Results & Trust

When comparing dental clinics, start with information you can verify. Ask who will treat you, which documents authorise the facility to operate and why the treatment is proposed. Ask for an explanation of any result you are shown or promise you are given. Get the answers in writing and ask again about anything unclear.

These questions are a starting point for assessing a clinic. Before arranging treatment away from where you live, ask how you will receive explanations, records and follow-up information in a language you understand.

The clinic is in Turkey, so the Turkish rules governing health promotion are relevant when assessing its public information. Turkey's general health-promotion rules prohibit overt or concealed advertising and advertising based on patient thanks or satisfaction¹. The Turkish Dental Association's publishing guide also prohibits advertising and allows information within legal limits². Do not use a patient review or thank-you message in place of the reasons for a treatment recommendation.

Ask questions about outcome claims too. The regulation prohibits promoting methods without scientific and clinical proof and misleading use of scientific information or statistics¹. Ask what evidence supports a claim and how it relates to your situation.

Before-and-after images have additional conditions. The Ministry's explanations specify explicit consent for patient images, no later technical alteration and before-and-after images taken under the same conditions³. Treatment and image dates must also be shown³. The publishing guide calls for disclosure of whether the image shows the dentist's own patient². Do not read conditions for sharing images as general permission to advertise.

If a website has no patient reviews or before-and-after images, do not make their absence your sole assessment criterion. Check professional registration, facility documents and the explanations you receive instead.

Start by asking for the treating dentist's full name. In Turkey, dentists in private practice must register with the relevant provincial or regional dental chamber⁴. The Turkish Dental Association website offers a search of registered dentists by name and province⁵. If a name does not appear, do not treat that alone as proof that the dentist is unregistered; ask the relevant chamber to confirm. Ask for the spelling used in the dentist's Turkish registration.

Distinguish "dentist" from "specialist dentist". Under Turkey's specialty-training regulation, specialist certificates are issued and registered by the Ministry, and the specialist title cannot be used without a certificate⁶. The private oral-health facilities regulation also prohibits specialist claims based on a training certificate, master's degree or doctorate⁷.

If a specialist title is used, ask which recognised Turkish specialty it refers to and request the supporting document. Do not take a course or training certificate as a specialist qualification. After checking registration and the title, separately ask why the proposed treatment is considered suitable for you.

Private oral-health facilities in Turkey need a licence and an operating permit to provide services⁷. Ask to see both documents. Ask about anything unclear in the facility name or address on them; if needed, seek confirmation from the provincial health directorate.

The regulation also requires a copy of the dentist's practising certificate, approved by the provincial health directorate, to hang in the surgery where patients can easily see it⁷. Ask to see the practising certificate of the dentist who will treat you.

A licence, operating permit and inspection are legal requirements, not evidence of treatment quality or an outcome⁷. Alongside checking documents, discuss the reasons for the plan, the alternatives and the risks.

For international health-tourism services, Turkey's regulation also requires facilities to hold an authorisation certificate⁸. Ask to see the relevant certificate. The Ministry publishes a register of authorised facilities that you can check independently⁹. That register contains no quality rating, outcome data or ranking⁹. Do not use authorisation as a substitute for discussing your treatment.

If someone shows you a result, first decide what you want to assess. Is it appearance, an explanation of the work done or a later review of the treatment?

• Which treatment does it show? What was done to which teeth?
• When was the treatment done, and when were the images taken? Is there information about later reviews?
• Were the images taken under the same conditions? Is any technical alteration explained?
• What is disclosed about whose record it is and permission to share it?
• Which alternatives, limitations and risks should be discussed for your situation?

Rather than deciding about your treatment from that image alone, take your questions to a dentist. Consider discussing the proposed treatment with a dentist near your home before making arrangements.

If you encounter the word "guarantee", ask which written terms it refers to. Is it a condition relating to a material, repair or remaking work? Do not read these as a certain promise about your health or treatment outcome.

Ask for written answers to these questions:

• Which treatment or component is covered?
• Which situations are excluded?
• Who assesses a problem and what happens next?
• What care and reviews are expected of you?
• Where do the terms apply and when do they end?

Before you travel, ask how a concern would be assessed after you are home and whether the terms require you to return. Ask whom your dentist at home should contact and which records they would need.

If you are offered a guarantee or written terms, the guarantee page lists questions for assessing them.

Information. For treatment in Turkey, Turkey's patient rights regulation allows you to request the identities, roles and titles of the people treating you¹⁰. You have the right to be told about the causes and course of the condition, who will perform the intervention, where and how and its estimated duration; other options, benefits and risks, possible complications and the consequences of refusing¹⁰. The explanation is given orally in plain language by the professional who will perform the intervention¹⁰. Ask about anything you do not understand and request a written summary of the plan. Before travelling, ask how explanations and documents will be provided in a language you understand.

Consent and your choice. Private oral-health facilities in Turkey must obtain a consent form for every intervention⁷. Ask for time to read it and discuss your questions. You can say no, or ask to stop, at any stage.¹⁰ Treatment that is compulsory by law is an exception. The consequences of refusal are explained, a written record is made, and a refusal may not be used against you on a later visit¹⁰. Consider another dentist's opinion near your home before deciding.

Your records. You can examine your file and records and obtain a copy¹⁰. Request your plan, consent documents and any X-ray records. Ask for copies in a format your dentist at home can open. Ask for a written record of the materials used and an aftercare plan explaining who to contact after you are home. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

Complaints. Under Turkey's patient rights regulation, you have rights to make applications, complaints and legal claims¹⁰. Ask for the facility's written complaints procedure and whom to contact from where you live. Polyclinics, centres and hospitals must have a patient rights unit⁷; do not assume the same requirement applies to every individual dental practice. The provincial health directorate's Patient Rights Board also considers applications involving private health facilities that could not be resolved at the facility¹⁰. However, the Board does not assess allegations of medical error¹⁰. Ask the provincial health directorate or relevant Turkish dental chamber which route suits your concern. Keep your application and the responses. Seek advice in the country where you live about any additional route relevant to your circumstances.

Assess the proposed treatment as well as the clinic. Ask your dentist why it is recommended, what alternatives exist and what you should understand about postponing or refusing treatment. Consider seeking another dentist's opinion near your home and comparing the option of having treatment there.

These statements describe our approach:

• A dentist examines you in person before your plan is final.
• If less treatment could meet your needs, we tell you.
• For crowns and veneers, you see the planned shape before they are finished and can ask for changes.

To prepare questions about your recommendation, read the zirconia crowns and root canal treatment pages. Read them alongside the written explanation of your proposed treatment.