elective surgery somewhat beyond the pale. While most of us will have issues with our appearance, few will take the active steps to seek – and pay – to have them attended to. That however, is starting to change, says Dr Antonio Armani, from the Alvi Armani clinic. Armani’s clinic specializes in hair transplants, and, as they are not covered by national health plans anywhere, Armani says they are proving extremely popular.

“As the intervention has become better in quality with more natural results it has become much more popular,” he says. “It is likely that it is the number one procedure for men in cosmetic surgery.” The procedure is attracting a lot of attention from patients from outside of the UAE, he adds. “50% of our patients come from Europe, GCC states, Saudi Arabia, India and other Asian countries.” And Armani agrees with Bahsoun that many individuals are looking to combine holiday plans with aesthetic surgery concerns. “Dubai has truly become a new tourist spot as our European patients, when given a choice, prefer to come here than to our North American clinics,” he says. “In fact, we also see some North American patients who prefer Dubai rather than our own North American centers in Toronto and Beverley Hills,” he says. Armani dismisses the idea that Dubai is blooming as a cosmetic surgery center as it is more affordable. “The main driver is definitely quality as our procedures range from $20,000 to over $100,000 per procedure.” The change in patient-flow has also been reflected in the clinical community. “Even the direction of the physicians has changed,” says AACSH’s Bahsoun. “Today Dubai and the UAE gather all top specialists in the medical field here on a regular basis as they are attracted by conferences and workshops and the opportunity to pursue continuous medical education and medical research.” It is clear, then, that Dubai looks set to continue flourish as a destination for cosmetic surgery – and will surely stem the flow of patients leaving the emirate for treatment. So whether you’re booking a flight from overseas, or a taxi from down the road, Dubai has plenty of options for a bit of nip tuck.

Dental fillings in Dubai

At the present time all the more popular white fillings, aesthetically beautiful, and healthier from amalgam fillings. White fillings are also known as dental composites, and belongs to a group of restorative materials that are often used in dental surgery. White fillings are good for minor repairs, but are not recommended for molars.

Direct dental composites

Direct dental composites are placed so that the dentist anoints thin layers of composite, then hand lamp illuminates the surface until it is flush with the tooth. Lamp emits primary blue light (λmax = 450-470nm), which causes polymerization and thus the wet gets its strength. Also, if the surface is illuminated longer gets darker color so it can hit the right shade.

Price of white fillings in Dubai

Prices of white fillings in Dubai is around $ 120, but the price depends on the number of tooth surfaces. For example, one surface of the tooth costs about $ 90 while two more surfaces cost around $ 130. Prices may also vary from dentist to dentist and from location to location.

Teeth Whitening in Dubai

Yellow teeth can leave a bad impression on people. Everybody has to have a beautiful and white teeth, but some just can not achieve the desired whiteness. And this is why many opt for laser teeth whitening, although there are other ways, but we will write about them later.

Laser Whitening

Today, the world's best, fastest and is the safest laser teeth whitening. A best known manufacturer of laser is Philips with its Zoom Whitening System. With this system it is possible to whiten teeth for about 8 shades in just 45 minutes, while other methods sometimes take up to two weeks. Best of all, it's completely safe and painless way of whitening. The entire procedure takes about an hour because it takes before protecting your face and rub the gel on your teeth, and take short breaks every 15 minutes.

Average cost of teeth whitening in Dubai

Price depends mostly on how to whitening teeth. If used listed Zoom! technology then the price of 2,000 Dh, plain lasers cost a little less and the price of the package for whitening at home around 1500 Dh

Cost of smile makeover in Dubai

People who opt for a smile makeover first ask for the price. If the makeover works with the help of dental veneers then the price depends on the material and the manufacturer of dental veneers. Composite veneers are a lot cheaper than ceramic and cost about 150-200 $ per piece, while ceramic veneers cost around 500-800 $ per piece, this is average price for Dubai.

But one should know that price is not the same if it fixes a single tooth if it fixes 10 teeth. It all depends on how much the repair teeth demanding.

It should be noted that the smile makeover should work at an experienced cosmetic dentist. Which before the operation to inform the patient of the results and the potential impacts. And that will show last works, not one that is taken from the internet or from a book.