Dental tourism in Ukraine and Poland

Dental tourism is not a "fashionable" phrase, but a reality and sometimes a forced necessity. Not all countries can boast the same set of characteristics. It would be nice, of course, that medicine would be at the top everywhere, but alas this is not the case. And such type as dental services is far from being an exception. The second issue is the price of these services. The services can be equally good in both countries, but in one country the prices are higher initially for everything. Good dentistry is comparable in price to buying and maintaining an expensive car. That's how dental tourism is born)

If your back hurts, get a better bite!

Treatment of root canals under a microscope, alignment of bite - is it a luxury? It is a vital necessity. It is human health. For example, back pain can be caused by prolonged improper bite. Even protrusion of the intervertebral discs can occur for this reason. But for some reason not even all doctors and dentists know about it (Special educators on this issue are kinesiologists and gnathologists! They are the ones who know about the connection between the teeth, muscles and joints!!! Tooth muscles are one of the most frequently pulled muscles and incorrect bite can cause distortion of the whole body... In the past it was normal to have a flat metal crown, higher in height than the rest of the teeth... And then vertebrologists wonder why muscles on one side of the neck and back are spasmed. Man is a single organism and teeth are no exception) Teeth should be even and with the anatomically necessary number of teeth, but in no case flat.

It is possible to straighten a bite:

•     Braces from an orthodontist
•     Veneers and fillings by the dentist, preferably a gnathologist

If it is possible to remove the eight teeth, they should always be removed before orthodontic alignment. But there are situations when the eight teeth cannot be extracted, because they are embedded in the jawbone, touch the alveolar nerve or are close to the maxillary sinuses. In this case, they immediately resort to alignment of the bite with ceramics. But by the way, do not entertain the hope that after the alignment with braces, you do not need to use ceramic veneers and fillings. Braces align the teeth, but the anatomical teeth wear out with age, especially if there was a wrong bite. Therefore, after orthodontics, the use of overlays, which will be modeled by the computer, will be required. More orthodontics does not solve the issue of tooth color and shape. But this article focuses more on the possibilities and disadvantages of ceramic veneers.

Veneers can:

•     Change the color of your teeth
•     Reshape teeth
•     Align the bite, but with a straight set of teeth!
•     Align slightly angled teeth.

Veneers cannot:

•     Reshape a bite where there are large original defects, such as large gaps between teeth, second row of teeth, or a protruding or sunken row of teeth.

What is a straight bite?

Anatomically, humans have front teeth and incisors for biting and chewing teeth for grinding food. It is very important that the contact of all teeth is correct. The main bite goes to teeth 5 and 6, then 4 and then the rest of the front teeth - it's just about touching the teeth and then squeezing tightly. Tooth 7 is left out of contact and has an "assisting" function for chewing food.

What will have to be experienced during the placement of veneers:

•     Tooth sensitivity. This is what suffers the most. The more irregular the teeth, the more they have to be filed off, thus increasing the sensitivity of the teeth. However, before veneers are placed, the teeth are treated with a special substance, similar to liquid glass, which both preserves the teeth, thereby removing sensitivity. Ideally, after a couple of days you will no longer feel hot/cold and after 1-2 weeks the biting pain will be gone. Note, properly placed veneers do not cause any discomfort! There should be no pain or even tumescence. Tooth sensitivity is a purely individual phenomenon. "Veneers increase sensitivity" is a myth! They increase sensitivity, nothing more than a routine visit to the dentist. Try having all your teeth treated at once...and you'll understand what sensitivity is. Nimesulide (you can take two packets of Nimesil right after your visit) and Hypericum, Arnica can help with tooth sensitivity.
•     Gum damage. This depends directly on the qualifications of the doctor. Yes, one way or another the gums will be affected. But a competent doctor grinds the teeth under a microscope, thereby reducing gum damage. After the teeth are grinded down and temporary crowns are placed, the gums (if still damaged in places) recover ideally in a couple of days. During the placement of veneers, the gums are hardly affected. Again, it depends on the doctor's skill to skillfully clean excess cement from the gums and interdental space. An excellent treatment for damaged gums and tooth sensitivity is the herbal ointment Baikadent (the active ingredient is baicalin).
•     Pain in the jaw joint. The work is done in two stages - the preparation of all the teeth for veneers and the placement of temporary crowns, followed by a waiting period of 1-2 weeks, and then the installation of ceramic veneers. So, the preparation of the teeth and installation of veneers takes 6-9 hours each time!!! All this time your mouth is open and the doctor is pushing on your lower jaw in one way or another. The doctor has to exert the most effort during the grout cleanup, after the finished veneers are placed. It's easy to confuse joint pain with a headache! It is easy to check the joint: squeeze a piece of absorbent cotton on one side and the other in turn, squeeze your teeth tightly, open your mouth wide, move your lower jaw to the left and right. There should be no pain, clenching, etc. in the cheekbone area with these manipulations. If there is pain only when you open your mouth and it happens after the placement of veneers... don't be alarmed! Alas, the joint is stretched from keeping the mouth open wide and tight. If this is the case, then medications with the active substance Etoricoxib can be helpful and the myorelaxant tizalud may be needed for a short period of time. As a general analgesic you can use drugs containing diclofenac sodium or dexectoprofen on a one-time basis.

