A UK resident has taken to flying 10,000 miles for dental care saying the extra time and money spent is far less hassle than trying to get an appointment on the NHS.
Award-winning chef Rasel Syed, 44, was told he risked having a year-long wait for treatment on the NHS for a broken tooth and was quoted a £5,000 fee to have it fixed privately. Instead, London-based Rasel organised treatment in Bangladesh where he was born, which - despite having to fly 5,000 miles each way - worked out a far cheaper and quicker option.
Married dad-of-two Rasel, who's cooked for the royal family and celebrities, said: "I broke my back tooth and it had a hole in it. The pain was so bad, it felt as though I was being stabbed in the mouth.
“The main problem I was facing with the NHS was that I could never get seen on time. I needed fillings and was having really bad toothaches, but it was taking months for me to get offered an appointment. I contacted a private practice to see how much treatment would cost and wasn’t expecting it to be as expensive as it was."
Rasel said the Bangladesh trip, while lengthy, offered faster pain relief, saying: The difference between the waiting times for me was several months versus one day, so I decided to go for the quicker option."
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The chef says flying 10,000 miles for treatment is cheaper (Daily Mirror)
Rasel has made four trips to Bangladesh so far for his dentist appointments (Daily Mirror)Rasel's ordeal last February saw him travel to Bangladesh on short notice. He explained: "Being a chef, if you have any issue with your body, you cannot work properly. The kitchen is already a high stress environment and on top of that, I've got two kids who need to be taken to school, a family to look after. There was no way I was going to wait months or years for them to fix my tooth.
“Another big problem was that I would wait ages for an appointment and then have to sit in the surgery waiting room for another 2-3 hours."
He came up with the Bangladesh option with the help of his uncle, who works as a travel agent, explaining: "When I mentioned it to my uncle, he told me he could book me an appointment in Bangladesh the next day. The difference between the waiting times for me was several months versus one day, so I decided to go for the quicker option."
"When I got to Bangladesh, I was able to get a filling straight away and a cap was put on my tooth. The dentists told me I probably won't have to return for a while."
Rasel now books flights to and from Bangladesh, where he grew up, and would rather make the gruelling 12-hour journey back and forth because he finds the service more reliable and efficient. So far, he has made four trips and spent over £2,600. The chef added that despite living directly opposite a dentist in London, he would much rather make the 10,000 mile-long trip and doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.
He said: "I've booked flights as early as the day before, arrived in Bangladesh, had my dentist appointment and then flown straight home the next day. It takes around twelve hours to get there, but all together it's three days compared to months or years waiting for an NHS dentist. I usually only need to take three or four days off but if I'm travelling over the weekend I don't need to take time off work", he said.
The chef says the care he receives abroad is not only faster, but also cheaper. He continued: "In Bangladesh, I've been able to get fillings, my teeth cleaned, and a cap insertion so far. My appointments usually take 1-2 hours and they're a lot cheaper than NHS and private dentist appointments in the UK, but the quality of care is much better."
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Rasel says the intensity of his job means he couldn't risk being in pain (Daily Mirror)Rasel, who works at the prestigious Biltmore Mayfair, has cooked for the likes of David Beckham and family, Anthony Joshua – and even prepared food for an event hosted by the Royal family back in 2008.
He lives with his wife Shibia, and two young children Daamin 2, and Daeem, 10, in London. He says it's much easier for his children to be treated on the NHS, while his wife has never had to seek urgent dental care like he has.
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His dentist, Oral and Dental Care sylhet in Sylhet, Bangladesh, is rated five stars on Google and located just 20 minutes away from Sylhet Airport, allowing him to be treated and then hop on a flight home the same day.
Rasel knows the difficulty he faces in being seen by an NHS dentist at home is far from unique. He said: “I’m not the only person dealing with this. There are so many people struggling to get dentist appointments. At my last NHS appointment, I asked one of the dental staff why it’s so difficult to be seen and I was told they don’t have enough staff to deal with the number of patients needing treatment."
The chef is now urging the government to take action so that other patients in the UK, who may not have the means to go private, or hop on a flight and get treatment abroad, are able to gain access to an NHS dentist when they need one. He said: “The Tory government needs to work harder to improve the dental sector.
"They need to create more jobs for dentists and invest more money into the sector. This is the most important thing, otherwise there will never be enough dentists for the number of patients in the UK. Everyone should be able to see a dentist – myself, my wife and my kids. We should all be able to get an appointment when we need one.
"If more money was invested into the NHS, we wouldn’t have to go so far to get treatment and can start using the service regularly."
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