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'What have they done?' Flip side of Turkey's dental boom
Attracted by the promise of the perfect smile at an unbeatable price, 150,000 to 250,000 foreign patients flock to Turkey every year, according to the Turkish Dentists' Association (TDB), making it one of the world's main dental tourism destinations alongside Hungary, Thailand and Dubai.
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A dentist and his assistant work on a patient at a dental clinic in Istanbul on September 16, 2022. Attracted by unbeatable prices, fast turnaround times and the promise of a bright smile, 150,000 to 250,000 foreign patients will travel to Turkey for treatment this year, according to the Turkish Dental Association (TDB), making the country one of the main destinations of world dental tourism.
(AFP /Ozan Kose )
Briton Rida Azeem knew her dental trip to Turkey had gone badly wrong the second she took off her mask.
"My husband said, 'What have they done to you? Your face is all sunk.'"
"I had big gaps underneath my gums and you could see all the metal bits (of the implants). It was done so badly it was unbelievable," the engineer from Manchester told AFP.
"Originally they were going to do five implants," said Azeem. But when the treatment was about to start, the dentists told her they would "have to remove all your teeth".
"They looked professional," said the 42-year-old, who now has to wear false teeth.
Attracted by the promise of the perfect smile at an unbeatable price, 150,000 to 250,000 foreign patients flock to Turkey every year, according to the Turkish Dentists' Association (TDB), making it one of the world's main dental tourism destinations alongside Hungary, Thailand and Dubai.
But the "Hollywood smile" sold by clinics in Istanbul, Izmir or Antalya often involves trimming -- or even extracting -- healthy teeth, sometimes taking all of them out.
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