EDIT: An update to my journey can be found HERE – Including PLN flagging my Trustpilot review as illegal or harmful
For many seeking more affordable dental work, traveling abroad to places like Turkey can seem like an enticing option.
With slick marketing and promises of significant savings, dental tourism agencies make the proposition hard to resist. However, my recent experience with PLN Smile, a dental provider in Istanbul, serves as a cautionary tale about the potential pitfalls of these too-good-to-be-true offers.
Before we start, I would love to issue a disclaimer.
This is my experience, and my experience only. This article does not serve to persuade or dissuade anyone from using certain providers.
This article is not medical OR legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to seek a registered Doctor for medical advice and Legal professionals for legal advice.
PLN Smile I Reviews – My REAL Turkey Teeth Experience – YouTube
As per most people, I decided to start a little research and boy is it overwhelming! There are a million more providers than you could ever imagine, some offering “all-inclusive deals (hotels, transfers and dental work included in the price). Others opting to just give dental work, and the rest offering a hybrid – one week hotel, transfers for only one trip and so on.
Then there’s the websites, the social medias, and the Trustpilot reviews (which must be taken with a punch of salt – more on that HERE). Which can really take weeks to dreg through!
Although there are a couple of Facebook groups, which are really a gold mine of information. These are groups not affiliated with any clinic, BUT they are full of people sharing their experiences (good and bad). Two of which are Turkey Teeth – Honesty and Antalya Dental Information, Real Experiences,
Due to travelling from East Asia to have my teeth done, I was exceptionally nervous of two things that had been flagged in general.
1. Having to make extra trips
2. The cost inflating once in the clinic.
Although I had one VERY handy tip from a previous customer travelling from Australia, who had the same concerns as myself. He told me to get some X-Rays to send with the quotes. Which I thought was a genius move. So I did!
I had settled on a company called PLN Smile. Their website was neat, they had a good presence on YouTube and their reviews seemed too good to be true! I had a short (but lovely) conversation with a consultant and sent over my X-rays, and pictures of my teeth.
She then sent over my quote which was the following
8 Neodent ( Straumann Group) Implants
24 Monolithic Zirconia crown
2 cc bone grafting
2 sinus liftingDays of stay: 11 days
First visit: 6 days Second Visit: 5 days
Included;
Accomodation in an all inclusive 5 star hotel ✅
VIP tranafer with luxury vans ✅
All in-city transfers✅
Medications ✅
24/7 personal assistance ✅
English speaking host✅
Free travel insurance ✅
Travel shield ( aftercare insurance)🛡
Panaromik x-ray ✅
– 20 years guarantee
5500 Pound till end of July for Antalya
5300 pound for Istanbul
The paymen will be held in two visits
The quote was sent over in a WhatsApp message, and everything looked fine. She was very courteous, explaining everything to me and really answering all of the thousand questions I asked.
I booked my flights (the following week) and only then was told “I will kindly ask you to pay cash”. The person i was dealing with knew I wasn’t in the UK and didn’t have access to this huge chunk of cash, especially in pounds.
It was then she told me there would be a 10% commission on card.
My flights were already booked, and I felt as though there had been so many opportunities to bring this up, especially as it was pretty obvious, I would have to pay by card.
Slightly bitter, I accepted this extra charge and proceeded to pack my bags.
I hopped on my flights – slightly nervous, but equally as excited!
12 hours into my travel to Istanbul (while changing at Abu Dhanbi) I got a text message as I was landing that my dental treatment was scheduled to begin in just 12 hours! This was not what we had agreed upon originally – I had specified needing at least a day to recover from travel before jumping into treatment. This was the first instance of miscommunication and lack of organization on their part.
Crisis avoided, we rescheduled for my original time. I hopped on my next flight and arrived in Istanbul. As per our agreement, I was collected by a very professional driver – super professional and punctual. He drove me into the heart of the city and dropped me at the Ibis.
Now this may be a nitpick, but the quote included a 5* hotel. The ibis it for sure NOT a 5* hotel, although I am always very comfortable in an ibis. So deciding not to make a fuss, i checked in and prepared for my treatment the next day.
I was collected from the hotel and waked to the clinic with a PLN consultant. The clinic wasn’t a “PLN clinic” instead a Lycian Clinic.
The clinic was modern, fresh and really quote impressive. The staff were all lovely, and super helpful. Feeling optimistic that my treatment was finally about to get underway I was taken in for an x-ray and waited to be called to the dentist. I signed the typical medical forms, including al allergies sheet where I stated I was allergic to Amoxicillin. I had a cup of tea, and waited.
I was called into the dental chair, and before the treatment could commence, the (BTW lovely) dentist projected my X-Ray onto the screen in front of me and told me unfortunately I had sinus infections and could not be treated.
