Coming from the Netherlands to Turkey for dental implants

The Netherlands' compulsory basic insurance, the basisverzekering, does not cover routine tandarts care for anyone over 18; regular check-ups, fillings and cleaning are paid for out of pocket or through an optional tandartsverzekering. Implants sit outside the basic package too, except in rare cases such as a serious congenital anomaly or a genuine medical necessity, and even then an eigen risico (personal excess) can still apply. So most patients living in the Netherlands need to budget for an implant themselves from the outset.

Many patients close this gap with an optional tandartsverzekering. How these policies handle treatment abroad, though, varies from insurer to insurer: some reimburse treatment carried out within the EU up to Dutch market rates, others do not cover treatment abroad at all, or limit it to spoedeisende (emergency) care. Because Turkey is not in the EU, this distinction matters even more. The only right step is to get written information from your own policy before treatment starts; general information from us or another clinic is not binding for your contract.

The KNMT takes a cautious view of dental treatment done abroad, because it has seen cases where patients were not properly informed about guarantees and follow-up. That warning is fair, and it is exactly why you need to find a tandarts for your return before you travel and hand over a complete treatment file before you go: the materials used, the implant brand and the technique applied should all be documented in writing. This is also the KNMT's own recommendation: that the patient comes home with an up-to-date file and passes it on to a dentist in the Netherlands.

Dutch dental care works a little differently from Turkey's, and knowing this makes your follow-up easier. The tandarts carries out examinations, fillings and more involved procedures; the mondhygiënist (dental hygienist) handles routine tartar removal and gum care, and most patients book these as separate appointments. The mondhygiënist plays a large part in routine care after implant treatment: monitoring the gum and bone around the implant usually starts with their check. This distinction is not as clear-cut in Turkey, so patients returning to the Netherlands need to plan both appointments separately.

The clinical process is three days, that is 72 hours, and each of those three days is full: day 1 is surgery and the first try-in, day 2 is further try-ins and choosing the final tooth shade, day 3 is the final fixed teeth. Direct flights run from Amsterdam to Istanbul, which makes this a single trip; but do not book your return for the middle of day 3, because the last bite adjustments are made that day, and rushing them lowers the quality of the fit.

This protocol was not designed for patients missing a single tooth. A conventional single-tooth implant for a single gap means fewer procedures, less travel and staying with your own tandarts; in that case there is no need to come to Turkey.

The breakdown below shows whether the trip is really worth it for patients coming from the Netherlands.

The order below rules out the most common hiccups from the start.

1. 1

   Send your imaging

   Send your panoramic X-ray or CBCT scan if you have one, your list of medicines, and any long-term conditions. If we think this is not right for you, we tell you before you travel.

2. 2

   Get written information from your tandartsverzekering

   Ask your policy what cover applies to treatment abroad and which documents they will ask for. Getting this before treatment is far easier than getting it afterwards.

3. 3

   Find a tandarts in the Netherlands now, for after you are home

   Find a tandarts for routine check-ups and a mondhygiënist for cleaning, and pass your records to both once treatment is done.

4. 4

   Set aside three days, and plan any holiday separately

   The clinical process is three days, that is 72 hours: day 1 is surgery and the first try-in, day 2 is further try-ins, day 3 is the final fixed teeth. Put your return flight at the end of day 3.

5. 5

   Take your complete records home with you

   The brand, diameter, length and position of the implants, an X-ray taken after treatment, the written treatment plan and what the guarantee covers. As the KNMT also recommends, no tandarts in the Netherlands can safely treat you without this file.

6. 6

   Set the check-up schedule from the outset

   Because treatment is complete with the final teeth on day 3, you do not need a second treatment trip; agree before you travel which check-ups happen in the Netherlands.

Even where the basisverzekering does not cover it, staying in the Netherlands is the right answer for some patients; the options below are real too.

The patterns below come up again and again in patients coming from the Netherlands, and every one of them can be prevented with planning.

This is the period that really begins once you are back in the Netherlands, and it needs to be planned from the outset.

1. The first week

   Swelling goes down and you need fewer painkillers. Most questions in this week are resolved by photo and phone.

2. The first month

   A bite check. If your tandarts in the Netherlands can do this, go along with your records; if not, we plan together how to proceed.

3. The first year

   Because treatment is complete on day 3, there is no separate treatment visit; check-ups are more frequent in the first year and then space out. Keep your mondhygiënist appointments regular.

4. Yearly care

   A check-up, professional cleaning and monitoring the bone level around the implants. This is what decides how long the treatment lasts, and it needs to happen in the Netherlands.

Looking only at the headline figure when you compare quotes from the two countries is misleading. Here is what should go into the calculation:

Matching the scope

Whether the final fixed teeth are included, how many implants, whether check-ups are in scope. A comparison made before these are matched is misleading.

Travel and accommodation

Flights, accommodation and time off, for two people if you bring a companion. When the clinical process fits into a few days, this comes to a single trip.

What the tandartsverzekering contributes

The basisverzekering does not cover routine adult care, and the tandartsverzekering can be limited abroad. Do not factor this in without getting it in writing.

The cost of care in the Netherlands

The yearly check-up, mondhygiënist cleaning and tandarts check will happen there. This is part of the total, and leaving it out makes the price difference look bigger than it really is.