I build websites for clinics across Tenerife, and one conversation comes up almost every month: a clinic owner tells me her British or German patients arrive confused, with expectations from the NHS or AOK that simply do not fit Spanish private healthcare. If you are that expat, this is for you.
Tenerife has hundreds of dental clinics. Excellent ones, mediocre ones, and a few genuinely bad ones. The hard part is not picking a clinic — it is realising that the system you trained as a patient in no longer applies.
First thing: almost everything is private
Spain's public healthcare covers emergency extractions and very little else in adult dentistry. Cleanings, fillings, root canals, orthodontics, implants — you pay for all of it out of pocket. It is not the NHS, where you have a public price band. It is not Germany, where AOK reimburses part of basic care.
Two things surprise newcomers:
- Pricing is set clinic by clinic. There is no official tariff. A root canal can run €180 in a neighbourhood practice in La Laguna and €420 in a dental clinic in Costa Adeje serving health tourism. Both can do perfectly correct work.
- A written, itemised quote is your best friend. Any serious clinic gives you one for free after the first check-up. If they refuse or pressure you to decide in the chair, walk out.
Your NHS reflexes will not help you here
You, the British expat, are used to registering with one dentist, waiting three months for a routine appointment, and accepting whatever the practice says because switching is a faff. In Tenerife the supply is so wide that switching is trivial. Asking for a second opinion is not rude — it is normal. If one clinic quotes you €4,000 and you are unsure, walk into another with the X-ray. The second consultation is usually free or €30.
If you are German, the reflex misleads too. There is no Hauszahnarzt tied to your insurance here. If you carry Sanitas, Adeslas or DKV, each has its own list of partner clinics and coverage shifts year on year. Before choosing, call your insurer and ask for the current list in your area.
Language matters more than you think
In the south of the island, most clinics with a half-decent website handle English fluently. In the north it is patchier: a dental clinic in Puerto de la Cruz is more likely to have a German-speaking dentist because of the historic German tourist flow, but do not assume it.
Here is the nuance most expats miss: the receptionist speaking English is not the same as the dentist speaking English. When they explain a treatment plan, the risks of a root canal, or whether you should go for an implant or a bridge, you want to follow every word. Ask directly when booking: "will the dentist seeing me speak English?". An honest clinic tells you. If they dodge, hang up.
This is especially true in expat-heavy areas like Los Cristianos or Playa de las Américas, where clinics that genuinely look after expat patients say so clearly on their website — anyone else is advertising to an audience that is not theirs.
Reviews: how to read them without being conned
The reputation system does not translate either. In the UK you trust NHS Choices or word of mouth. In Germany, Jameda. Here, almost everyone looks at Google Maps, and Google Maps in Tenerife is full of:
- Fake reviews bought in batches of 20 — easy to spot because they all land the same week with similar phrasing
- Real reviews from tourists who came once for an emergency — useful for "they did not rob me" but useless for longer treatment
- Reviews from residents who have followed up over years — pure gold
Filter for reviews over 100 words, in your language or Spanish, and check the reviewer's history. Someone with 30 varied reviews across hotels, restaurants and shops is real. An account with 2 reviews, both for clinics, is not.
Why I am writing this
I build websites for dental clinics, physiotherapists and psychologists across Tenerife — and the first question I ask every owner is: what percentage of your patients are foreign residents? If the answer is high, the website has to be properly written in English and German, not Google-translated. Your expat patient spots a bad translation in five seconds and closes the tab.
If you run a clinic and want a site that actually speaks to British and German residents, see the sectors I work with or the Lanzamiento programme. If you are a patient just trying to find your way, I hope this helped. The island has excellent professionals — you just need to know how to look.
