Hyderabad: Dental tourism is seeing a rise in India with a lot of non-resident Indians and also foreign nationals opting for India as a destination for dental treatments.
Smile designing, metal free bridge, dental implants, root canal treatment, tooth whitening, crown and implants are the most sought after treatment. Dental treatments are clubbed with vacation tours. Hence places like Hyderabad, Goa, Bengaluru, Chennai and New Delhi are the most sought after.
Dr Kamlesh Kothari, a senior maxillofacial surgeon, said, “The cost of dental treatments in the USA, the UK and Europe are 10 times more than that in India. Hence people who are coming down for vacations also plan their dental procedures at that time making it a two in one package.”
The reason a large number of NRIs and even foreigners are preferring India is because there is state of the art technology and surgeons having experience of more than 10 years in dealing with different kinds of patients. Hence most of the treatments are carried out according to set standards.
In 2015 more than a lakh people had opted for dental treatment in the five cities of India from July to December. The dental industry finds this an interesting avenue and they analyse that the growth rate will be more than 30 per cent in the next three years.
Dr K. Padmaja, a senior dentist in the city explained, “There are a lot of positive factors like English speaking population, competence, tourist destinations and also alternative medicines. These are some of the factors which are attracting people.
The outcomes are better as doctors are well-trained and experienced.”
Experts opine that the biggest growth for the industry will be implants and dentists have to equip themselves with the technology for implants as it will be required both within the country and abroad.
Dr J. Reddy, senior dentist explained, “The Dental Council must come forward to help dentists set up clinics so that they can make the most of the influx of tourists. Patients check before opting for a healthcare system whether facilities are available. We need to set up clinics according to protocol so that there are no complaints.”
