Independent · Shanghai-based · Takes no clinic money
The only Shanghai dental guide that will tell you when not to come.
I went through fifteen English-language sites about dental work in China. Every one where I could identify a business model earns a referral or concierge fee when you book. That is why none of them will tell you your case is not worth the flight — or that the implant package you were quoted quietly needs a second trip six months later.
I take nothing from any clinic, so I have nothing to lose by talking you out of the trip. Sometimes that is the honest answer, and this site is built to be able to give it.
Get your answer — free, 5 questions See what the full guide covers
Independent
No commission, no referral fee, no "partner clinic". You pay me, so I work for you. If that ever changes you will see it disclosed at the top of every page it touches, before you spend anything.
Personal
Not a list of twenty clinics to sort through yourself. The free questionnaire works out whether the trip is feasible on your passport, your dates, and what you actually need done. Which tier of clinic fits your budget is what the guide is for.
On the ground
Government pricing documents where they exist — which today is where almost every number here comes from, down to the treatment code. Clinic calls where the public record runs out, which is what I am building next. And a plain "I don't know" where neither is good enough yet. Every figure carries the date it was last checked.
Should you actually fly to Shanghai for this?
Five questions. You get an answer on this page, immediately — including the answer where I tell you not to come. No email required to see it.
Want the full route, not just the verdict?
The free email version adds the bits this page cannot fit: which tier of clinic fits your budget, what a first appointment actually costs, and the questions to ask before anyone touches your teeth.
We send you your route, then occasional updates when prices or visa rules change. Unsubscribe in one click. We never send you to a clinic that pays us, because no clinic pays us. Your answer to question 5 is not included in this email and never reaches our servers.
Two free tools
Both give you a straight answer, including the unprofitable one.
- Savings calculator
Pick the treatment and where you live. It works out the real gap against Shanghai prices, subtracts what the trip costs you, and tells you whether the number justifies the flight. Often it does not.
- Visa-free checker
Whether your passport gets in without a visa, for how long, and whether that is enough days for the work you want done.
The full guide
Shanghai Dental Navigator is not an article you read top to bottom. It branches: you answer where you stand, and it takes you down your path only. What it covers:
- Should you even come? The cost maths for your country, and the cases where the honest answer is no. Free to read
- Getting in. Visa route for your passport, the arrival card, which airport, what to do first.
- Landing survival kit. Payments on a foreign card, eSIM, translation apps that actually work in a dental chair, getting around.
- Which tier of clinic. Public hospital international department vs high-end international clinic vs local chain — what each really costs and who each is right for.
- Your treatment, step by step. Visits, timeline, price band, and the five questions to ask the dentist before agreeing to anything.
- Booking and being understood. How to book each tier, whether you need a human interpreter, and what to say.
- Leaving properly. The records, invoices and image files you must take home — your dentist there will need them, and getting them later is very hard.
- When it goes wrong. Complaint routes, the health hotline, and what your travel insurer will ask for.
Presale — USD 19, half the USD 39 launch price.
Refundable in full, no questions, any time before launch. Buying now means you get to tell me what is missing while I can still add it.
Tell me where to send it
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What I will not do
- I will not tell you which treatment you need. A dentist who has examined you does that.
- I will not take a fee from a clinic for sending you to it — that is the entire business model of everyone else in this space, and it is why their advice always ends in "yes, come".
- I will not publish a price I have not checked myself, I will not hide the date I checked it, and I will not describe something as verified when what I actually have is an estimate. Where a figure is built from official pricing components rather than observed at a clinic, it says so on the page.
- I will not pretend a single implant can be finished in one week to make a trip sound easier to book.