Nina Ragusa, an American tourist, “went from one surprise to another” when getting dental work in Ho Chi Minh City because the doctors were skilled and the cost was 20-40 times cheaper than in the US.
Nina Ragusa, an American blogger, came to Vietnam in March and accidentally ordered dental care while exploring Ho Chi Minh City. She shared that it was “an experience beyond her expectations”. Nina learned about a dental clinic in District 1 thanks to searching online and seeing many good reviews. She ordered a tooth scaling service following the doctor’s advice after a general examination.
Nina was assigned a seat by the staff while waiting for her turn. She was surprised when the dentist invited her to drink tea and fruit, because Nina usually doesn’t eat or drink anything before a dental check-up. She described the clinic as not feeling stuffy like a hospital because the interior design is “like a hotel lobby”. The cost Nina has to pay is 20 USD, 20-40 times cheaper than the cost of dental tartar removal in the US (about 400-800 USD for one service). The article sharing Ragusa’s dental experience in Ho Chi Minh City attracted 44,000 views and more than 1,000 comments. Most tourists agree with her, getting dental work in Ho Chi Minh City is “very cheap” and “worth the experience”. Others thanked Ragusa for sharing this experience.
Nina Ragusa shows off her teeth and the bouquet of flowers she received after experiencing dental work in Vietnam. Image: Nina Ragusa/Instagram
Nina is not a rare guest who orders health care services when traveling to Ho Chi Minh City. According to Mr. Tran Quang Duy, CEO of Penguin Travel Company, tourism products combining health care and beauty in Ho Chi Minh City were popular before 2019. The main target audience is overseas Vietnamese. returned to visit his hometown and foreign guests from many countries.
Mr. Duy said the company currently has 6 sets of medical tourism products, including two programs specifically for customers interested in dental care. These tours usually have half-day or one-day schedules, priced from 1.2 to 2.8 million VND. Tourists are taken to dental clinics and central maxillofacial hospitals. The cost of general dental examination is included in the package tour fee, additional fees must be paid if additional services are required. Guests receive the results of their dental condition and receive advice from the doctor. They can choose to return home for treatment or receive treatment on site. “70-80% of customers choose to work in Vietnam because of cheap costs,” Mr. Duy said.
After the examination, the tour program takes tourists to visit the Museum of Traditional Medicine and visit Health Street in District 10 – specializing in health examination services. Guests have lunch at a macrobiotic restaurant, the menu is good for sensitive teeth.
The director of Penguin Company said that although there are package tours, the group of customers who travel in combination with health care often request to design a private tour. Because each guest’s health condition is different, the private tour is adjusted according to the guest’s request. This tour usually accepts a maximum of 10 guests. Customers who book custom-designed tours often choose private dental facilities because dental hospitals can be overloaded, affecting the customer’s experience.
A health street corner on Su Van Hanh Street, District 10. Photo: Hong Phuc
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, Director of Elena Vietnam Travel, said that the company’s customers in the Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia markets are increasingly interested in health care services when traveling in Ho Chi Minh City. The proportion of visitors returning to Ho Chi Minh City to use medical services such as dentistry is about 10% and is on the rise. These customer groups all have the same opinion that medical costs in Ho Chi Minh City in general and dentistry in particular are 3-4 times cheaper than services in their home country, with highly skilled doctors.
Ms. Hai Yen commented that Saigon has diverse services but does not have specific and synchronized products targeting the needs of each customer market. Therefore, travel businesses that produce medical tourism products often do not have pre-packaged tours but will serve according to customers’ individual requirements.
A representative of a travel company in Ho Chi Minh City said that the tourism product line associated with dentistry and cosmetic surgery is blooming, but there is a change in approach. Customers often research and book services directly at medical facilities, rarely through tours.
In 2023, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism restarts the medical tourism product cluster with three main lines: general examination, in-depth health examination and traditional medicine in addition to the popular product of cosmetic dental services. America. Based on the 2018 Medical Tourism Handbook, the Department of Tourism updates, supplements and adjusts information and adds more languages (English, Thai, Cambodian, Laos, Chinese) so that domestic and international tourists can have You can research, participate in tour programs, and have practical experiences in the city.
A dental facility in Ho Chi Minh City is making porcelain teeth for customers. Image: Teeth
According to statistics from the Department of Tourism, in the period 2018-2019, the whole country welcomed about 57,000 visitors to Vietnam for inpatient treatment, of which Ho Chi Minh City accounted for about 40% thanks to its competitive advantages in cost, technology, and results. combination of tourism and resort services. The city’s medical tourism products focus on tourists from Southeast Asian countries and are expanding to include more visitors from Northeast Asia and Europe. The highlight of medical tourism programs is using health care services at reputable hospitals, while also providing high-end service experiences from dining, shopping to relaxation.
Ho Chi Minh City has built a set of products to serve medical tourism, working with travel companies and a number of hospitals, but up to now “the product is still vague to build into a specific tour”, the representative said. A travel company specializing in welcoming international guests in Ho Chi Minh City expressed.