Should You Go for Cheap Dentistry Outside the US?

Congressional Quarterly (5/13, Zeller, Subscription Publication) reports that in spite of “the increase in health insurance coverage in the United States since the enactment of the 2010 health care law, Americans continue to travel abroad for expensive medical procedures.” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) “would like to make it easier and has proposed a bill (HR 951) with a fellow Texan from the GOP side of the aisle, Michael McCaul, that would aim to bolster medical tourism by encouraging cooperative ventures between U.S. health care organizations and Mexican counterparts.” The article says US dentists are unhappy about this, and “through a coalition representing the profession’s major dental professional societies, including the American Dental Association, [they] wrote to Cuellar last month to say they didn’t think it was wise to encourage Americans to seek care in Mexico because none of the country’s dental schools are accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.” The letter also emphasized that lack of attention to factors critical to patient safety, such as licensure of dentists and infection and biohazard control protocols, may lead to a false sense of security for patients seeking care outside of the United States.