Dental and Cosmetic Surgery Blog from RevaHealth.com

4 Out Of 5 Irish People Would Consider Medical Tourism

A new Eurobarometer poll has found that 4 out of 5 Irish people would consider travelling abroad for medical or dental treatment, but only 5% of people have actually done so already.

The gap between those who have and those who would exists for a number of reasons, and convenience is quoted as the main reason for staying at home. A RevaHealth.com survey earlier this year of patients who had travelled abroad for dentistry found that for 95% of them price was the main deciding factor. In this survey price didn't come out as important, but it was still important for 63% of people.

The new legislation being introduced by the European Commission is designed to make it easier for people to travel abroad for treatment, so we can expect even more of those 80% to travel as awareness grows.

[Source: Four in five willing to travel abroad for medical treatment ]

NHS Dentist Reforms Failing, EU Backs Cross-Border Healthcare

Two pieces of interest from the BBC News website today.

First up, a report by British MPs into the "New Contract" between the NHS and dentists says that the changes have not had the intended effects. In fact, in the first year 900,000 less patients were treated in the 18 months since the new contract, less peope had complex procedures such as bridges and crowns performed, and 45% less people had root canal treatment. Worryingly, the number of tooth extractions rose in thesame period. Kevin Barron MP went on to describe the overall provision of NHS dentistry as "patchy".

Following on from this, the European Commission has detailed its plan to allow EU citizens to seek treatment abroad and be reimbursed (up to a limit) by their local healthcare system. Patients would not have to seek prior approval for non-hospital care. This follows on from the case of Yvonne Watts who paid for her own hip replacement in France after being denied treatment at home, and then successfully sued the NHS for the cost of the treatment.

While the plan is not expected to cause any sudden increase in the numbers of people travelling abroad for treatment, it does aim to make the process easier, allowing patients to escape the red tape of prior approval, which will make a huge difference in the cases of people needing treatment urgently.

[Sources: NHS dentistry reforms 'failing', EU plans cross-border healthcare from BBC News]

New York AMA Calls For Ban On Cross Border Health Plan Incentives

The New York chapter of the American Medical Association is calling for legislation that would stop insurers and employers from offering health plans that promote treatment in Mexico. The International Medical Travel Journal writes that the call comes despite legal advice that such legislation would possibly be illegal and would be likely to be unworkable anyway.

The AMA, which has been relatively quiet about the subject up to now, is likely testing the waters for both public and corporate reactions, but does not want to be get caught up in a debate about the reasons behind the high cost of private health care in the US.

For more see US physicians want to outlaw cheap Mexican care on the IMTJ site.

The Business Of Dentistry In The United States

I came across an article by Alex Berenson on the ZNet site from the end of last year that covered a lot of interesting points in relation to dentistry in the United States at this time. You can read the article in full here:

Boom Times for Dentists, but Not for Teeth 

It clearly describes a situation that should worry anyone with an interest in local healthcare. The number of dentists in the United States is decreasing at the moment, the number of adults and children with untreated cavities is increasing, and publically supported dental clinics have months long waiting lists.

The danger here is that if there are not enough dentists to go around, they will choose to treat only the patients with the most money or insurance, leaving low or middle income familes unable to afford proper dental care. From our survey of dental tourism patients earlier this year, price is the number one factor driving them to travel outside their home country, so it is no wonder that patients from the United States are travelling to see dentists in Mexico and dentists in Costa Rica in ever increasing numbers.

Healthcare is already on its way to being a big issue in this year's Presidential election. It will be interesting to see how dentistry will fit into the debate.

Combining breast lifts with breast augmentation or reduction

For anyone considering a breast lift or reduction, the option of having a breast lift also will inevitably crop up too. There is a good description of the breast lift procedure and the implications of having it done at the same time as another breast procedure over at the Plastic Surgery Blog.

In the article it discusses the fact that doing two procedures at the same time means a certain amount of guesswork can be required when repositioning the nipple, and combining an augmentation with a lift can cause reduced blood flow.

As ever, the advice is to educate yourself about the procedure and also about the surgeon who is going to perform it.

Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex!

Dr. Helaine Smith of the Successful Smiles blog has posted a new free eBook which joins some of the dots between your oral health and your overall health. The light hearted eBook is called Healthy Mouth, Healthy Sex! and has information relevant to teenagers, pensioners and everyone in between. (It's also a good fun example of viral marketing - other dentists take note!) If you've ever wondered what effect getting dental implants would have on your sex life, this is the eBook for you.

