Dental tourism is gaining more patrons, especially with hospitals and travel firms throwing in attractive sightseeing packages
If you are looking forward to a holiday but have some dental work to be taken care of, there’s no need to panic. Dental tourism, a part of the increasingly popular medical tourism segment, is on the rise.
In some cases, patients coming to India now also have the option of scheduling their treatment as per their itinerary – getting the initial work-up done at one clinic for instance and then travelling to another city for further treatment.
“We are exploring the possibilities. If a patient lets us know well in advance, we can plan their itinerary in such a way that they can do their treatment in two or more cities. We have had a few patients who have done this,” says V.S. Venkatesh, CEO, Apollo White Dental, which has centres in 17 cities across India. This way, patients get to explore parts of the country while getting their dental work done.
Mr. Venkatesh says most patients were from the middle-east where dental care was very expensive, while the rest were from African countries and Europe.
For many patients, coming on a ‘dental vacation or holiday’ to India makes sense – there are immense cost advantages, care by internationally-trained consultants and often, clinics take care of sightseeing as well.
Google ‘dental tourism India’ and a host of companies offering options pop up – both dental care clinics and travel firms that liaise with hospitals.
The website of Dental India Tourism says, “We manage your travel and dental experience, from transport, hotel and sightseeing to the best cosmetic dentists in India.” Travel India Company, based out of Bangalore, claims to “club your dental package with a nice package tour visiting some of the interesting cities of India.”
But, before you opt for the dental tourism option, make sure you take a few precautions: look at the costs, find a reputable dentist and connect your previous dentist with him/her and plan your post-appointment care.
In a more romantic era, men wrote letters with quills dipped in blood to their loved ones. Now, both women and men take to ink and it is equally heartfelt as it is on their body.
Tara Shankar celebrated her 36th birthday last month by getting the name of her husband and daughter tattooed onto her wrist.
“It is an ambigram, reading ‘Shankar’ if you look at it from one direction and ‘Askhika’ from the other. They both mean the world to me, so their names are etched into my body,” she says.
Denver Rodrigues ushered in his parents’ 50th anniversary by getting their names tattooed in an ambigram within a heart on his wrist. “I never even thought of getting tattoos before as they are permanent. But my parents’ love for each other is permanent too,” says the 48-year-old.
Naveen Kumar, owner of Irezumi, a popular tattoo parlour in the city, says the city has not been shy to get inked.
“Ambigrams are very popular. Increasingly, doctors and IT professionals are coming in for tattoos, but we have a steady stream of college students too,” he says.
In an age characterised by the ephemerality of relationships, it is a wonder that people are taking such permanent steps to wear their heart on their sleeve.
(Reporting by Zubeda Hamid and Evelyn Ratnakumar)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Zubeda Hamid / July 06th, 2015
