Contemporary dental tourism: a review of reporting in the UK news media

Abstract

Introduction The number of people seeking dental tourism increased in recent years and has peaked in popularity with young people following a wave of viral social media content. Dental professionals have expressed their concern about the short- and long-term consequences. This study aimed to explore the contemporary United Kingdom (UK) media narrative toward dental tourism. Methods Newspaper articles were identified using the LexisNexis database. The ten most popular newspapers in the UK were used for the search strategy. Data were analysed using framework analysis. The findings are presented as descriptive and analytical themes. Findings The search strategy identified 201 newspaper articles related to dental tourism. A total of 131 articles were included in the analysis. Five key themes were identified. The themes included: push and pull factors reported to lead to seeking dentistry abroad; patient-reported outcomes and experiences; warnings from dental professionals; amplifying social media hype; and media shaming and stigmatising. Conclusions Social media viral health trends were a means of distributing health (dis/mis)information. The perspectives of social media were amplified by the UK press. Tabloids often stigmatised people who had dentistry abroad.