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'Trip to Hungarian dentist saved £8,000'
7:00pm Tuesday 4th April 2006
A WOMAN who was determined to have a perfect smile on her wedding day saved £8,000 by flying 1,400 miles to Hungary for dental treatment.
Jill Stanworth was desperate to have dental work done in time for her marriage and 50th birthday celebrations, but she could not afford the asking price in the UK.
I’ll never go back to a dentist in England. I’ll go to Hungary for a check-up
Jill Stanworth
She was unlikely to get the work 16 crowns, a false tooth and some root canal treatment on the NHS because it was cosmetic and she was told to expect a bill of more than £12,000 if she went private.
Jill, who owns a sandwich shop on Bolton Road, Blackburn, was able to have improvements done for £4,000 in Budapest.
But today patient advisory groups warned that anybody heading overseas for such work should make sure they know they are being treated by a reputable dentist. Jill said: "I will never go to the dentist in England again. Never.
"I'm even going to go back out there in the summer for a check-up.
"I have been to that many dentists, and if you want just five crowns doing it takes months. You go one day and have something done and they say come back in three weeks and it goes on and on.
"This was very intense but once it's done, it's done. Within three weeks I had a fabulous set of teeth."
Mother-of-two Jill, of Willow Trees Drive, Lammack, found a firm called Smile Savers, set up in 2003, which takes advantage of EU rules to operate trips for European citizens.
Jill's visits included hotel accommodation and a taxi to and from the clinic.
She found a set of cheap flights herself, and required two visits last November, two weeks apart, to have the work carried out.
Her wedding to Paul at Samlesbury Hall and 50th birthday went ahead successfully on December 29.
But Mel Diack, chair of the Patient and Public Involvement Forum, which oversees hospitals in East Lancashire, said: "Probably our health services or NHS should be checking to see that their dentists have the same skills. Maybe there should be a watchdog set up.
"If it is cheaper it isn't always necessarily better. I certainly hope people do their homework before they fly out to these places."
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FAR-FLUNG APPOINTMENT: Jill Stansworth, of WIllow Trees Drive, Blackburn went to Hungary for extensive, but cheap, dental work prior to her wedding to Paul.
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