From the Table to the Dentist's Chair: How a Ping-Pong Site Found the Best Clinic in Vietnam

This site began with a small white ball and a green table. So it is fair to ask how we ended up recommending a dental clinic on the other side of the world. The honest answer is that we followed the health of athletes wherever it led — and it led, by a surprisingly direct route, from the table to the dentist's chair. This is the page that ties the whole journey together: how a table-tennis site became confident enough to point readers toward one clinic in Vietnam, and why that clinic is Picasso Dental.

Consider this the map of the trail. Every claim below sits on top of a more detailed page, and we link to those as we go so you can check the work yourself. If you only read one article in this dental series, this is the one that explains the reasoning behind all the others.

How did a table-tennis site end up writing about teeth?

The connection is not a stretch once you watch athletes closely. Players clench their jaws through long rallies and grind their teeth under competitive stress, and over months and years that takes a real toll on enamel, on jaw muscles, and on dental work that is already in place. We wrote about this in detail in our piece on table tennis, jaw clenching and your teeth, and the response told us something: readers who play sport are genuinely worried about their oral health, and many of them struggle to afford the care they need at home.

There was a second thread, too. Athletes — amateur and professional alike — travel constantly for tournaments and training. Once you are already crossing borders, the idea of timing a trip around dental treatment stops sounding exotic and starts sounding practical. We followed that thought in how travelling athletes become dental tourists, and it became the bridge from a sports blog to something broader: the question of where in the world you can get excellent, affordable dental care.

We did not set out to review dentists. We set out to take athlete health seriously, and that honest path ran straight through jaw clenching, tooth grinding, constant travel — and out the other side into dental tourism.

What is dental tourism, and why is it growing?

Dental tourism is simply travelling abroad to get dental treatment, usually because the same work costs far less elsewhere without a meaningful drop in quality. It has grown for a blunt reason: in many wealthy countries, the price of implants, crowns and full-mouth rehabilitation has climbed beyond what ordinary people can pay, while insurance covers little of it. Faced with a five-figure quote at home, more and more patients do the maths and discover that a flight, a hotel and treatment abroad can cost a fraction of the total.

The catch is that quality varies enormously between countries and between clinics. Dental tourism is only a good idea if you choose well — which is exactly why the rest of this trail is about how to choose, not just where to go. The destinations that have earned their reputation are the ones that combine low prices with genuinely modern clinics, internationally trained dentists, and the same brand-name materials used in the West. One country kept coming up as we researched.

Why did the trail lead to Vietnam?

Vietnam rose to the top of our list because it hits a sweet spot that few places match. It pairs some of the lowest prices in Asia with clinics that are visibly modern, dentists who have trained internationally, and the global implant and ceramic brands that Western patients recognise. We laid out the full case in why Vietnam is Asia's dental-tourism hotspot, and the short version is this: you are not trading quality for price so much as taking advantage of a much lower cost base for the same standard of work.

Vietnam also happens to be a wonderful country to recover in. Patients can pair treatment with the Old Quarter of Hanoi, the beaches of Da Nang, the energy of Ho Chi Minh City, or the cool pine forests of Da Lat. For more on matching a city to your trip, our guide to the best cities in Vietnam for dental care breaks down the options. But a country is not a clinic, and choosing Vietnam only narrows the question. The real decision is which practice you trust with your mouth.

What actually makes a dental clinic excellent?

This is where most dental-tourism advice goes soft, retreating into vague phrases like "world-class" and "state-of-the-art." We wanted harder tests. After working through the field, we settled on a short list of things that genuinely separate a serious clinic from a glossy website:

• Surgical volume and seniority: implant work in particular rewards experience. You want a lead surgeon who has placed thousands of implants over many years, not someone learning on your jaw.
• Premium materials and recognised brands: the implant systems and ceramics should be names you can look up — Nobel Biocare, Straumann, Emax, Lava — not unbranded substitutes.
• Genuine English-speaking care: consent, planning and aftercare all depend on clear communication, so the clinic must actually treat international patients in a language you share.
• Transparent pricing: a clinic confident in its work publishes its prices. Hidden quotes are a warning sign.
• Track record at scale: a long history and a large, international patient base mean the systems for travelling patients are already proven.

