EXCLUSIVE: The dental regulator is concerned that private clinics from Türkiye may be holding illegal ‘dental tourism’ events in UK hotels, GDPUK can reveal.

Turkish dental firms are flying over to Britain and hosting free meet-ups for prospective patients in venues including the DoubleTree by Hilton and the Radisson Blu.

GDPUK found numerous adverts for upcoming events on Facebook and they will be taking place in hotels in Bristol, Birmingham, Croydon in South London, Newcastle and Norwich throughout May and June.

But the General Dental Council (GDC) says they are potentially illegal because they may involve dentists from Türkiye carrying out assessments on patients even though they aren’t registered to practise in the UK.

The regulator told GDPUK that they had the powers to prosecute the Turkish firms involved and they could then be given ‘unlimited fines’ in court if convicted.

A GDC spokesperson told GDPUK: ‘We do have concerns about these events, for two reasons. The first is that it is illegal for anybody who is not a GDC registrant to provide dental treatment in the UK, and that includes assessing patients for treatment to be delivered in another country.

‘We will make that clear to the venues hosting these events and will discourage events of this kind where we can – but ultimately we have powers to prosecute and the courts can impose unlimited fines on conviction.

‘But we are also concerned about prospective patients being given advice which may not be in their best interests and which may lead to them getting inappropriate or substandard treatment. We have no powers to regulate dental treatment given in other countries, but we do provide advice on our website about the questions patients should ask themselves before deciding to seek treatment in other countries.’

The British Dental Association – the trade union and professional body – is also concerned about these meet-ups and told GDPUK that neither the GDC nor the CQC, whose role is to regulate health and social care providers, were doing enough to clamp down on them.

Dr Eddie Crouch, the BDA’s chair said: ‘Any major city within the UK will have something happening this weekend where they’re looking to attract people to go here, under the guise of having a consultation.

‘Any weekend, even here in Birmingham where dental access is relatively easy, there’s probably three or four different hotels hosting events where they’re trying to recruit patients to go for treatment.’

He added that the regulators were ‘seemingly unwilling to tackle crimes taking place in plain sight’.

‘Dentistry in Britain is tightly regulated, but the authorities here seem utterly untroubled these clinics are now touting for business in UK hotels.’

One Turkish clinic hosting an event in Croydon in June is advertising “special discounts” for patients if they show up and then book their treatment in Istanbul.

Another provider organising a meet-up in Norwich in May promises patients ‘no pressure, just real answers’ while a clinic organising an event in Bristol, also in May, claims there will be ‘no hidden costs’. Several adverts tell patients there are ‘limited spots available’.

Dr Simon Thackeray, president of the British Association of Private Dentistry said: ‘Regarding these popups they are also an issue as they don’t have any CQC registration in place and it’s not always clear if the examining clinicians are registered with the GDC. Again, it’s appealing to the public who might be ignorant of the dangers of seeking this type of treatment.’

There are no official figures on the numbers of UK patients travelling to Turkey or other destinations for cosmetic dental procedures but dentists here say they are turning up in clinics with serious complications.

A survey by the BDA in July 2022 involving 1,000 dentists found that 86% reported treating cases that developed problems after going abroad