Travel guide · Australia and New Zealand

From Australia and New Zealand to Antalya for full-mouth implants

No readers travel further for this treatment than Australians and New Zealanders. Two return trips to the other side of the world change the planning: how long you stay, when you fly home after surgery and who looks after your teeth for the following decade.

Medically reviewed by Dt. Hüseyin Yavuz Özbek, implant surgeon · Updated October 2026

Short answer

Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Australian ordinary passport holders are visa-exempt for tourist visits and transit for 90 days in any 180-day period, and New Zealand passport holders are exempt for travel of up to 90 days (checked 24 October 2026). Expect at least one connection and a 7 to 10 hour time difference. Allow a rest day before surgery, plan the long flight home with blood-clot prevention in mind, and line up a registered dentist at home for maintenance before you go.

Entry rules (checked 24 October 2026)

Australian citizens

Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says holders of ordinary Australian passports are exempt from visa requirements "for touristic visits and transit travel for a period of 90 days within any 180-day period". Official passports need a visa. The wording matters: the exemption is described for tourism and transit, and Türkiye's visa system has a separate category for medical treatment. Ask the Embassy of Türkiye in Canberra or a Turkish consulate which applies to a dental treatment visit before you book.

The Australian Government's Smartraveller service (smartraveller.gov.au) has its own Türkiye page with entry, safety and health advice. Read it before booking and again before you fly.

New Zealand citizens

The same ministry lists New Zealand ordinary and official passport holders as exempt from a visa for travel of up to 90 days. New Zealand's SafeTravel page for Türkiye (updated 8 April 2026) sets the overall level at "exercise increased caution, with higher advice levels in some areas". Read the page yourself, check which areas it flags, and register your travel there if you want updates.

Passport validity for both

Türkiye's general rule is that your passport must expire at least 60 days after the end of your permitted stay, which means 150 days of validity for a full 90-day stay. The MFA also advises a passport valid for at least six months from arrival. Aim for six months and you avoid the arithmetic.

The journey: one or two connections

From Australia and New Zealand the trip to Antalya Airport (AYT) usually involves a connection in an Asian or Gulf hub and often a second change in Istanbul. Total travel time can run well over 24 hours door to door. Routes and timings change, so check airline sites, and do not schedule surgery for the morning after you land.

Some patients break the journey with a night in a hub city on the way out. On the way home after surgery, a direct-as-possible routing with fewer changes is usually kinder, even if it costs a little more.

Precious Dental's package includes the airport and clinic transfers in Antalya and the hotel: 4 nights on the first visit and 5 on the second. Flights and any stopover nights are yours to arrange. Because you are travelling so far, ask us before booking whether a slightly longer stay makes sense for your plan. Your surgeon may want an extra check before you fly, and changing a long-haul ticket at short notice is expensive.

Time difference and rest days

Türkiye stays on UTC+3 all year. Antalya is about 7 to 8 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne and about 9 to 10 hours behind Auckland, depending on daylight saving at your end. Flying to Türkiye is westward travel, which the CDC Yellow Book describes as the easier direction: it gives an average adaptation rate of about 1.5 hours per day westward and 1 hour per day eastward. The flight home is the harder one.

In practice we suggest at least one full rest day in Antalya before surgery after a journey this long, and two if you can. You will sleep badly the first night whatever you do; you do not want that night to be the one before a long operation.

Flying home after surgery

The CDC says travel of more than four hours carries some blood-clot risk and lists surgery within the past three months and age over 40 among the factors that increase it. A flight home to Australia or New Zealand after full-arch surgery is the extreme end of that. Walk every one to two hours on board, exercise your calves, drink water rather than alcohol, and see your GP before the trip to ask about compression stockings or other prevention. If you take a blood thinner or have had a clot before, tell us when you first send your X-ray.

Planning two visits from the other side of the world

The first visit is the surgical one, with fixed temporary teeth when the implants are stable enough. The second, a few months later, is for the final bridge. You would normally go home between the visits rather than wait in Türkiye. The timeline tool shows the usual pattern and lets you add travel days.

Because two return trips are a big commitment, it is worth reading the survival data and the treatment overview first, so you know why the second visit exists and what happens if healing takes longer.

What to bring

Passport with six months' validity.
Recent X-rays or a CBCT scan, sent ahead as files if possible. Treatment is planned from a 3D scan.
A medication list with doses, letters about heart, diabetes, blood-thinning or bone medication, and enough of your own medicines for the whole trip plus delays.
Insurance documents, with the policy wording on planned treatment and medical evacuation.

Money and insurance

Precious Dental sets its prices in pounds sterling. A fixed full arch on four implants per jaw is £6,000 ≈ €7,170 · US$8,020 for both jaws together, and on six implants per jaw £6,500 ≈ €7,760 · US$8,690. For Australian and New Zealand dollars, use the cost converter, which uses the ECB reference rate of 23 October 2026; your bank's rate on the day will differ. The price page lists what the packages include.

NZ SafeTravel recommends that New Zealanders in Türkiye have comprehensive travel insurance that includes medical evacuation by air, and its medical tourism page asks travellers to research the destination, the facility and the practitioner before committing. That is sensible for Australians too. Many policies exclude complications of elective procedures, so ask the insurer, in writing, what is covered on a treatment trip.

Aftercare back home

Australia: every dentist must be registered with the Dental Board of Australia, and you can check registration on the Ahpra public register.
New Zealand: the Dental Council of New Zealand regulates oral health practitioners and keeps a public register.
Records: Precious Dental gives every implant patient an implant passport and copies of X-rays and scans. Take them to your local dentist; they show the implant system so compatible parts can be ordered.
Contact: send photos or X-rays on WhatsApp (+44 7575 589099). Messages you send in your evening reach us in our working day.

Choose your maintaining dentist before the first trip. A practice that already restores implants will be more comfortable with full-arch bridges placed elsewhere, and it removes the worry of finding someone after the fact.

Common questions

Do Australians and New Zealanders need a visa for Turkey?

Not for an ordinary passport and a short stay, according to Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Australians are visa-exempt for tourist visits and transit for 90 days in any 180-day period, and New Zealanders for travel up to 90 days (checked 24 October 2026). Türkiye also has a medical treatment visa category, so ask a Turkish embassy or consulate which applies to a treatment visit.

Should I stay in Türkiye between the two visits?

Usually not. The gap between the visits is normally a few months while the implants heal, and people normally go home in between, usually with fixed temporary teeth. Your surgeon decides the interval after surgery.

What does NZ SafeTravel say about medical tourism?

Its Türkiye page tells New Zealanders considering medical tourism to understand the risks, links to its medical tourism guidance, and recommends comprehensive travel insurance that includes medical evacuation by air (page updated 8 April 2026).

Who maintains my implants in Australia or New Zealand?

Any registered dentist experienced with implants can provide maintenance. Check registration on the Ahpra register in Australia or the Dental Council register in New Zealand, and bring your implant passport and scan copies.

What does it cost in Australian or NZ dollars?

Our prices are set in pounds: £6,000 (approx. €7,170 or US$8,020) for a fixed full arch on four implants per jaw, both jaws. Use the cost converter for Australian and New Zealand dollars at the stated ECB rate of 23 October 2026.

Sources

Checked October 2026. Where we give our own view as a clinic, we say so.

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