Vietnam wants to grow dental tourism, which has Australian dentists worried

For Wendy Middleton, hiding her teeth with her hands had become routine. The 67-year-old Adelaide woman had avoided dentists for years because she could not afford them. Then the pain became so severe that she struggled to eat and needed urgent treatment.

A local dentist quoted her about $40,000 for multiple crowns and extractions. The public waiting list was too long, she said, and paying that bill would have taken the rest of her life. Then social media advertisements offered a Vietnamese dental package for about one-third of the Australian price, including the procedure, flights, accommodation, visas, airport transfers, meals and medication.

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There's no way I could afford it. I'd be paying it off for the rest of my life.

Middleton initially feared it might be a scam. After researching the offer herself, she decided to take the risk and traveled to Vietnam with her friend Val Gibbins. The trip became partly a holiday, but Gibbins also came in case things went “pear-shaped”.

Middleton said her treatment went well, but Australian consultant prosthodontist Scott Davis told the ABC that he often sees patients returning from overseas with poor outcomes. Australians, he said, are trying to compress treatment that might normally take three to six months into two weeks. “Biology just doesn't listen to that,” he said.

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Ultimately, if I travel a very long way to have dental treatment, I'm trying to condense what normally might take three to six months into two weeks.

Dentistry ranks among the most common medical procedures for which Australians travel overseas, according to Smartraveller. Australia does not track how many people leave the country for medical treatment, making the scale difficult to measure. The Australian Dental Association has called for data on adverse outcomes, similar to information collected in the United Kingdom.

Vietnamese providers are actively pursuing the Australian market. Australian Dental Clinic, which operates in Hanoi and Da Nang, told the ABC that the “majority” of its foreign clients are Australian. Practice manager Nguyen Nam said the clinic had seen an increase in Australian visitors, while Vietnam's Health Ministry lists Australians among the leading nationalities seeking treatment there.

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Biology just doesn't listen to that.