From cosmetic fixes to life-saving surgery, Insight hears from people who have turned to medical tourism. Is it always worth it, and what happens when things go wrong far from home? Watch Insight episode Medical Tourism on SBS On Demand.
I put myself in dangerous situations as a boy growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne.
When I was 10 years old, I was jumping between the tops of cattle trucks in a cattle yard where I slipped.
Grabbing an overhead powerline to regain balance, I was shocked with 1500V DC that threw me to the ground — and left me with a broken jaw and brain trauma.
Spending a few months in a children's hospital, I developed complex post-traumatic stress disorder and a serious habit of grinding my teeth in my sleep.
The images of the other children in the hospital with facial burn injuries still traumatises me, four decades later. Sometimes the smell of certain barbecued meats makes me dry retch.
When I was in my twenties, I was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident and suffered a head injury that caused movement in my jaw and led to my teeth grinding in a different position.
You see beautiful people with beautiful smiles everywhere you turn in the media. Because I didn't have one, I always covered my mouth, even when I laughed.
I spent the following years in and out of the dentist, having my teeth capped and repaired in Australia. But they never lasted.
They were ground down to stubs and some had fallen out.
After both my parents passed away and I got divorced in the four years between 2015 to 2019, I was at the lowest point of my depression and had put on 40kg.
I felt isolated and didn't want anything to do with anyone.
When I turned 50 in 2019, I met a partner and took charge of my health. I started going to the gym to get out of the house and gradually felt better.
I was eating well, walked daily, was seeing a psychologist but was still very self-conscious about my teeth.
I thought if I could fix my teeth, and if I could make the outside look good, maybe the inside will follow — and my problems would be fixed.
'A rash decision'
I had managed to save a little money from my parents' inheritance and my work teaching disability advocacy. But I still couldn't afford the dental work I needed in Australia.
I was on social media when an ad for medical dental tourism popped up. I clicked, sent some X-rays and photos, had a chat on WhatsApp and received a quote. I prepaid for surgery and the included accommodation and booked a flight to Bangkok.
I haven't made such a rash decision since I was a young boy.
It was daunting yet exciting as I had never been out of Australia. I am a homebody; I like my dog, my garden and the beach.
Pat's teeth when he arrived in Thailand. Source: Supplied
The second appointment of eight is where things took a turn for the worse.
My face became swollen and I could barely lift my head. I slept all day on the painkillers and anti-inflammatories.
Of course, it was major dental work, so it was going to hurt. However, one tooth hurt more than the rest — so much so I had a day off surgery due to the swelling.
I told the team about my pain, and they said it would settle but I didn't feel they took it seriously.
Someone from their administration then told me the cost of the overall surgery was going to be double what I initially paid, which brought the total to upwards of $20,000.
As I couldn't leave with just half a mouth of teeth, I had to borrow the money from a friend back home.
'Something felt wrong'
After two weeks, I felt stable enough to fly home. My new teeth looked great, but something felt wrong as I still had pain in that one tooth.
I started to feel worse and over the next six months, I went on eight courses of antibiotics to try to fight an infection doctors couldn't identify the source of.
This was until one day, the crown of the tooth that had given me pain just fell off.
I went to a local dentist who discovered my gum was infected to the bone and into the sinus. He had to remove three teeth, a lot of my gum and part of my upper jawbone.
I somewhat locked myself away from the world during this time as the pain was excruciating.
The reason I had tried to fix my teeth was to feel more comfortable, be more social and boost my low self-esteem. It did the opposite.
By the end of that year, I had retreated from everything — including my social circles and disability advocacy.
I felt that all the progress I had made working on myself in the previous years was gone within the space of months.
I went for the dentist that looked glitzy and glammy and probably didn't do my due diligence with research.
Pat earlier this year. Source: Supplied
I was a bit rash in my decision, but I am not against medical tourism.
Why would I be? I was unlucky. I believe the same thing could happen in Australia.
For crisis and mental health support, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), SANE Australia (1800 187 263) or 13Yarn (139 276), a 24/7 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders crisis support line.
And for more stories on sex, relationships, health, wealth, grief and more, head to Insightful — an SBS podcast series hosted by Kumi Taguchi. Follow us on the SBS Audio App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
