This year, more than 25,000 Britons will take cheap flights to Budapest for bargain dental work. Another few thousand will come for cut-price cosmetic surgery (breast implants £710 a piece) or lasik corrective surgery (just £285 per eye). The Hungarian capital, long used to peddling itself as a city of “wellness”, has embraced medical tourism, just as Bratislava laps up lager-swilling halfwits.

But jetting off for a weekend of cheap boozing is easy. Coming to an eastern European city for complicated restorative dental surgery is a different matter altogether.

Still, with many restorative treatments, such as implants, unavailable on the NHS, and private treatment costing so much that practices offer payment plans like mortgage schemes, it’s easy to see why so many of us are turning to dentists of foreign extraction. I needed a couple of fillings and a crown replaced – work that my north London dentist said would set me back £750. The Kreativ clinic, in Budapest, quoted £266. Return flights and car parking brought the total to £352 – still a bargain. But was it safe?

After a childhood of abuse at the hands of butchers who drilled and filled for NHS cash, I’d developed a healthy fear of free-world dentistry. Yet here I was, far behind the former Iron Curtain, about to have my Hampsteads treated by men whose fathers probably knew Stalin. When I got to the clinic, first impressions compounded the fear. I’d been hoping for a glamorous, city-centre location; what I got was an autoparts shop, deep in the Buda ’burbs.

“We arrive,” announced the driver. A shaven-headed man in oil-stained overalls held open the door. He didn’t smile. Passing through the parts shop, I noticed angle-grinders, torque wrenches and socket sets, but as I climbed the stairs, the terror began to subside. Here was an ultramodern surgery – similar to an upmarket British clinic – staffed by bustling, white-clad nurses and a busy team of multilingual dentists.

“My clients come from the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Holland,” said the practice’s owner, Attila Knott, aka Attila the Gum, “and we don’t advertise.” In 2004, Kreativ was treating about 16 Britons a month. Three years later, word-of-mouth recommendations have pushed that to more than 100, with similar numbers arriving from other northern European nations.

Next month sees the opening of the biggest clinic in Budapest: six floors of architect-designed glass and steel, comprising six surgeries, a training centre, a laboratory, digital x-ray machines and a rooftop cafe bar. Attila was showing me the plans when a glamorous blonde sashayed past. “You need to meet this woman,” he said.

Mary O’Connor came to Kreativ in November 2005 with a mouth “like Swiss cheese” – the result of a lifetime of poor dentistry. She consulted private dentists in London and Dublin, receiving estimates of £45,000 to £60,000. So she came to Budapest.

“I’ve had seven implants and 26 porcelain crowns,” she said, smiling like a toothpaste commercial. “And the treatment cost just over £10,000, plus £400 for flights.”

According to Dr Endre Lantos, of the Vital Centre dental surgery, “The English have no idea of the true cost of dentistry. Here, I can fit an implant for £400 and make £100 profit. In London, they’ll charge £1,800 for the same treatment. Same materials, same techniques, same expertise. No wonder your dentists drive sports cars”.

It took no-frills flights to introduce the British to dental tourism, but the Austrians and Germans have been at it for years: one in three Austrians uses a Hungarian dentist. Tiny villages on the border, with more horses than cars, are home to state-of-the-art surgeries, and Hungary was the first country to establish a dental university.

“Dentistry is just something the Hungarians excel at,” explained Gunter Freiberg, a dental student from Dortmund. “In Germany, the courses are free, but it is better to come here and pay to be taught by the best.”

The British Dental Association (BDA) does not deny that the quality of treatment in Hungary is superior to that in the UK, but warns of problems of continuing care. “Anyone thinking about having dental treatment overseas must make sure that they are aware of the potential risks and the hidden costs,” it warns. “Difficulties may arise if there are problems with the treatment when the patient returns home.” The Bedfordshire-based dental travel agency Perfect Profiles sends 60 patients a month to Budapest, and its MD, Mike Silford agrees with the BDA. “Things can go wrong, but if they do, we fly our patients back to Budapest, put them up in a hotel and resolve the problem – at our expense.”

