On this page
Introduction
Search for treatment abroad and you will mostly find packages: a number of crowns, a number of implants, transfers, a hotel and a headline price. Packages are not the problem. A package is simply a way of telling you what a trip involves. The problem starts when the package is written before anyone has looked inside your mouth.
TLDR;
- A quote produced from a photograph is a price list, not a treatment plan.
- The valuable inclusions are diagnostics, named materials, a written guarantee and follow-up.
- Transfers, hotels and airport pickup are convenience. They say nothing about clinical quality.
- Healing time cannot be compressed. Implants need two trips.
- Most travel insurance excludes planned treatment abroad.
- We do not publish treatment prices. After a consultation you receive a written plan by email.
What a package should actually contain
Read past the travel extras and look for the clinical content: examination, CBCT imaging and digital scans; the treatment itself; laboratory work; provisional teeth if the case needs them; review appointments during the stay; and the paperwork you fly home with. That last item decides what happens a year later. The treatment record, radiographs, the named implant system and ceramic, guarantee terms and written aftercare are what allow your own dentist to help you without starting again.
See the full list of what travel, stay and clinical work cover on our dental packages page for patients travelling to Tirana.
The five warning signs
A fixed number of units before a scan. Nobody can responsibly say how many implants or crowns you need from a selfie. A first estimate is fine. A final quote is not.
Gums left out. If the plan has no room for periodontal treatment, the restorations are being built on a foundation nobody checked. Read gum disease treatment before implants.
Everything in three days. Bone integration takes months. Fixed provisional teeth on the first trip are normal, the final prosthesis on implants in the same week is not. See same-day teeth explained.
Unnamed materials. No brand, no certificate, no aftercare route. Ask for the system in writing before you travel.
A salesperson instead of a clinician. You should be able to ask the person who will actually do the work about your own case.
Insurance, deposits and what happens if something fails
Most UK travel policies exclude treatment you travelled for, and cover only emergencies unrelated to it. Check the wording rather than the summary. Ask, in writing, what happens if a crown debonds or an implant fails after you are home: who assesses it, who remakes it, who pays for the remake, and whether the guarantee survives if you miss a hygiene appointment.
Deposits are normal, large upfront payments before diagnostics are not. A clinic confident in its planning is happy to confirm the plan on day one, after the CBCT, before payment for the treatment itself.
Package first, or plan first
The honest version of a package is written in this order: photographs, a first indication, then imaging and examination, then the final written plan with a total cost, then travel arranged around the clinical appointments. If any clinic reverses that order, you are being sold a product rather than treated for a condition.
For the wider decision about travelling at all, read dental implants abroad: what to check and our comparison of dental implants in Turkey vs Albania.
Next step
Send photos or a recent X-ray on WhatsApp, or book a free consultation. You will get a written plan covering the treatment, the number of trips, the days in Tirana, what is included and the total cost, privately by email, with no obligation to book.