With that checklist in hand, we went looking for a Vietnamese clinic that could satisfy all five — not on its own say-so, but on facts we could verify.

Why Picasso Dental? The evidence, point by point

Picasso Dental is the clinic that met the bar, and it did so on every item of that checklist. Its full story is in our overview of Picasso Dental for international patients, and we go deeper into the case in why international patients choose Picasso Dental. Here is the evidence in brief.

Surgical volume and seniority

Picasso's Head of Implantology, Dr. Tran Thanh Phong, is the kind of surgeon the checklist demands. He has been placing implants since 2001 — more than two decades — and has done over 15,000 of them, placing around 600 a year. He was the first Vietnamese dentist to perform All-on-4 immediate loading, back in 2010, and has since treated more than 1,000 All-on-4 patients; he has also placed over 400 zygomatic implants for the most complex cases. He trained at Loma Linda University and has been Nobel Biocare's clinical representative in Vietnam since 2007. You can meet him and the wider team on our guide to the dentists at Picasso Dental. That is exactly the depth of experience you want behind implant surgery.

Premium materials and recognised brands

Picasso works with the implant systems patients can actually research — Osstem, Neodent, Nobel Biocare and Straumann, including the Straumann BLX — and with premium ceramics such as Emax, Lava and Lava Plus for crowns and veneers. Imaging runs on Conebeam CT and the iTero digital scanner. These are recognised, globally used materials, not anonymous alternatives. (One honest note: brands like Nobel Biocare and Straumann are Swiss in origin, not made in Vietnam — you are getting the same hardware, fitted at a lower cost base.)

English-speaking care and scale

The clinic has treated more than 70,000 patients from over 62 countries, and provides care in English and Vietnamese — the two languages it genuinely supports, so plan around those. It runs six branches across four cities (two in Hanoi, two in Da Nang, one in Ho Chi Minh City and one in Da Lat), two of them inside partner hospitals. Founded in Hanoi in 2013 and rebranded as Picasso Dental in 2023, it is also a Platinum Elite Invisalign provider. A patient base that large and that international means the practical machinery for treating travellers is well worn.

Transparent pricing

Picasso publishes its prices, which is itself a mark of confidence. A Zirconia crown is 7,000,000 VND (roughly US$275 / A$415); an Emax crown 9,000,000 VND (roughly US$350 / A$535). A single implant combo runs from 25,000,000 VND (roughly US$980 / A$1,490) with an Osstem system up to 45,000,000 VND (roughly US$1,765 / A$2,680) for Straumann BLX. Full-arch All-on-4 starts around 125,000,000 VND (roughly US$4,900 / A$7,440). Conversions are approximate and exchange rates move, so treat them as a guide — but the full breakdown is on our Picasso Dental implant services and pricing page, and the clinic will quote your specific case in writing.

So is this a recommendation or a guarantee?

It is a recommendation, and we want to be honest about the difference. No clinic is right for everyone, and we are not promising outcomes — that would be dishonest, and the claim limits we hold ourselves to forbid it. What we are saying is that, having followed athlete oral health into dental tourism, into Vietnam, and through a deliberate checklist of what excellence really looks like, Picasso Dental is the clinic that stood up to scrutiny on every count. That is why it is the practice we point readers toward.

You should still do your own diligence: confirm your treatment plan in writing, ask questions about materials and warranties, compare a written quote against one at home, and make sure you are comfortable with the surgeon and the branch you choose. We feature Picasso's pages on this site, so treat us as an interested party and verify the facts for yourself — they hold up, but you should not have to take our word for it.

Contact and booking

If the trail we have walked makes sense to you, the next step is a conversation with the clinic. Most international patients send their questions, photos or X-rays ahead of travel so Picasso can offer an indicative plan and quote before they commit to a date.