Back above the autoparts shop, I could hear the dentists sucking air like sceptical builders. “It’s your x-ray,” Attila said. “It looks like Stalingrad.” It seemed that my north London dentist had missed a few things. “Look at this root-canal work,” said dentist Ivan Solymos, highlighting the x-ray with a laser pointer. “There’s a chunk of root and a length of nerve in there. It’s a breeding ground for bacteria. Second problem is this bridge. It’s badly engineered and has no support. It needs to go.” Then I was introduced to orthodontist Zoltan Balajti, who said I needed a brace, and to a technician, who checked if my bone could take the titanium implants. Then there was the whitening . . . Whoa there, Magyars – who said anything about braces and implants and whitening?

I’d only come for two fillings and a crown, and the Hungarians wanted to turn me into Burt Reynolds. I paid for my fillings (£68 each), promised to look at their treatment plan – and fled. Back home, I sought a second opinion from my north London dentist (he concurred), then called around. In the interests of impartiality, I obtained quotes from practices in London, Manchester and Leeds, coming up with an average price of £18,850 (lowest, Manchester, £16,700; highest, London, £22,250) for an 18-month treatment plan involving 3M orthodontic braces, Branemark implants and zirconium crowns.

In Budapest I was quoted £4,725. Factor in the flights (13 visits, averaging £70 return; www.easyjet.com ) and occasional overnight stays (£25 per night at the Hotel Amadeus; www.hotelamadeus.hu ), and that’s another £1,235. Chuck in £200 for boat trips on the Danube (£10.50; www.legenda.hu ), soaks at the fabulous Szechenyi thermal baths (£6.50; www.budapestspas.hu ), boxes at the opera (£8.80; www.jegymester.hu ) and big bowls of easily chewed veal goulash at the Central Kavehaz (£6.80; www.centralkavehaz.hu ), and the bottom line is still only £6,160 – less than a third of the cost of having the work done in the UK. Suddenly, the idea of having a dentist in Budapest seemed rather attractive.

I’m a year into the treatment now, and, apart from a nasty incident with a pork scratching, I’ve had no problems. I visit every 6-8 weeks – Tosca is on next month – and Attila the Gum promises I’ll have that Burt Reynolds smile by Christmas. All I’ve got to do now is grow the moustache.

Chris Haslam was a guest of Danubius Hotels

Travel details: fly to Budapest with Malev (0870 909 0577, www.malev.com ), Wizz (www.wizzair.com ), Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com ) or, from Dublin, Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com ). Danubius Hotels(01923 650290, www.danubiushotels.com ) has 12 properties in the city, including the Hotel Gellert (00 36-1 889 5500; doubles from £95) and the very central Radisson SAS Beke (1 889 3900; doubles from £85).

How to choose your new dentist

Dentists should be registered with the Hungarian Medical Chamber: many are doctors of dental surgery (DDS), but a bachelor of dental surgery (BDS) is the minimum requirement in the EU. Find out the cost of treatment in the UK, then ask for a quote from the Hungarian practice, including a breakdown of services.

If you’re using an agent in the UK, ask to speak to clients who have been treated in Budapest. Inquire about aftercare. Reputable firms will guarantee to deal with any problems promptly and at no extra cost; this should include flights and accommodation. Make sure treatment records and x-rays will be available to pass on to a British dentist. In the UK, the Patients Association (0845 608 4455, www.patients-association.com ) has a downloadable guide entitled You and Your Dentist: A Guide for Patients.

Dental agencies: Kreativ Dental (0845 130 6470, www.kreativdent.com ); Perfect Profiles (01582 614446, www.perfectprofiles.eu.com ); Prime Dental (01580 765546, www.primedentalbudapest.co.uk ).