If you’re thinking about having dental treatment in Bucharest and wanted to know more about prices and quality, read on to hear about my experience…
A brief rundown on my weak teeth
I have the worst teeth of anyone I know, going all the way back to having many fillings in my baby teeth! As a result, I had numerous root canals, a bridge on my lower left jaw, 1 set of dentures on my front teeth and a single false tooth on my bottom right jaw. Living in Australia, dental treatment was pricey, even with comprehensive health insurance paying up to 90% for check-ups, x-rays, fillings etc, so I would only have a scale, polish and clean, and at least one filling for my checkup every 6 month.
I knew I had infections on 3 of my front teeth, as had small oral cutaneous fistulas (infections that looked like pimples) above them for at least 13 years! A fistula appeared on the left side of my upper jaw in 2017, followed by another one on the inside jaw by the same tooth in 2018. As they didn’t hurt, I did the usual ostrich trick and ignored them!
Far better to get treatment before it starts hurting!
October 2019 and a minor throbbing appeared every time I chewed on the left side of my mouth. We happened to be in Bulgaria at the time, and I’d heard for years that Eastern Europe had excellent dental treatment at a much lower price than in Australia, New Zealand or the UK.
I didn’t have any referrals, so resorted to my default setting when it comes to any queries and used Google. It was important for me to have treatment in a capital city, with English speaking dentists in whom I had full trust, and as we were heading to Bucharest, it seemed the perfect opportunity to finally get my teeth fixed!
I’d read some terrible experiences after people had left infections for too long, ie one poor woman required reconstructive surgery, so had been slightly worried the same would happen to me! For that reason, I wanted to go to a highly qualified expert and was prepared to pay accordingly.
Finding a dentist in Bucharest
One of the first options from Google was Clinica Implantologie Dentara Dr Lorei Nassar. The website could be in Romanian, English or German. Their Facebook page was mainly in Romanian, but there were articles on various international symposiums that Dr Lorelei had attended, and I really liked the fact that she offered dental hypnosis for nervous patients.
I had Romanian downloaded from Google Translate, and read a few of the reviews. Dr Lorelei seemed to be exactly the kind of dentist I was looking for, with international experience AND she offered dental hypnosis so was obviously a caring medical professional. I emailed the clinic and asked for a rough price list for dental implants, and to make an appointment.
Dr Lorelei responded promptly and suggested I arrange a time with reception. Both she and the reception advised via email that a panoramic X-ray would be required, and gave me the address for VisioDent. We become very familiar with that place as I went for 4 times in total for different X-rays!
Costs are in RON – the conversion rates can be found on xe.com
Stage 1 of my dental treatment in Bucharest
We arrived in Bucharest on the 6th October 2019 and stayed in a private room in an apartment near Universitate metro station on the blue Line 2. This was very convenient as Dr Lorelei’s clinic was 1km from Aviatorilor metro station, also on Line 2. The first morning we bought a card with 10 journeys for 20 RON, which we could share. We use Xe.com to work out up to the minute currency exchanges.
It was 4 stops to Aviatorilor, then a pleasant walk down Strada Muzeul Zambaccian to both the X-ray place and to Dr Lorelei Nassar Clinica Implantologie.
VisioDent – excellent price for X-rays
VisioDent state that their x-rays have the lowest possible amount of radiation. I was very impressed with the new equipment and the lovely offices, and the fact that the prices were so much more than I had been quoted even from a clinic in Thailand!
Most of the staff spoke English and were all helpful and friendly. In addition to taking the physical X-rays to the dental clinic, I requested that email copies for my own records, which would be sent within the hour.
VisioDent sign and opening hours Bucharest Romania Inside VisioDent – Bucharest Romania Outside VisioDent Bucharest, Romania
Prices for my X-rays in October 2019:
- Panoramic X-ray: 80 Romanian Lei (RON)
- Individual tooth X-ray to check root canal: 30 RON
- CBCT scan on full upper jaw: 500 RON
- CBCT scan on half lower jaw: 300 RON
- Single X-ray from 3 angles: 60 RON
First impressions of my Bucharest dentists
Dr Lorelei Nassar Clinica Implantologie is located at No.16 Strada Putul lui Zamfir, in Primaverii – a wealthy suburb in the north of Bucharest. You enter through a gate into a lovely city garden, with benches and a covered seat – perfect for Lee to sit and read an ebook in the surprisingly warm autumn weather whilst waiting for me.
