I have been putting off major dental treatment due to the enormous cost.

Unfortunately, things are getting worse and I will have to get the work done soon.

I had been planning to go to either Poland or Hungary but now I have read reports questioning the quality of dental treatment in those countries.

Should I travel abroad for treatment or should I pay the extra money and get the job done in Ireland instead?

David

Last week the Irish Dental Association (IDA), the dentists' representative body, published a survey purporting to show that three out of every four Irish dentists surveyed had treated patients for problems linked to dental treatment they had received abroad.

First things first. Even if one accepts the validity of the survey's conclusions, what it does not say is that three out of four dental patients who received treatment abroad later required remedial treatment from an Irish dentist, only that three out of every four dentists who responded to the survey had treated at least one patient for such problems. Not the same thing at all.

One question the survey didn't seek to answer is why are so many Irish patients are putting themselves to the bother and inconvenience of going abroad for dental treatment in the first place?

Website revahealth.com, which promotes so-called "medical tourism", published a survey last year which claimed that Irish people could save an average of €4,800, 60pc of the cost of their treatment, 60pc of the average cost, by having their dental work carried out overseas. This survey also claimed that 84pc of the patients surveyed were happy with their overseas dental treatment. British website treatmentabroad.com also points to the huge savings to be had from travelling overseas for dental treatment.

It compares prices for a wide range of dental treatments in Britain, where prices are considerably lower than those in Ireland, and up to two dozen other countries. It found savings of between 45 and 60pc over British prices for many treatments. No question about it, the savings to be had from travelling outside Ireland for dental treatment are substantial. So should David travel abroad for his dental treatment?

While I have severe reservations about much of the IDA survey, the association's president, Donal Blackwell, is surely on firmer ground when he warns of the dangers of patients trying to cram too much dental treatment into a short period when they travel abroad. The further one travels, the greater the risk of this happening. Far better to take a couple of trips, even if it reduces the savings.

What this means is that travelling to Northern Ireland for dental treatment definitely makes sense.

For bigger jobs a strong case can also be made for countries such as Poland or Hungary. Even if you have to make more than one trip the savings are still substantial. However, if I were David I would be tempted to draw the line at some of the more exotic locations such as India or Thailand.

If I book airline tickets directly from an airline and it goes bust, will I get my money back?

Rachel

Not necessarily. Unlike licensed travel agents, who must be part of the Commission for Aviation Regulation's bonding scheme, there is no similar scheme for passengers who have bought tickets directly from an airline that subsequently goes bust.

With many airlines in a very weak financial position, this is something that all intending passengers should bear in mind.

Even if you pay by credit card you have no comeback once the payment has been processed.

- Dan White