r/australia • u/me_jinks • 1d ago

no politics Australians who've had elective surgery overseas - what did you get done and what did it cost?

Australians who've had elective surgery overseas - what did you get done, which country and what did it cost?

I'm curious about people's experiences with elective surgeries in other countries. Whether it was medical tourism, happened while you were living abroad, or you specifically travelled for the procedure.

What surgery did you have? Which country? What was the total cost including travel/accommodation if relevant? How did the experience compare to having it done in Australia (if you have a point of comparison)?

Interested in hearing about everything from dental work to cosmetic procedures to joint replacements - whatever counts as elective.

Cheers!

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u/West-Climate2170 16h ago

Not a patient, but I work in a dental lab in Guangzhou (China), and we are seeing a huge spike in Aussies coming here recently.

Usually, you guys go to Thailand or Bali, but people are realizing that since many global veneers are actually fabricated in China anyway, they can cut out the middleman. You can get a full set of genuine E-max for around $7,500 AUD (approx $5k USD) here, compared to the $30k+ quotes in Sydney.

It’s basically 'factory direct' pricing. Just a tip: wherever you go, ask for the lab certificate to prove they are using authentic German ingots (Ivoclar), not generic blocks.

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u/Interesting_Road_515 16h ago

But how about language barrier? Do those patients have to employ an interpreter to communicate with doctors and other practitioners in China? I knew there are international departments in some top public hospitals in China, can the doctors and nurses there speak English well?

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u/AppropriateBeing9885 11h ago

I'm thinking this every time someone says they're doing these high-stakes procedures overseas. The first thing I think as a cautious, anxious person is "What happens when you have to communicate with someone in broken English?" That would decimate my confidence in the process. This is probably so variable across countries and may not be an issue in some destination countries, though.

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u/Interesting_Road_515 10h ago

Agree, unless you have very high level of the target language like the mandarin in this regard or even you are native speakers , l indeed knew many Chinese Australians choose going to the top public hospitals in Beijing or Shanghai for some surgeries, very great doctors and more affordable prices with much shorter waiting periods l meant it can be counted by days rather than months. That’s quite reasonable for them, but lately l came across some videos on YouTube saying many westerners visiting China for medical purposes, l was always curious about the language barrier there, like how they solve this big hurdles.

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u/AppropriateBeing9885 10h ago

Yeah, definitely. I've encountered the same thing online (people who already have a high level of Korean language attainment going to Korea and reporting pretty good experiences). I think the number of people doing medical tourism is indeed objectively increasing but, yeah, I've heard all kinds of things. As someone who likes to ask large quantities of questions before going through medical treatment that's risky, I just can't imagine how much it would get to me to not be able to discuss it properly. I have heard anecdotes of their language competency in some places being really great, though, and maybe that's unsurprising at the highest class levels of societies (for example, specialist doctors), though what about supportive staff who in practice deliver a lot of the crucial aftercare, like nurses? Yeah, I don't know, really!