BeforeYouSmile

An independent look at dental treatment in Turkey.

Why this exists

In May 2019 I had porcelain laminate veneers done in Istanbul. Seven years later they are still in my mouth, and I still think it was a good decision.

That is not an advertisement. It is the reason I can write this page.

I am Turkish, and I have lived in Europe for the last eight years — first in Italy, now in Spain. The same conversation kept repeating. A friend would mention they were thinking of going to Turkey for their teeth, and ask whether I knew anyone. I would tell them I had it done myself — and the reaction was nearly always the same: I had no idea. They look completely natural.

So I would answer their questions. What to ask. What to be careful about. Which questions a good clinic should be able to answer without hesitating.

I have been doing this informally for years. This site is the same thing, written down, for people who do not happen to have a Turkish friend to ask.

I am not a dentist and I do not work for a clinic. No clinic pays me. What I do have is the ability to read Turkish regulations in the original language, two cousins who are dentists, and my own experience as a patient who went through this and did not regret it.

Almost everything written about dental work in Turkey comes from someone with a financial interest. Turkish clinics will tell you it is completely safe. Dentists at home will tell you to avoid it entirely. Both are selling something.

The reality is more boring. Turkey has genuinely excellent dentists, and it has clinics that will grind down healthy teeth for money. The problem is not the country. It is the clinic — and more precisely, the treatment plan.

What this site is, and is not

This is not medical advice. I am not qualified to give it, and I will not.

I do not certify clinics. I report what I asked, what I was told, and what I could and could not verify. Where I do not know something, I will say so.

I will not tell you what treatment you need. I will tell you what to ask before anyone touches your teeth.

How I assess a clinic

I am publishing these standards before contacting a single clinic, so that nobody — including me — can quietly bend them later to suit whoever pays.

1. Is the treatment plan proportionate to the need? The most revealing question of all. Someone with healthy teeth who is offered twenty crowns is not being treated. They are being sold to.
2. Crowns or veneers — and does the clinic explain the difference? A crown requires filing a healthy tooth down to a peg. That cannot be undone. A laminate veneer requires minimal reduction. If a clinic calls both of these "veneers," ask why.
3. Does the clinic issue a final treatment plan without examining you? Estimating from photos is normal. Presenting that estimate as definitive is not. A good clinic will say: this is our estimate, and the plan is confirmed after an examination and X-ray on the first day, before any work begins.
4. Will they name the dentist who will actually treat you? Including qualifications and registration — before you book, not after you land.
5. Will they give you the clinic's Ministry of Health licence number? It is a reasonable question. Watch what happens when you ask it.
6. Is the price fixed, and what happens if the plan changes? Get it in writing. A fair answer sounds like: if you need fewer units than estimated you pay less, and if you need more we will discuss it before proceeding — and you can say no.
7. If the result needs correcting, what exactly is covered — in writing? Some good clinics will redo the work at no charge but expect you to cover the travel. That is a reasonable position, honestly stated. The problem is only finding out what the policy is once something has already gone wrong.
8. Do they answer directly, or change the subject? Evasion is data. A clinic that will not give you a licence number has answered your question.