This was my worst nightmare. After over 20 hours of travel, and some fairly expensive flights – I couldn’t be treated!
I had sent my X-rays over to avoid this situation happening.
Keen to learn more, the dentist pointed to the infected zones on my X-ray. As I sat in front of the screen, I pulled out the X-ray I had handed over a week before, and would you believe it, these infected areas were as clear as day in the originals.
Meaning no one had checked my X-rays.
The dentist explained that the sinus infections would need to be treated with antibiotics before any other dental work could proceed. His recommendation was to extract my top row of teeth during this visit, take the antibiotics, and then come back in a few months for the implants. This was going to require an entire extra trip that we had not planned or budgeted for.
I was stunned and extremely frustrated. The whole point of providing my x-rays ahead of time was to identify and resolve any issues before making the long journey. Their lack of preparation and going over my medical records thoroughly was completely inexcusable.
The dentist asked me if I was allergic to anything, I stated it was amoxicillin, and then he sent me back to the hotel to start the antibiotics and to return the next day for my extractions.
We left the dentists room and the PLN consultant I was accompanied by took me into a side office.
He told me that due to this extra work they would need to charge me more – a staggering £1,850 on top of the original £5,300 quote I had received!
He jotted some noted on a piece of paper with my new treatment plan. The original treatment plan would remain pretty much intact, the only change was one additional single implant. The order of treatment would be different, I would have teeth extracted now, then starting from my subsequent visit (in 3 months) I would have my implants, and the visit after, in 3 months after, I would have my final teeth fitted.
Now running back through the numbers, yes I had another trip but the nuts and bolts of what I am paying for, was just one implant extra for a £1,850 price increase! Despite this, we agreed to split the payment through three installments. This visit, I would down pay £2000, the next visit £3000 and then the remainder for my last visit.
He also told me he had lowered the card commission from 10% to 5%.
Despite my frustrations, I regrettably agreed to pay the higher fee. I had already traveled so far and not wanting to have to start over from square one. This was my first major misstep – I should have walked away right then when I realized how confusing their pricing remained, even after being caught unprepared.
I went back to the hotel, started my antibiotics and slept – What a stressful day!
I woke up the next day ready for treatment and realised I was feelign a little flush and had a rash down my neck. Immediatly I knew this was an allergic reaction.
I checked and translated the medication pack they gave me, and sure enough it was amoxicillin.
This was my fault for taking the medication, I should have checked prior.
This was another missed red flag. Despite me documenting an allergy to amoxicillin antibiotic and verbally confirming it multiple times, they still prescribed me that exact medication.
I flagged this with my representative, he was apologetic and ensured I would get the right medication today. I checked if I was still OK to have the work, he said yes, so I met him in the clinic and started with the daunting process of having all my top teeth extracted.
The dental work itself went as expected during that first visit. The dentist was truly skilled, and the staff were wonderful. There were some issues around the payment machine at this point. In all honesty, they were making a far bigger deal of me paying by card than needed to be.
After a few days, I went back to the dentist to have my temporary denture made (which again, I couldn’t fault the actual dental work!)
I left Istanbul feeling troubled by the number of miscommunications, pricing , and smaller yet concerning errors from PLN Smile throughout that initial visit. However, I still held out hope that it was an aberration, and they would have their act together for the subsequent visits to complete my treatment.
Once I returned home, I had time to fully collect my thoughts and examine all the documentation more carefully. It’s then that I realized just how egregious the new, inflated quote really was.
Line by line, the only difference was that single implant addition. There was no reasonable explanation for the £1,850 price increase at all – it felt like it could have been a decision to extract more fees due to their own oversight in preparing for my case.
This lack of pricing transparency and attempting to obscure true costs through single lump-sum quotes with no detail broke any trust I had in PLN Smile’s business ethics. It showed they were more interested in nickel-and-diming me than treating me as a valued patient. HOWEVER
I felt I was in too deep at this point, the stress of finding a new provider, getting quotes and starting the entire journey again to be honest, was a little scary. So, I decided to push on with PLN Smile, hoping there wouldn’t be any additional costs later added on top.
In the weeks leading up to my next due visit to Istanbul, the communication issues and lack of professionalism from PLN Smile’s staff continued to pile up.
My main point of contact, consistently took days to respond to even basic questions about timing or logistics. Compare this to my interactions when initiating treatment. My queries were always answered within hours (usually minutes – if the time difference allowed for it).
When he did finally reply, his answers often were vague or unsure on what we previously discussed.
The constant inconsistency and inability to get a clear understating of my treatment plan made me extremely anxious about putting any trust in them. How could I feel confidence they would have everything properly prepared if they couldn’t even return my inquiries in a timely, organized manner?
