It was a real first for me, and I had a wonderful time. It’s very beautiful, I was surprised by how modern the city is, the food is good, and the people are lovely. Honestly, absolutely faultless from beginning to end…
Hello Kelly, and welcome to the Body Expert blog, “De la Tête aux Pieds”. You are a beauty and lifestyle influencer on social media (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and so on) under the name of “KAY”. You recently went out to Istanbul, with the medical tourism agency Body Expert, to have dental veneers fitted, along with two crowns. Why did you decide to have this dental work done in Istanbul?
Having my teeth redone was an idea I’d had in mind for at least six years. I didn’t really have any problems, but I found my smile too tense, my lips pinched to hide my teeth. I felt my smile didn’t reflect my good mood, so I wanted to treat myself to the pleasure of smiling without hang-ups, with a generosity and naturalness that match my cheerful character. So I went to Tunisia, over a year ago, where I was advised to have crowns fitted. The trouble is that the dental surgeon there fitted crowns that weren’t suited to my teeth, which must have been filed down too much underneath. Over the six months that followed, I found my smile strange, and seeing myself in photos, I noticed my teeth were too white, too opaque. So I went back to Tunisia to have the crowns reshaped, but it still wasn’t right…
So I chose to go to Istanbul to put that right, for two reasons: in terms of tourism first of all, Istanbul has a very good reputation, and in terms of aesthetic surgery, I have been hearing for several years that Istanbul is the best destination for hair transplants and dentistry.
How did your arrival and your welcome in Istanbul go, particularly as regards the health measures, in the context of the pandemic?
Honestly, absolutely faultless from beginning to end, from the airport to the hotel and the dental clinic. Everybody wears a mask, and the health equipment and hygiene measures are very impressive, even in the street and in the shops.
Is this the first time you have visited Istanbul?
It was a real first for me, and I had a wonderful time. It’s very beautiful, I was surprised by how modern the city is, the food is good, and the people are lovely.
Did you have a little time for sightseeing, for shopping? What delighted you the most?
With the veneers being fitted, you have plenty of time! We went from one visit to the next and discovered some superb places. I really liked the Süleymaniye Mosque. I also remember an evening in a restaurant with a view over the Sea of Marmara, it was absolutely sublime. I loved everything, the welcome was very warm, and watching people go about their lives, seeing how they look after the dogs and cats in the street… It says a lot about their kindness. We’re not used to seeing that in France!
How did your dental treatment go?
At the first appointment, after the consultation with the dental surgeon and the prosthetist, we went straight on to trimming the teeth and preparing the temporary teeth, while the prosthetist made the teeth to the agreed specification. Given my previous experience, I was a little apprehensive. So I was very demanding, and I was afraid my requests couldn’t be met. They were brilliant at taking my wishes on board, and they understood perfectly what I wanted: flat teeth, slightly translucent, neither too opaque nor too white.
Were you expecting these results?
I was blown away. And I had a very nice surprise I hadn’t expected: two of my lower teeth were slightly slanted, and they realigned them. Beyond the enormous difference in price, I found that in Turkey they really listen to the patient, their professional ethics are very strong, and they always find the solution best suited to your needs.
Were you given advice on the choice of Emax veneers, or was that your own choice?
It was the prosthetist, who works with this product, who told me that Emax veneers offer a wide choice of shades, so I could find exactly the shade I wanted.
What do you think of medical tourism?
I’m a great believer in the concept of medical tourism. I took an interest in it very early on, in Tunisia in particular, and I have seen it both as a companion and as a patient.
Istanbul and Turkey have built up an international reputation in the field of medical tourism, whether that means aesthetic treatment, hair treatment, plastic surgery or eye surgery. Is that something you had expected?
Yes, in recent years I’ve heard more about Istanbul for aesthetic tourism than for tourism full stop! That shows how far the idea has worked its way into the collective unconscious. And having experienced it myself, I think this reputation is fully deserved: I really fell head over heels for Istanbul!
Sources
Attar, E. A., Aldharrab, A., & Ajaj, R. (2023). Flexural strength properties of five different monolithic computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing ceramic materials: An in vitro study. Cureus, 15(3), Article e36958. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.36958
Hamad, S. A., Ameen, Z. A. H., Saber, D. B., Hawrami, G. R., Zangana, A. M., Younis, H. F., Salih, T. S., Ismael, D. S., & Hashemi, R. (2026). Patient preferences for direct versus indirect dental veneers: Associations with durability, socioeconomic status, and satisfaction. Patient Preference and Adherence, 20, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S618019
Juntavee, N., & Uasuwan, P. (2020). Flexural strength of different monolithic computer-assisted design and computer-assisted manufacturing ceramic materials upon different thermal tempering processes. European Journal of Dentistry, 14(4), 566–574. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1713957
Meer Rownaq Ali, A. B. (2023). Conventional versus minimally invasive veneers: A systematic review. Cureus, 15(9), Article e44638. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.44638