We were very impressed with Primaverii, with the expensive cars and fancy cafes. There also seems to be an abundance of dentists in that area, as we passed numerous clinics walking from Aviatorilor.
First luxury car outside Paul Cafe, Primaverii Bucharest Romania Another luxury car a few days later in the same spot outside Paul Cafe, Primaverii Bucharest Romania
Cultural tip #1: In Romania, dentists are referred to doctors. It makes sense really, as we call them Dr (first name), but for some reason in English, they would be referred to as a dentist. If anyone knows why, please let me know in the comments below!
We went inside and were offered a coffee or tea by the receptionist, Carmen. It turns out she had lived and worked in the UK so spoke English well. The reception area was light and airy, and felt very comfortable. I loved the wall of photos, with former patients displaying their lovely new smiles.
Cultural tip #2: In New Zealand, we call non-caffeine teas “herbal tea”, but in Romania they are more literal… so would say they don’t have herbal tea but have fruit tea!
I met Dr Lorelei and was impressed with her excellent English. She cross-checked my teeth against the panoramic X-ray, and set my mind at rest by assuring me that I wouldn’t need reconstructive surgery! I wanted to get the infection in my upper jaw dealt with as soon as possible, but the consultation with Dr Lorelei was to ascertain if I was a good candidate for dental implants to replace my front denture. I spoke with her about dental implants and they were a possibility but it turned out that I had another option.
Cost of specialist consultation: 200 RON
Stage 2
I made an appointment with Dr Khaled on Thursday 10 October to have him check the infection in my upper jaw.
My lateral teeth, 12 & 22 on either of my 2 front teeth, used to have crowns but they’d broken off at the gums 12 years earlier. On the advice of a friend I had left the roots in, as wanted to reduce gum shrinkage.
I am so happy I’d made that decision, as it turns out that the Romanian dentists could build up teeth on those roots. Dr Khaled advised that I could replace the denture with a solid 4-tooth crown that would go across the front. I needed to have root canals to clear the infection in all 4 front teeth, so that sounded like a good idea. That way I still had the option of having dental implants in the future if necessary.
Turns out Romanian dental treatment is more advanced than Australia…!
I must admit, I was slightly dubious about the wisdom of this at first, as thought my teeth would be too weak. Dr Khaled advised it would be a straightforward process as is a common procedure in Romania. They think single-tooth dentures are from the 1980s!
He arranged for Dr Ramona, the periodontist, to check the roots of 12 & 22, and they both agreed that the roots would be strong enough to rebuild 2 teeth for the proposed crown. I made 2 appointments the following week.
He advised that he could perform the root canals for the 26 and 27, the 2 infected teeth on the back left upper jaw, but it would be better if I could wait to see Dr Anca, as she was the endodontist specialising in root canals. Fortunately for me, the exam she was due to sit in October was delayed until early December, so she had more time available. I was thus able to see her far sooner than expected, so would have more time to travel around Romania in between my dental treatment in Bucharest
Cost of consultation: 200 RON
Stage 3
My next appointment was with Dr Anca on Thursday 17 October to perform the root canals on 26 & 27. This took 3.5 hours in total – she was incredibly patient and thorough.
She advised that it would take at least 6 months for the infection to heal so I decided to wait until then to have the zirconium crowns put on. I was advised that I would need to be extremely careful and not chew anything hard on the left side that could fracture one of the teeth. I was happy with that option though and resolved to be very careful about what I ate!
