Reviewed against the official texts available on 7 October 2026. This guide explains Turkish rules for international patients; it is not legal advice.

Short answer. A private dental clinic in Turkey is one of three facility types defined in the Regulation on Private Health Facilities Providing Oral and Dental Health Services (Resmî Gazete 6 October 2022, No. 31975): a muayenehane (a single dentist's practice), a poliklinik (polyclinic) or a merkez (oral and dental health centre). Each needs a licence (ruhsat) from the provincial health directorate. Separately, a facility that treats international patients can hold the Ministry of Health's uluslararası sağlık turizmi yetki belgesi (international health tourism authorisation certificate), and the Ministry publishes the list of authorised facilities — 1,594 "other" facilities nationwide on the list dated 5 October 2026. You can check a clinic in three steps: find its registered legal name, find it on the Ministry list, and ask for the licence. All 21 dental clinics on Foxpare were matched to that list by name and address.

Step 1 — Find the clinic's registered name

Clinics market themselves under brand names; the Ministry lists the registered facility name, which usually follows the pattern "Özel [name] Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı Polikliniği" or "… Merkezi". The two often differ. On Foxpare: the brand "Maltepe Dental Clinic" is registered as "Özel Mdc Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı Polikliniği" (and is in Kadıköy, not Maltepe); "Dental Design Turkey" as "Özel Dizayn Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı Polikliniği"; "Alanya Dental Service" as "Özel Qualıty Premıum Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı Polikliniği"; DentaTur's Istanbul branch as "Özel Bahçeşehir Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı Polikliniği". Look for the registered name and the street address in the clinic's website footer, its "about" or "legal" page, or ask the clinic in writing.

Step 2 — Find it on the Ministry's list

The Ministry of Health's Health Tourism Department publishes "Sağlık Turizmi Yetki Belgesi Almaya Hak Kazanan Sağlık Tesisleri" (health facilities entitled to the health-tourism authorisation certificate) at shgmturizmdb.saglik.gov.tr, split into separate lists: hospitals (Yetkili Hastaneler), medical centres, practices, "other health facilities" (Yetkili Diğer Sağlık Tesisleri — where dental polyclinics and centres appear) and intermediary organisations (Aracı Kuruluşlar). The page showed an update date of 5 October 2026 when we checked. Each row gives a row number, province, facility name, type, address and telephone. Match on the address or phone, not on the brand: several brands in our research matched only once we compared street addresses.

A clinic whose dental arm operates inside a hospital will be on the hospital list, not the "other facilities" list. A company that appears only on the intermediary list is a travel agency authorised to arrange accommodation, transport and transfers — not a clinic.

What the authorisation means — in the regulation's words

The 2017 Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health (Resmî Gazete 13 July 2017, No. 30123) defines:

  • an international health tourism health facility as "Sağlık tesisi ruhsatına sahip olan ve Bakanlıkça uluslararası sağlık turizmi yetki belgesi verilen kamu, üniversite ve özel sağlık kurum ve kuruluşunu" — a public, university or private facility that holds a facility licence and has been granted the authorisation certificate by the Ministry (Article 4(ğ));
  • an intermediary organisation as a Group A travel agency licensed under Law No. 1618 and authorised by the Ministry to provide "konaklama, ulaşım ve transfer hizmetlerinin sağlanması" — accommodation, transport and transfer services (Article 4(g)).

The Ministry's health-tourism page states that a new regulation entered into force on 5 August 2025; we were not able to read its full text from an official source on the day of checking, so this guide quotes the 2017 definitions and says so.

What the dental regulation requires

From the Regulation on Private Health Facilities Providing Oral and Dental Health Services (Resmî Gazete 6 October 2022, No. 31975), which replaced the 2015 regulation of the same title:

  • Who may open each type. "Poliklinik, mesleğini serbest olarak icra etme yetkisi bulunan bir veya birden fazla diş hekimine ait şirket tarafından açılabilir." — a polyclinic may be opened by a company owned by one or more dentists authorised to practise independently (Article 5(2)); a centre may also be opened by a company in which dentists hold at least 51% of the shares (Article 5(3)).
  • Licence. The licence application is made to the provincial health directorate once the facility has completed its investment in line with its pre-permit (Article 13(1)).
  • Only dentists work inside the mouth. "Diş hekimi harici sağlık meslek mensupları, hangi surette olursa olsun ağız içi müdahalede bulunamaz." (Article 18(9)).
  • No advertising. "Sağlık kuruluşları tarafından hiçbir mecrada reklam yapılamaz." — facilities may not advertise in any medium; they may give preventive, health-promoting information that is not misleading, exaggerated or aimed at creating demand (Article 24).
  • Annual inspection. Facilities are inspected by the provincial directorate "yılda en az bir defa" — at least once a year — in addition to inspections after complaints (Article 27(1)).

The 2022 text has been amended (March and December 2024); we quote the articles as published in 2022.

Step 3 — Ask for the documents

Before paying a deposit, ask the clinic to send, in writing: the facility's registered name and address; the licence (ruhsat) or its number; the name of the dentist who will treat you and their diploma or Turkish Dental Association (TDB) registration; and the written treatment plan with prices. The UK General Dental Council advises: "You should always be assessed by a qualified dentist before being given a treatment plan and cost estimate." Its page also reminds patients: "We can't guarantee another organisation like us exists in other countries, or even that the standards will be the same as they are here."

What a Ministry listing does not tell you

The authorisation certificate is a permission to serve international patients, issued to the facility. It does not rate the clinic, the dentist or the work, and Foxpare does not assess any clinic's compliance with these regulations. On Foxpare, each dental clinic card shows its Ministry record status and the date we checked it, alongside the prices it publishes.

Further reading: Find a dental clinic · Foxpare dental price index · Ministry of Health authorisation in Turkey · Turkey's hair transplant regulation explained

Sources

  • Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı Hizmeti Sunulan Özel Sağlık Kuruluşları Hakkında Yönetmelik, Resmî Gazete 6 Ekim 2022, Sayı 31975 — Articles 4, 5, 13, 18(9), 24, 27, 29 (text as reproduced by the Ministry of Health, antalyaism.saglik.gov.tr; read 7 Oct 2026)
  • Uluslararası Sağlık Turizmi ve Turistin Sağlığı Hakkında Yönetmelik, Resmî Gazete 13 Temmuz 2017, Sayı 30123 — Article 4 (text as reproduced by the Ministry of Health; read 7 Oct 2026)
  • T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı, Sağlık Turizmi Daire Başkanlığı, "Yetkili Sağlık Tesisleri" lists — shgmturizmdb.saglik.gov.tr (update shown: 5 Ekim 2026)
  • Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Tanıtım ve Bilgilendirme Faaliyetleri Hakkında Yönetmelik, Resmî Gazete 12 Kasım 2025, Sayı 33075
  • General Dental Council, "Going abroad for dental treatment" — gdc-uk.org (read 7 Oct 2026)
  • Foxpare, Ministry of Health record status — /ministry-authorized-clinics · Foxpare, Turkey's hair transplant regulation explained — /blog/turkey-hair-transplant-regulation-explained