"A statement is hidden in the title above, and this is, that exactly Hungary is the Mecca for Dental Tourism. It is not our statement but a survey from 2007 by Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions says that our country was a popular dental care destination.No doubt, Hungary is considered as Europe’s real dental centre – just along the borders to Austria there work 1400 dentists. To provide Sopron’s 50 thousand residents with dental services, 20 practitioners alone would be enough but the number of dentists in the city amounts to 400.
The western part of the country is a typical destination for dental tourists arriving from the surrounding German speaking countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) while the capitol, in the first place, for UK, French and Italian patients. The materials used, modern equipment and instruments in the dental offices and the quality level of Dental Prosthetics all correspond nearly with those in Western-Europe.
Thanks to the education in Dental Schools, the professional knowledge of the Hungarian dentists is renowned all around the world. The 5 year basic education is followed by a 2 year residency period and after a successful qualification the candidates receive their diploma as medical specialists. For the dentists, permanent continuing education is compulsory.
Besides the education in Hungarian language, the presence of foreign students is also significant. Foreign students from former socialist states have been replaced by attendants from English and German speaking areas. During the 50 year existence of the Dental School at Semmelweiss University, 800 out of almost 4800 dentists, who graduated here, came from 36 countries. Besides the centre in Budapest, the other three universities in the country provide the very same high-quality dental education.
As a science, Dentistry has extraordinary demands for materials and tools, so the rapid development of other neighbour-disciplines has given a huge boost to the wide range of various dental therapies.
In Hungary, there are nearly 6000 practising dentists and this number in 10000 residents exceeds the total of the neighbouring countries in Central-Eastern-Europe. (In Poland with a similarly prospering dental tourism and a fourfold bigger population there are only 17 thousand specialists.) About 2800 dental technicians support the work of the Hungarian dentists at an excellent level. The dental laboratories always meet the increasing demands for the best aesthetical and functional high-quality outcomes and provide thorough dental prosthetic services in form of removable and fixed dentures.
Many of the most prominent dental unit manufacturers and material suppliers have chosen Budapest as a site for their regional centre in the past years. In addition, they regularly organise their hands-on courses and product presentations in Hungary for dentists and dental technicians from the neighbouring countries. Of course, the direction often can be reversed when Hungarian dentists and technicians are asked to give lectures at symposiums or workshops in Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia or Russia.
Unquestionably, the dental centre of Central-Eastern-Europe is Hungary. Several companies supply from here dental devices and materials to about 60 thousand dentists, 30 thousand technicians and lots of dental trade partners in the region from Croatia, over the Czech Republic to Ukraine.
Given these conditions, the ‘market’ is developing continuously thanks not only to the dental tourism but the increasing needs and good solvency of the local population."
More info from Krisztina Keresztesi
24.03.2009