Cost: 1700 RON
Stage 4
I had my 2nd appointment with Dr Anca on 21October for the root canals on the 2 lateral front teeth, 12 & 22. This took 3 hours in total and fortunately it wasn’t painful at all. 22 had quite a slight infection so took 1.5 hours. 12 was easier and only took 1 hour as didn’t require any further root canal treatment. We took breaks in between to allow the bacteria-killing substance to do its work. Dr Anca inserted fibreglass posts in each root and built up 2 small teeth… it was so incredible to see teeth again where there had been gaps for so long! They were slightly smaller than my other front teeth and looked translucent, but I just had to be careful for 2 days until my next session, when a crown would be fitted
Cost: 1300 RON
Stage 5
The next stage was to remove the crowns on my 2 front teeth. The photos below look pretty Deliverance 😉 I was horrified to see them so small and black, but Dr Anca assured me that they were perfectly fine. She filled a couple of holes and polished the teeth. Because of the large infection behind 11, the anaesthetic kept wearing off quickly and for the first time I experienced some pain. Dr Anca worked extremely fast and efficiently but I was so pleased when the 3.5 hour treatment was finally over! She inserted a fibreglass post in each root. She advised that I might need antibiotics for pain and swelling, but thankfully everything was fine and I only needed a few Ibuprofen.
The standard procedure is to have temporary crowns made by the technician, prior to the permananent crowns – this would have cost 200 RON per tooth. To save time and money, Dr Anca made a provisional solid crown for the 4 teeth while I waited. This was so kind of her, and the teeth were perfectly fine.
Cost: 1570 RON
I had to give the infection in the jaw time to heal before the permanent crowns could be fitted, so we decided to travel around the area for 1 month. We went to Gaugauzia, Moldova and Transnistria, otherwise known as the Priednestrovian Moldovan Republic. Check out our YouTube videos to see our adventures in these interesting places.
Stage 6
My next appointment was 20 November. Dr Anca was pleased with how the gum had healed. As her adhesive was very strong, it took some work to remove the provisional crowns to check the teeth! She made a mould for the permanent crowns and sent them off to the technician. She made another set of provisional crowns but only attached them with a temporary glue so I had to be very careful not to knock them off 🙂
Total remaining cost for the 4 front crowns was 3400 RON.
I split the payment over 2 appointments – paying 1400 RON this time.
Stage 7
The big day finally arrived, and oh my word – my new front teeth were so much more beautiful than I could ever have imagined! Dr Anka is a miracle worker and I consider myself so fortunate to have found such an incredibly thorough and skilled dentist.
Final amount to pay: 2000 RON
TOTAL COST of my dental treatment in Bucharest including Xrays: 9477 RON
Check out my photos below and let me know what you think of my dental treatment in Bucharest.
Also, you can see my video diary of my treatment on our Frugal Travellers YouTube channel. Any queries, please post them in the Comments section below 🙂
The denture I’d worn since 2006 Denture out but crooked crowns Rebuilt laterals and fillings in remaining teeth Beautiful new crowns
Important things to remember when choosing dental treatment in Bucharest:
1) when you’re making your first payment at Reception, ensure that the dentist’s notes match the correct teeth! I’m not sure what happened in my case, but the dental assistant put the wrong numbers against each of the teeth that needed attention, but I was able to refer the X-ray back to Dr Lorelei and have this sorted
2) Ensure Reception has your Whatsapp number and request that reminders for all appointments be sent the day before and that you must confirm the time and date. I turned up 3 hours early for an appointment as had entered the wrong time in my Google calendar! Dr Khaled was kind enough to miss lunch and see me earlier!
3) When asked how much time you have in Bucharest – give them an exact amount of time. I was too vague and said I had as long as was necessary, which meant there was no urgency about making appointments and speeding things up
4) Try to ensure you have 1 doctor as your liaison. I first saw Dr Lorelei, then Dr Khaled, briefly met Dr Ramona, the periodontist, and finally saw Dr Anca, the endodontist. This resulted in some confusion as to who was managing my dental plan, as appointments with Dr Khaled were incorrectly cancelled and at one stage I had no idea what treatment I was getting and who was performing it! As soon as I sent my timeframe to Dr Anca and Dr Khaled, everything was set up straightaway and it all flowed smoothly from there.
Also check out our guide for what to see and do in between your dental treatment in Bucharest:
