Medical tourism – getting my dentistry done in Malaysia
Last updated on March 21st, 2025 at 07:54 pm
Have you considered medical tourism?
I have – I went and had my teeth sorted out in Malaysia- at the time I was living in Australia. Here I give you my version of medical tourism and what I did.
Please note this was first written in 2015 so prices will be well out of date and what was cutting edge technology then is much more common now. However, the story remains the same and I have continued to have work done in Malaysia and elsewhere – like Moldova – since.
The questions you get!
As said, I flew out of Australia to ‘get my teeth done.’ Yes – before I left I got the standard questions…
- But how do you know it will be safe?
- Are you joking? You’re going to dentists in Asia?
- How do you find a dentist there?
- What if something goes wrong?
- I wouldn’t trust them – how do you know they are any good?
- No way would I do that – you’re kidding right?
Why?
As to why you would do the same? Well, quite simply it saves you money – a lot of money, and combined with a bit of R&R makes for a holiday that pays for itself.
Let’s add it up in round figures based on my trip from Australia to Kuala Lumpur.
Flights to and accommodation in KL $900
Dental costs in KL – $850
Quoted costs in Australia $2900
The math is fairly simple. A holiday plus top dental care = cheaper than staying in Australia and getting the work done locally. And you get to do things like have a (very lovely and very cheap) daily massage and hang around with baby elephants in your spare time.
How I found my dentist and endodontist
The point is, how do you know a dentist back home is any good either? Most likely the only way you choose a dentist, other than picking one from google, is through word of mouth referrals. So its the same deal, I found mine exactly the same way – through word of mouth. It just happened to be online word of mouth initially.
The next thing that I did when looking for the right dentist, was to check out their qualifications, check out what other patients had to say – I contacted people that had reviewed them, and talk to the dentist in person before I left.
It is important to do this research – you are not going to want a dodgy job done on your teeth. Do
- spend time searching forums for up to date information
- ask people on the forums for more information and if you can contact them direct to talk about their experience
- ring the dentists in question and talk to them beforehand (yes in my experience they will take time out to talk to you – nice bit of customer service)
- send your x-rays ahead so they can provide you with information before you even get on the plane as to what they think needs doing, how long it will take and what it will cost.
That was a lot more than I had ever done before when looking for a dentist. How many of us ever check the dentist to this degree ‘back home?’ Doing this meant that before I even stepped foot on a plane, I knew that I was dealing with people very used to working with foreigners and who had an excellent reputation among their clientele.
Sure there are always ‘horror stories’ but I will note that I have had some bad dentistry done in countries like England, France, and Australia (and some good of course). However, now I can say I have had excellent dentistry and endodontistry (is that a word?) done in Malaysia! (Plus members of my family have followed me and had the same result.)
For sure, the next time I need anything major doing I’m hoping I am already in one of these dental tourism hot-spots, otherwise I’m going to be heading straight for the airport!
Ignorant or arrogant?
I recall a forum thread I was reading on this ‘dentistry overseas’ topic. (Yes I did a lot of reading.) In particular I remember this comment:
“Sure they are trained and qualified in places like XX . So why would they live in a third world country getting paid badly when they could live in XX and get paid properly?”
Seriously?
Umm let me see…..how about because:
- they want to live where they call home,
- they want to live where their friends and family are,
- they like it there,
- they want quality of life,
- they like the tropics,
- the cost of living there is a lot lower than in XXXX and so they end up with plenty of money and probably a better lifestyle all the same…..
Ok rave over!
Where to go?
There are plenty of overseas options for excellent cheap dentistry (and medical tourism). These are just some of the countries known for their high quality, well priced dental work. But do your research, as there are likely to be equally high quality dentists in other countries near these:
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Vietnam
- India
- Hungary
- Czech Republic
- Turkey
- Moldova
- Costa Rica
- Mexico
These are just options for dentistry – of course medical tourism has grown in popularity too – start googling for what you need and get onto forums – you will find options!
Check your costs add up!
Before you book of course, figure the cost of your flights and accommodation plus dentistry and then do the math! I used airbnb for my accommodation, apart from a couple of nights where I decided to treat myself to a room with a view where I could watch the nightly light display below the Petronas Twin towers in comfort!
Are they qualified?
Back to one of the key questions everyone has – how about their qualifications?
I chose a dentist, who turned out to be the biggest techno-geek ever! I did have to ask him if he had missed his calling in technology – not that he didn’t have plenty of technology right there in his dental rooms!
He had just returned from a conference in Germany and finally (after apparently waiting for years for them to get to a quality he thought was good enough) had brought his new CEREC machine (i.e. ‘make-your-new-crown-on-the-spot’ machine). It was quite a fascinating process watching your new tooth being crafted – and all finished in no time flat. I now (a couple of years later) can’t even remember which tooth it was I had done which is interesting – you certainly can’t tell by looking!
I also used an endodontist – who discovered the niggly little on-again-off-again pain I had for the last ‘quite a while’ was in fact an abscess which had been missed by the dentists I had seen in Australia! He had it sorted again in no time flat. One happy client and no trouble since!
The dentist was trained and qualified in Australia.
The endodontist was trained and qualified in Singapore and Australia.
Both estimated they dealt with approximately 50/50 of local clients and of British, Australian and other foreign clients – some of whom I met in the waiting room. It seemed typical for these foreign clients to just come once a year for any work that needed doing.
I can see why. The cost, the quality, and the destination are enough to make anyone come back!
Update: And because you might be wondering I used Dr Perlin (crowns and dentistry) and Dr Lam (endodontics). Remember its been a while but they still seem to have highly positive reports, but see who else is available now.
What if something goes wrong?
Basic travel insurance policies don’t usually cover medical tourism. But there are specialised policies and some others offer this as a paid extra on their policies. this is just one example (for Australians). Be honest about your plans or you may void the policy. (TBH I didn’t bother with extra insurance, (but I would if I was undergoing anaesthetic etc.), so I wont recommend any particular company here.)
Check with your insurance company about:
- post-operative care
- complications
- medical evacuation
- death
Note that there is always advice from governments about medical tourism and it is good to read something along these lines too to have an unbiased view. This is an example (again from Australia).
Feel free to ask me any questions and add any comments if you have had an overseas dental or medical tourism experience 🙂
Travel Insurance that covers you when you do this
Insurance companies have woken up to the fact that some people now live as digital nomads and others do pure medical tourism – especially for cosmetic surgery and dentistry. So more and more companies are covering this.
SafetyWing and EKTA are the insurance companies I typically recommend because they are more age range-friendly than most companies, and SafetyWing is particularly designed for digital nomads. I would stick to them if that is your lifestyle. Genki is another great brand for digital nomads and covers you for health insurance worldwide.
However other companies are now specifically including medical tourism in their travel cover, and, Worldwide Health Cover is becoming popular.
For example, from the UK Medical Travel Shield covers you for travel for dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, elective surgery or IVF/fertility treatment. And from the USA Universal Medical Travel covers for medical tourism too.
Work out what is best for you – but make sure you have some cover in case you need it!
Other useful links for your trip
Internet – get a highly rated yesim eSim before you go – click here for yours
Accommodation – book a hotel with booking.com or Tripadvisor, or, a hostel with Hostelworld
Transport – get to Chisinau with Trainline or find a flight with skyscanner
Car rental – click to get the best deal on rentalcars.com
Tours and Activities – book with Viator or GetYourGuide.
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