People who consider going abroad to have dental treatment should get all the facts before they book an appointment.

The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (BACD) has warned potential patients that they need to carefully research the dentist who may be carrying out the work.

This is because they will be away for a limited amount of time and as such any procedures may be done "a bit more quickly" than they would be in the UK.

BACD Board member Tif Qureshi advised that is a good idea to check and see if a foreign dentist has a good portfolio.

He explained that this is often more important than considered the price of a procedure.

For example, Mr Qureshi said that when going abroad to have veneers fitted, patients should look on the dentist's website and see examples of previous work.

"You can still get them done well over there, but you've got to be fairly happy to do some research and make sure that whoever you're going to see has a good portfolio of cases that they've actually done," he commented. "You might need to speak to the patients or see some patients if you have to."

The amount of money spent in the UK on cosmetic dentistry last year was £627million, up from £519million in 2006 and £210million in 2005, market research by Mintel revealed.