For patients travelling from the United Kingdom
Dental treatment in Türkiye, from the UK
What travelling from Britain for dental work actually involves: the flights, the real cost comparison, what your dentist at home will need afterwards, and the cases where we would tell you not to come.
Getting to Ankara from the UK
Ankara's airport is Esenboğa (ESB). Turkish Airlines flies to it from London Heathrow and from Istanbul, and the usual route from most UK airports is a connection through Istanbul — Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Stansted all connect. Door to door is typically six to eight hours depending on the connection, which is a morning or an afternoon rather than a whole day.
We will be honest that this is a connection where Istanbul would be a direct flight. It is the main practical cost of treating in Ankara instead, and you should weigh it. What you get for it is set out on our Why Clinova page, and if the trade is not worth it for your case we would rather you knew now.
How the cost actually compares
The gap is real and it is the reason people travel. Private implant treatment in the UK is commonly quoted somewhere between £2,000 and £2,500 per tooth including the crown, though it varies widely by practice and region; crowns and veneers commonly run to several hundred pounds each. Turkish clinics quote a fraction of that, and the difference is genuinely lower laboratory costs, clinical time and overheads rather than a lower standard.
What that comparison hides, and what you should insist on, is that the two quotes describe the same treatment. Before you compare anything, get a written quote from your own dentist that names the implant system, states whether a CT scan is included, and separates the fixture from the abutment and crown. Then ask any Turkish clinic — including us — for the same three things. A number without those is not comparable to anything.
The NHS point, stated plainly
Dental implants are effectively not available on the NHS except in narrow clinical circumstances, which is why implant patients are comparing private UK prices rather than NHS ones. Crowns and dentures do fall inside NHS banding, so if your case is a single crown it is worth pricing an NHS course of treatment before you consider a flight. We would rather tell you that than sell you a trip you did not need.
What your dentist at home will need
This is the part most patients only think about eighteen months later, and it is the single most important thing to get right before you fly home.
If you have implants placed, your GDC-registered dentist in the UK has to be able to order the exact components if anything ever needs replacing. That means you must leave Türkiye with the implant system named in writing and the lot numbers on paper. With an established international system your dentist can order the part. With an unbranded fixture they frequently cannot, and the remedy is removing an implant that was working perfectly well.
Ask for it before you book, not on the day you leave. Ask us, and ask anyone else you are considering.
Insurance, and what it does not do
Ordinary UK travel insurance excludes elective medical and dental treatment abroad — you are covered for an accident on the trip, not for the treatment you flew out to have. Some policies also treat a trip whose purpose is medical differently, so read the wording rather than assuming. If something goes wrong clinically, your remedy sits with the clinic and its written guarantee, which is why the guarantee terms matter more here than they would at home.
Time off work
Plan for the days, not the appointments. Veneers and crowns are usually five to seven days in one trip. Implants are two trips — a few days for placement, three to four months of healing that happens at home, then a few days for the final work. Anyone telling you an implant case is a single week is either describing immediate loading with temporary teeth, which is legitimate but needs saying, or is describing something that will not last.
At a glance
The practical details for a UK patient
| Airport | Ankara Esenboğa (ESB), usually connecting via Istanbul |
|---|---|
| Typical journey | Six to eight hours door to door from most UK cities |
| Time difference | Türkiye is two hours ahead of the UK (three in winter) |
| Currency | We quote in GBP or EUR, your choice, and hold it in writing |
| Visa | UK passport holders do not need a visa for short visits — check the current rule before travel |
| Language | Consultations, plans and written quotes in English |
| Days needed | Veneers and crowns 5–7 days in one trip; implants across two trips |
| Aftercare paperwork | Implant system and lot numbers in writing, so a UK dentist can order components |
When we would tell you to stay in the UK
Not every case is worth a flight, and we would rather say so at the enquiry stage than after you have booked one.
A single crown or filling. The saving does not cover two flights and a hotel. Price it with your own dentist first.
Orthodontics. Aligners and fixed appliances need review every few weeks over many months. That suits a travelling patient badly, and we say so before rather than after.
Anything actively infected or painful right now. Get it seen at home. Acute problems need treating where you are, not in three weeks in another country.
A case where your own dentist has a plan you understand and trust. Continuity is worth real money. If you already have that, weigh it properly against the saving.
Send a photograph before you price a flight
Email us a photograph of your teeth or a panoramic X-ray. You get back a named dentist, a plan with line items in GBP or EUR, and an honest view on whether travelling from the UK makes sense for your case.