Who should get ceramic veneers:

•     If your teeth are aligned by an orthodontist, but you need to correct your bite. Composite can be used as an option, but it is not durable.
•     If the teeth have undergone significant replacement of the natural tooth with composite due to late sonication. Often people come in with black teeth and after caries treatment, stumps are left from the teeth, then you can do veneers without hesitation.
•     If natural teeth are not aesthetically pleasing.

Should I get veneers or not?

If you have naturally smooth teeth, quite normal shape, then think 10 times before you agree to make veneers) You can whiten your teeth with a laser, align them with braces... Everything that is natural is natural. "Computer modeling of the smile" is just another trick for tourists))) If you do not have ugly teeth, it may be that you will be told, you have everything perfect, we only lengthened some teeth ... The length of teeth depends on age and tooth erasure is a natural aging process) You will be told after veneers you will have an even bite, because veneers are modeled by the computer. But they won't tell you the main thing, the doctor's qualification is important!!! Teeth will be sharpened and veneers will be made from impressions. At this stage everything is clear, it's like cooking Paschi). But then, the doctor applies glue and sets the veneers by hand!!! How much glue, how they will sit on the cement there) And then the fun part begins. You expect to install veneers and everything - voila, your dentition is straight... But it is not like that. The next step is a tedious and laborious grinding of teeth with ceramic onlays. The doctor's skill with the coping depends on whether your teeth will be straight. The doctor's professionalism is evident in whether he or she will be able to align your teeth with a copier or will rely on your senses... Bites are a delicate matter. Turning or tilting the head changes the bite many times over. Classically, doctors hope for the "insensitivity" of patients and align teeth "roughly", ie, lying down! They end up with straight teeth, and when a person stands up their whole bite changes! And when you start chewing food or moving your jaw, there are additional positions of the teeth. Therefore, veneers are a straight bite is a myth! During any sonication, the dentist ends up adjusting the tooth the same way they do with ceramic onlays)

What kind of teeth are veneers suitable for?

The photo below shows a history of decayed teeth:

•     Teeth with decay - black decay is visible under old fillings. This is the result of a visit to an unqualified dentist. The doctor without a picture said that the teeth were healthy. And in fact some of the teeth were barely able to save from the removal of the nerve...
•     Teeth after a complete cleaning of the decay - only "stumps" remained. These are the kind of teeth that make sense for veneers. Teeth with composite fillings - the shape depends on the skills of the doctor, the color of the teeth will change, in proportion to the use of staining products such as tea / coffee, wine / cigarettes.
•     The video shows the process of placing ceramic veneers on the treated and filed teeth.

What material to choose for veneers?

•     Definitely ceramic, not metal or composite/plastic. The fact that ceramics look 100% natural is not the most important thing. The important thing is that ceramic is an inert material. Those who have experienced homeopathy will understand that even a minuscule amount of metal in the mouth will have a negative impact on the human body. Plastic and composite are soft and porous materials that will sorb not only color, but everything else. Thus composite veneers can also be toxic. The gums will suffer first and foremost from this. The only disadvantage of ceramic veneers is the price.
•     Note, the price of a single ceramic product does not depend on whether it will be a crown (using almost the entire blank), a veneer (applied to the front side of the tooth) or an overlay ("teeth" used in the back teeth). This is due to the fact that with one piece comes one square blank from which the product is formed. What should I choose: crown, onlay or veneer? Appreciate your tooth and try to cut them as little as possible. So where you can get an onlay, don't get a crown.
•     Also check with the ceramic material. In 2022, E-Max ceramic is considered the best.

