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My Body & Spirit catches the bus
My Body & Spirit catches the bus
My Body & Spirit as seen on Mackay bus
Sunshine Coast advertising on Sun Bus
Cosmetic Surgery gone wrong in Sydney
Cosmetic Surgery gone wrong in Sydney
If anyone is considering having plastic surgery in Australia, you need to see the stories on the links below. Up need to be aware of the differences between cosmetic and plastic surgeons and please be aware of the differences on offer where to have the surgery.
60 MINUTES STORY ON COSMETIC SURGERY IN SYDNEY
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD STORY ABOUT PUNCTURED LUNG DURING BREAST ENLARGEMENT SURGERY IN SYDNEY
CARDIAC ARREST DURING BREAST SURGERY IN SYDNEY
This has been worrying me for some time how Australian cosmetic surgeons get away with Iv sedation when they are performing breast surgery or face lifts.
PLEASE BE ASSURED this does not happen in Thailand. All of our surgeons are plastic surgeons and they operate in hospitals using general anesthetic. That means an anesthetist is present in the theatre monitoring you during the surgery. Also all patients having breast surgery or facial surgery stay in hospital for 1-2 nights. In Australia it is very common for patients to NOT stay in hospital at all. This again I find unbelievable.
If you seriously are considering plastic surgery, give us a chance to give you a comparison for the treatment in Thailand.
Australian Dental Association says cheap overseas procedures leave Australian tourists open to risks
Australian Dental Association says cheap overseas procedures leave Australian tourists open to risks
Photo: Wendy Macmanus travelled to Thailand for New Teeth,at Work Noosaville. Pic Glenn Barnes
A GROWING number of Queenslanders are joining the smile-high club – jetting off to Asia in search of Hollywood smiles at rock-bottom prices.
Tour operators and dentists say dental tourism is on the increase as Australians fed up with spiralling bills head for a holiday to combine white sand beaches with work on their pearly whites.
But the Australian Dental Association is warning that if procedures go wrong, the pain can last long after leaving the dentist’s chair.
Travel agency My Body and Spirit, based at Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast, specialises in taking clients to Thailand for dental and cosmetic work.
Director Barbara Sheriff started the company in 2005 after her husband was quoted $25,000 for some dental repair work in Australia.
“At the time we were looking at going to Thailand on holiday and he ended up having the dental work in Phuket,” Mrs Sheriff told The Sunday Mail.
“Instead of costing $25,000 it ended up costing $5500 for the dental. We just thought ‘there’s got to be so many other people in Australia that just can’t afford to do their dental just like us’.”
Dental work is “from 50 to 75 per cent cheaper” than in Australia and Mrs Sheriff reports organising dental holidays for around 300 people a year from all over Australia and New Zealand.
“The more people we send each year, with word of mouth it’s increasing,” she said.
“When we first started it was slow because people had to be quite adventurous, but now it’s quite acceptable. The general public accept going over, it’s an OK thing to do.”
Global Health Travel works with clinics in India, Thailand and the Philippines and reports demand for overseas dental work from Australians growing “about 25 per cent each year”, with up to 40 travelling each month.
But ADA Queensland president Ron Blake said cheap dental work overseas was “generally too good to be true”.
“It is happening all the time and people are coming back, some are happy, and some come back in a mess,” he said. “You’ve got no guarantee if something does go wrong, what’s going to happen about it, how is it going to be treated?”
The ADA recently raised concerns over health fund NIB’s plan to sell overseas surgical packages.
Dr Blake said it was essential patients asked questions about qualifications of the dentist and infection control before treatment.
News.com.au and Daily Telegraph Sydney & Sunday Mail 15/12/13
The rise of dental tourism
The rise of dental tourism
CHOICE investigates why some consumers are going overseas to save money on their dental treatment. Updated:21 Nov 2011 Author:Kate Browne: Member rating *****
Dental tourism as dental costs continue to rise, some people are choosing to travel overseas for treatment instead. With reported savings of up to 75% in some countries, its not surprising a growing number of people are packing their bags to chase cheap dentistry overseas. In this report we look at
1. What the overseas options are
2. What the downsides and dangers are
3. The growing dental crisis in Australia Some case studies from home and away
4. What to look out for
There are few things in life worse than a trip to the dentist. Some might say the only thing worse is paying the bill. Worse yet, though, is not being able to afford to go at all. Because of this a growing number of Australians are considering seeking cheaper dental treatment overseas.
