Investigating dentists’ perspectives of dental tourism trends in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Dental tourism is a growing trend involving patients traveling across borders for dental treatment. While dental tourism may benefit some patients, it also poses considerable risks. However, the dental tourism trends have not been explored in Saudi Arabia. The aim of the study was to investigate the perspectives of dental professionals about dental tourism in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among dental professionals in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The study included male and female dental professionals (general dentists, specialists, and consultants) working in the private and public sectors in Dammam, Al Khobar, Al Jubail, and Al Ahsa. A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit the participants. The researchers visited clinics and hospitals and provided a self-administered questionnaire to participating dentists. The questionnaire included demographic information and questions related to encountering dental tourists, reasons for getting treatment abroad, problems related to treatment, and views about dental tourism. SPSS (Version 22.0) was used for statistical analyses and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study included data from 326 dentists, with 62.9% of males and 37.1% of females. The majority of the participants (97.5%) reported that they encountered dental tourists in their dental practice. Multiple logistic regression showed that general practitioners were significantly less likely to encounter dental tourists compared to specialists/consultants (OR=0.08, P= 0.022). Affordable treatment (95.1%) was the most common reason for getting dental treatment abroad. Lack of treatment planning (73.6%), lack of availability of practitioner post treatment (66.6%), and lack of follow up maintenance (59.5%) were the most common problems related to dental treatment received abroad. The majority of patients received dental treatment in Egypt (71.8%), Turkey (69.6%), and GCC countries (50%). The veneers (81.9%), crowns (78.5%), and bridges (76.1%) were the most common dental treatments received abroad. The dentists reported that dental tourism could endanger patients’ dental health (58.9%), but it enhanced their professional experience (43.6%) and understanding of dental treatment provided in other countries (41.4%). The study concluded that dental tourism was very common in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Specialists and consultants were more likely to encounter dental tourists compared with general practitioners. Affordability of dental treatment was the most common reason for dental tourism. The veneers, crowns, and bridges were the most frequently received dental treatments abroad. Most dentists reported that dental tourism could compromise oral health of patients.