The Kerala Dental Association is conducting a seminar here next week to promote the State as a destination for dental tourism. Dr C. Rajkrishnan, representing the CII Healthcare Committee, said that dental tourism in the State has registered a 25 per cent growth with the UK accounting for a major share of dental patients coming to Kerala. Around 250-300 patients from UK had reached here last year.

The computer guided dental implant surgery is gaining acceptance among the foreign patients coming to Kerala. Dr Rajkrishnan, who is the CEO of Rajkrishnan's Dental Clinic, Kochi, said that earlier most of the foreign patients had come for root canal treatment.

Now, there is shift for dental implant surgery, as the procedure is 5-6 times costlier in Europe. He pointed out that computer guided dental implant surgery is a giant step forward in the replacement of teeth with dental implants. The dental implant is the best method for replacing missing teeth, he said.