Implants In A Day

For Dental Tourists the idea of Implants-In-A-Day, sometimes called immediate load implants, are tremendously attractive as they offer the possibility of a fully restored tooth with a permanent crown in a single trip. But what exactly are they, and how do they differ from regular implants?

Normal implantation takes place over two phases and needs as many as four trips to the dentist. For the Dental Tourist this would typically require two trips to their chosen destination. During the first stage the titanium screw (the implant) is inserted into the jaw and left to heal. Between 3 and 6 months later the implant will have bonded with the jawbone and the patient can return for the second phase, where the crown, bridge or denture is attached.

The idea behind Implants-In-A-Day utilizes new techniques and scanning technology to make a precision crown which is placed onto an extremely accurately placed implant, all in the space of a couple of hours. This allows a Dental Tourist to get their implant in a single trip.

The normal method is that the dentist will use a 3 dimensional scan (CT scan) to create a near perfect picture of your jaw. This is then used to make a template that is used to model the final restoration including the crown. The dentist then uses the template to place the implant with tremendous precision. This precision is what allows for the crown to be immediately attached to the implant.

Implants-In-A-Day require advanced techniques and technology and as such they should only be performed by extremely experienced implant surgeons.  Any slight misplacement of the implant will cause the crown to sit incorrectly and it will be necessary to wait for new crowns to be made.  It should be noted that not all patients will be suitable for Implants-In-A-Day. It is also common for the procedure to take place over a few days, rather than just taking the one day advertised.

Pros

You can get your implant done in a single trip without having to wait up to 6 month between visits. This means less travel costs and less time off work. It also means you get the cosmetic and functional benefits of the implant sooner.  Also since the placing of the implant was so precise, your healing time is reduced.

Cons

The technique requires advanced technology and a very skilled practitioner; as a result Implants-In-A-Day tend to be more costly than regular implants. There is also a slightly greater chance of the implant failing.

The European Commission Backs Away From Medical Tourism, For Now...

A report on the BBC News website suggests that the European Commission have today delayed their report dealing with medical tourism between EU states for "agenda reasons".

The delay should come as no surprise though as there have been strong rumours of discontent amongst the various EU health ministers about the effects of the report, particularly to do with added strain on their own health systems from inward patients and on their health budgets from unexpected outward patients.

It seems now as if each country will be able to run a system to pre-approve each patient's right to having their treatment costs covered, which in effect changes very little from how things stand today apart from standardising the system slightly.

If the European Commission does manage to stand their ground in the face of this opposition, they will in effect create a pan-European healthcare system, where patients will be in control of spending the money allocated for their treatment by their local health system, a fairly revolutionary idea.

US Insurance Company Embraces Dental Tourism

Bluecross Blueshield, who we mentioned in the previous post, are now offering their policy holiders the ability to get their dental treatment done overseas.

Bluecross Blueshield is one of the more forward thinking insurance plans available in the USA and offers its members the option of getting their medical treatment done overseas at accredited hospitals. This is the first time they have offered dental treatment abroad.

Currently there are only two dental clinics involved in the scheme, Prisma Dental Clinic and Meza Dental Care, which are both in Costa Rica. No doubt this network will continue to grow and evolve during 2008.

Link to the press release

Blackrock Clinic In Ireland Targets Inbound Medical Tourism

There has been an unusual twist in the medical tourism industry in Ireland, a country typically known as a source market for medical tourism, where up to 10,000 people travel abroad just for dental treatment every year. Now it seems that one of Ireland's top hospitals, The Blackrock Clinic, is trying to tempt international medical tourists to come to Ireland.

The Blackrock Clinic is a JCI accredited hospital on the outskirts of Dublin city and tends to provide it's services to the wealthier citizens of Ireland. However, it would seem that the hospital is attempting to expand it customer base overseas as they have started offering Bluecross Bluesheild US insurance plan holders a discount on procedures.

The Blackrock Clinic is the second hospital to join the Companion Global Healthcare network after Bumrungrad in Thailand. What is unusual here is that Bumrungrad can offer US citizens massive cost-savings, whereas it is likely that the Blackrock Clinic's prices will be much closer to those in the US than in Thailand.