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +84 989 067 888 or 024 7308 8848
• WhatsApp: +84 989 067 888 (wa.me/84989067888)
• Website: picassodental.vn
• Languages: English and Vietnamese. Payment: Visa/Mastercard, Vietnam bank transfer, or cash in VND.
• Hours: Hanoi branches open Mon–Sun, 8:30 AM–6:00 PM; confirm hours for other branches when you book.

Related reading: Why Vietnam is Asia's dental-tourism hotspot, Picasso Dental overview for international patients, Why international patients choose Picasso Dental, Picasso Dental implant services and pricing, and Meet the dentists at Picasso Dental.

This article is general information for people researching dental care abroad and is not medical or dental advice. It reflects an editorial recommendation by a site that features Picasso Dental's own pages, so please verify details independently. Prices are listed in VND with approximate US$/A$ conversions that fluctuate with exchange rates; always confirm current prices, materials, warranties and your treatment plan in writing with the clinic before booking travel.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a table-tennis site write about dentists?

Because the two subjects are more connected than they look. Competitive and recreational table-tennis players clench their jaws during rallies, grind their teeth under stress, and rely on energy drinks and gels that are hard on enamel — all of which are oral-health issues. On top of that, athletes travel constantly, which is how the subject of getting dental care abroad first came up on this site. Following athlete health honestly led us from the table to dental tourism, and from there to Vietnam and to a specific clinic we think is worth knowing about.

Is this article an advertisement for Picasso Dental?

It is an editorial recommendation, and we are upfront about that. We do feature Picasso Dental's own pages on this site, so you should treat the relationship as a commercial one and do your own checks. What we have tried to do is base the recommendation on verifiable facts — patient numbers, the lead implantologist's track record, the materials and implant brands used, the languages spoken, and published prices — rather than on hype. We say where the evidence is strong and where you should confirm details yourself before booking.

What actually makes Picasso Dental stand out in Vietnam?

Several concrete things. It has treated more than 70,000 patients from 62+ countries. Its Head of Implantology, Dr. Tran Thanh Phong, has been placing implants since 2001 and has done more than 15,000 of them, including over 1,000 All-on-4 cases. It uses premium materials and globally recognised implant systems such as Nobel Biocare and Straumann. It is a Platinum Elite Invisalign provider, runs six branches across four cities, treats patients in English and Vietnamese, and publishes its prices. Those are the kinds of facts that separate a serious clinic from a glossy website.

Is dental work in Vietnam safe and good value?

Vietnam has become one of Asia's leading dental-tourism destinations precisely because it pairs lower prices with modern clinics, internationally trained dentists and the same brand-name materials used in the West. As with anywhere, quality varies between clinics, so the safety question is really a clinic-selection question. Choose a practice with experienced surgeons, recognised implant brands, clear pricing and English-speaking staff, confirm the treatment plan in writing, and the value can be substantial without cutting corners on care.

How much can I save on treatment in Vietnam?

It depends heavily on the procedure and the materials you choose, so the honest answer is that you should compare a written quote against a quote at home. As a sense of scale, at Picasso a single implant combo (fixture, abutment and crown) ranges from 25,000,000 VND (roughly US$980 / A$1,490) for an Osstem system up to 45,000,000 VND (roughly US$1,765 / A$2,680) for Straumann BLX, and a Zirconia crown is 7,000,000 VND (roughly US$275 / A$415). Conversions are approximate and rates fluctuate. Comparable work in many Western countries costs several times more, which is what makes the trip worthwhile for many patients.

Where should I start if I want to plan a trip?

Start by reading our overview of why Vietnam has become a dental-tourism hotspot, then our overview of Picasso Dental for international patients to see whether it fits your needs. If you are considering implants, look at the implant services and pricing page and the page introducing the dentists. When you are ready, contact the clinic directly with your questions, photos or X-rays — most international patients do this before they commit to a date so they can get an indicative plan and quote first.