What tooth color should I choose for veneers?

There is a palette for ceramic onlays. There are "regular" natural colors and specially bleached colors. Don't chase extra white!!! Have you seen white ceramic sinks and toilets? Do you want your teeth to be like that? Unless you are a media personality and brunette, you can't have super white! Lighter people want less white teeth, and darker people can have lighter teeth because they have a contrast to the color of their teeth from nature... Speaking of naturalness, you should definitely mention the relief and texture of your teeth. Well, where have you seen natural perfectly smooth and not transparent teeth? Is it only after a filling ... Ceramic veneers should be made with irregularities (waves) and a slight translucency on the bottom edge. But all these tips are only for those who want to see naturally beautiful teeth, and do not want to show that he has an expensive ceramic "shell" in his mouth))) For that, ask the doctor to show pictures of the work, how certain ceramics look like - you can easily make a choice!

How to care for ceramic veneers?

Nothing ordinary, normal dental care should consist of:

•     Brushing twice a day with an electric toothbrush, sometimes adding an ultrasonic brush.
•     After brushing, be sure to clean the interdental space and gum pockets with an irrigator and floss.
•     After brushing, use mouthwash. Be sure to avoid chlorhexidine, as it will yellow your teeth!!!
•     During the day, rinse and floss after every meal if possible.
•     Teeth are brushed immediately after a meal. If there is no evening meal, teeth are cleaned just before going to bed, but in the morning after the meal.
•     Once every 3 months you must have your teeth professionally cleaned by a dental hygienist at a dental clinic. During this time, the dentist will remove tartar with ultrasound, clean gum pockets thoroughly and provide recommendations on problematic areas of your teeth, or, to be more precise, point out the inaccuracies of your daily oral hygiene routine.

All these activities should preferably be done before veneers, so you do not have to put them in).

Dental tourism - quality and price

Where to go and how to choose a clinic?

There are several rules for choosing a dental clinic:

•     There is a division of dentists by specialty (endodontist, orthodontist, hygienist, periodontist, prosthodontist and therapist).
•     The clinic has a CT scanner, and without it you won't even be taken for a consultation.
•     Dental work is done under the microscope.
•     Reviews on the Internet read not only the clinic, but also individual doctors of this clinic.
• The price of veneers ranges from 500 to 2500 euro per unit. The cost depends on the country, clinic and individual doctor, as the screening of prices was performed only for ceramic crowns E-Max.

    There is a French clinic Amel Dental in Ukraine. There are two branches in the city of Dnepr. The staff is very qualified. The most outstanding staff are endodontist Zara Zubairovna Mekhtikhanova and orthopedist- gnathologist Stanislav Martynovich (chief doctor of Amel Dental).

    In Poland we can mention Dental Sense clinic. There are two branches in the city of Gdańsk. The staff includes Łukasz Lassmann (owner of the clinics, orthopedist).

What is the procedure for placing veneers?

•     The first visit is an examination with a 3D scan, consultation, making a plan and making appointments for further visits. This will take one day. If you come from another country, you should keep in mind that no one will install your veneers right away. You need an appointment, sometimes even in 1-2 months. Also at the time of the examination all teeth must be treated by a general practitioner, and if necessary by an endodontist. However, after the root canals are treated, it is recommended to wait 6-12 months before placing the crowns. This is done to make sure that the root canals are treated properly. This is what a CT scan of the entire jaw is for.
•     The second visit is a computer modeling of the smile with a special scanner.
•     The third visit is when the teeth are filed and impressions are made, and temporary crowns are placed. The second and third visits can be side by side.
•     The fourth visit - the installation of ceramic crowns / veneers. Between the third and fourth visit, 7 to 14 days pass.
•     The fifth and sixth visit can be the next day if desired and for example another 1 to 2 weeks later. During these visits, a mouth guard is made for use at night in order to protect the ceramics from chipping during sleep. There is also a detailed bite adjustment, cleaning of the interdental and gingival space from the remains of the cementing material.

Dental tourism is about quality services for reasonable money. It is not a luxury, but a necessity to keep your teeth healthy. We recommend placing veneers and crowns, only if necessary. But if you do it, only E-Max ceramics and only in the leading clinics of the world.

Dental tourism in Ukraine and Poland means 100% quality for reasonable money. When choosing a dental clinic, pay attention to the reviews of the clinic in general and the particular dentist.