And if you are up for it, there are plenty of medical tourism agencies to help you on your way. Many offer a range of medical options from cosmetic surgery to elective surgery, eye surgery and fertility treatment while others specialise in one area such as dental.
These agencies will organise your flights, accommodation and even sightseeing (though not travel insurance should a procedure go wrong). They will provide advice on hospitals regarding their success rates and complications for treatment and whether they are accredited by organisations such as the International Organization for Standardizations or the Joint Commission International.
It all sounds pretty tempting, but is dental tourism too good to be true?
Overseas destinations
India, Vietnam and Turkey are just some of the exotic global destinations on offer for medical tourism. For Australians, the most popular destinations for dental work are Malaysia and Thailand. Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok sees 11,000 overseas visitors for dental treatment alone.
Marketing Director Kenneth Mays estimates that 500 to 600 of these patients are Australian. We provide a complete dental centre, staffed by 55 full- and part-time dental specialists, 26 [of whom] trained and/or have been board-certified in the US, UK, Japan or Australia, he says.
Patients are choosing to travel to Thailand, he explains, because of the lower cost for equivalent quality of care, combined with good treatment, service and value and all in a desirable vacation location.
Barbara Sherriff, who owns Queensland travel agency My Body and Spirit, specialises in sending clients to Thailand for dental work, cosmetic surgery and laser eye surgery.
She says the business came about as a result of her husbands dental woes. He needed signifigant dental treatment and was quoted $25,000, which was just far too much.
Sheriff, a travel agent already familiar with Thailand, looked into having the treatment there instead. She and her husband visited The Bangkok Hospital on the holiday island of Phuket and were impressed with the facilities.
After receiving a quote they were even more impressed with the price of $5500, a huge saving on the original quote. As a result, the couple started a health travel service to Thailand.
Sheriff says they have sent more than 160 clients overseas in the last year, 75% of whom were for dental. When she asks her clients why they are choosing overseas destinations for their dental care, the answer is always the same.
Its cost. We have seen people who have been quoted up to $60,000 for substantial work and simply cannot afford to have it done in Australia. We now receive up to 20 enquiries a week, and most of these are from people wanting dental work.
Cassandra Italia owns Global Health Travel, another agency that sends Australians to a variety of countries for healthcare. She also says dental requests are on the rise. Dental is huge, and the driving factor is cost, she says. Even if people have a holiday at the same time they will usually find they still come out better off financially. The downside to overseas dentistry
The Australian Dental Association (ADA) acknowledges that dental tourism is on the rise but warns of the risks.
For a third of the price and a holiday at the same time it sounds like an offer that’s too good to be true, but it isnt that good.”says former Federal President Dr John Matthews. Most people go overseas because they want fairly complex dentistry done, and the more comples it is themore likely that something will go wrong. And when it fails, it fails big time.
Dr Carmelo Bonanno, a Canberra dentist and Federal Executive of the ADA, says people need to understand the implications of taking their dental care offshore. Overseas dentists may or may not have the training and experience, but with your Australian dentist it is very clear. If you see me you know where I’ve been trained and that I’m registered, and if you’re not happy with the work there are avenues to complain.
Bonanno says if people choose to head overseas, they may be in for unexpected additional costs.A former patient of his chose to have cosmetic dentistry done in Asia that was so badly done it will take significant work and a lot more money to get it fixed at home.
While Bonanno says he understands dental costs can be expensive in Australia, he urges people to weigh up the risks of taking their treatment out of the safety net provided here. You might have work done that’s absolutely fine but what if it isn’t? Fixing bad dentistry is no fun.
In the Australian dentists’ corner
The ADA says there are many reasons that Australians should avoid dental holidays.
In a public document it cites issues including poor training and infection control. Time and continuity of care is another problem where dental treatment overseas is fitted in around a holiday, and should ideally be conducted over a longer period of time. And, of course, there’s the risk of something going wrong. Most travel insurers will not cover medical tourism. It’s also unlikely there will be any suitable avenues for complaint.The ADA states that “Australians must ask themselves [whether] the overseas treatment will remedy dental problems long term. Will it be safe? Can patients be assured they will not be worse off? Are they fully aware of what treatment is actually being provided?
Arguments for dental tourism – The travel agents have their say
In the other corner, the medical travel agents CHOICE spoke to say they’ve had no complaints from the customers they deal with and that they provide a full estimate of the time required for treatment.
Transit Lounge Sponsorship
My Body & Spirit sponsors “Transit Lounge” Stealth 7, N.Y.R.C, Noosaville.
Launched April 2011