As the travel date approached, I was looking to book my flights over the weekend, I text to just ensure dates were available….. And had no reply
The weekend passed and I made the very difficult decision that I could no longer move forward with having PLN Smile complete my dental work. The combination of pricing, the smaller yet crucial errors like ignoring my medication allergy, and the overall terrible communication and disorganization had eroded any remnants of confidence. Especially given I still had 6 months of treatment to move forward with.
I contacted a couple of representatives I had dealt with to attempt to get the remainder of my balance. I had done some quick math.
The treatment I received
14 teeth removals
1 temporary denture
Given I had paid £2000, I was clearly due some money back, although exactly how much is unclear
At this point, I was passed to a senior member of the team. He was very hard to reach, and after a week (YES A WEEK) he came back with an itemized quote of what I had received.
This included bone grafts, and sinus lifts (which I had not yet had), as well as hotel charges and transfer fees.
All in all, the price breakdown came to a convenient £1945.
He offered me £400 back as a good will gesture.
Things had clearly soured between us by this point. I replied with a fair compromise of £1000. He never replied.
Now this should be the end of the story, but things got far more interesting at this point.
I made a video detailing my experience, but it was more so a video about red flags to watch out for when having dental work done in turkey.
I sent this out to the head of quality manager at PLN. Honestly, as a curtosy and to give PLN a chance to comment on the video.
Her initial approach was professional and polite. She apologized for my unsatisfactory experience and expressed a genuine desire to resolve the issue. After a few messages, she offered a £2,000 refund. I inquired if this refund meant that I couldn’t publish the video, and she confirmed that was their expectation.
I took the weekend to consider this offer. On one hand, a £2,000 refund seemed like a fair resolution for the treatment I had received, which was essentially just having my top teeth removed and a temporary denture. On the other hand, morally, I couldn’t publish the video if I accepted the refund, even though the overall experience was frustrating.
On Tuesday, I expected PLN Smile’s offer of a £2,000 refund. Tracy acknowledged my decision and said she would forward it to the management and be in contact to collect the necessary details. At this point, I expected the process to be straightforward and quick.
However, three full days passed without any update. By Friday, I still hadn’t heard anything about the refund. Growing concerned about the delay, I decided to follow up. She responded promptly, saying she would keep me updated, and I emphasized the importance of completing the transfer promptly. She then asked for my payment details, which I provided immediately.
On Sunday, five days after I had accepted the refund offer, she reached out again. But instead of confirming the refund, she informed me that the transfer could not be processed over the weekend, and a few documents needed to be reviewed by the company’s lawyer and accounting team.
Tracy then sent me a file called “Letter of Undertaking” to sign. She told me that upon signing this letter, the refund would be transferred the following day. This document was essentially a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). It stated that in return for the £2,000 refund, I would not post any content on social media platforms that could disparage PLN Smile or damage their commercial reputation. This included photos, videos, articles, or any other content related to my negative experience. It also stated that if I breached this agreement, I would be responsible for compensating PLN Smile financially for any material and moral damages that may occur as a result.
An NDA in exchange for a refund is problematic, especially under UK consumer protection laws. From a customer standpoint, there was no way I was going to sign this kind of contract.
I got back to and made it very clear – a refund and an NDA are two very different things.
We had three options: she could process the agreed refund with no strings attached, which was the desired outcome for everybody; we could draw up a proper agreement for an NDA; or we could walk away.
Tracy then asked under what conditions I would sign a contract. I provided clear terms, including proper compensation and specific legal clauses to protect everybody. Tracy came back a day later with a very similar-looking document for me to sign, albeit with a few extra lines. This time, it was a Word document with a typo in the document name.
It was clear at this point that they weren’t going to issue me a refund without me signing a contract with financial penalties in return. I again declined and reiterated my stance, outlining the three options. Realizing that we were going around in circles, I put a deadline on the conversation.
At this point, Tracy asked me a couple of times in different ways if I would be posting the video if they issued me a refund. I had to be very careful in my responses, as her persistent mentioning of having a lawyer made me wary of entering any type of agreement. I made it clear that the refund should be processed with zero conditions attached.
Tracy never got back to me within the deadline, nor have I heard anything back from PLN Smile since then.
So where does that leave me now? Well for one, I am still looking for a provider, secondly – my money is gone and I have accepted that. However I do have some great lessons learned I can forward on to anyone looking for dental treatment in Turkey.
Dental tourism is playing with fire – it can certainly save you money when done right but get burned by the wrong company and it will be an enormously expensive life lesson. I learned that the hard way from my experience with PLN Smile.
