Hungarian dentists could solve Aberdeen crisis
Offer for thousands still on waiting list
Published:
HUNGARIAN dentists today pledged to come to Aberdeen – setting up surgery in a giant inflatable tent.
They will offer an initial consultation for £15 and hope to attract the thousands of people on the NHS Grampian waiting list.
Numbers of people wanting NHS treatment in the area has soared by almost 5,000 from 25,058 in July 2007 to 29,730 this month.
Hungarian Dental Travel wants to take its service to the city as early as next month.
Director Chris Hall said: “Aberdeen has been discussed a lot. We are aware there is a huge problem.
“I will be speaking to my dentists and I am hopeful we could be in Aberdeen next month.”
The inflatable tent, which took a year to develop, has never been used before in Britain.
Two Hungarian dentists, who are both registered with the General Dental Council and speak English, will be there for the consultations.
Patients will be told what treatment they need and the cost of the work if it is carried out in Hungary.
They will also be advised on the cost of flights and accommodation.
The Hungarian capital Budapest is the leading dental destination for Britons, with an estimated 40,000 dental tourists a year.
A full set of implants costs up to £40,000 in Hungary – around £30,000 cheaper than Britain.
Alan Marshall found himself without a dentist after his surgery turned private two years ago.
The Dyce dad-of-two desperately needed treatment for abscesses and he made six trips to Poland to get the dental work carried out.
Alan, a lead engineer for Wood Group Light Industrial Turbines in Dyce, believes the new service could be a success.
He said: “For anybody that is needing dental treatment this is a great idea.”
The Hungarian service was due to start today in Stockport before visiting Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle.
Readers' Comments
Why does the government not stop mass unfettered immigration, and insist that people coming here to live have health insurance. Ask ARI about the amount of health tourists abusing our free health care. We never used to have a lack of dentists, and no matter how many we poach from countries that probably need them we will never catch up as the immigration numbers keep growing. Hence the need for more and more houses at a time when the Scottish population would have fallen slightly, and levelled out. Its madness allowing the world to come and settle here, when we are going to have difficulty producing enough food in the near future to feed our own population. I for one will be voting UKIP, as they seem to have sensible policies, more than I can say for the Labour or SNP.
Steven Thomson
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