About the author

About Atilla Kuruk

Independent dental tourism researcher based in Antalya, Turkey. Founder of smile-antalya.com.

Last updated: April 2026

Who I am

My name is Atilla Kuruk. I live in Antalya, Turkey, and I run smile-antalya.com — an independent research project that helps international patients understand dental tourism in Turkey without getting caught between clinic marketing and affiliate funnels.

I am not a dentist. I am not a clinic owner. I am a patient-turned-researcher who ended up with six dental implants placed in Antalya across several visits, and who realized there was almost no honest, data-driven English-language information for people in the same position I once was.

So I started publishing what I learned: real price ranges from clinic price lists, accreditation data (JCI, ISO, Turkish Ministry of Health), independent reviews, and on-the-ground footage from Antalya itself. Everything on this site is written by a human, fact-checked against primary sources, and updated when the data changes.

Credentials & background

I don't claim medical expertise. What I bring is research discipline, digital analytics training, and lived experience as a dental tourism patient in Antalya.

  • Google Digital Marketing Certificate — Certified by Google in digital marketing and analytics.
  • Anthropic AI Academy — Seven certifications from Anthropic's AI training program, including responsible AI and applied prompt engineering.
  • Lived experience — 6 dental implants placed in Antalya over multiple visits — including healing abutments, final crowns, and follow-ups.
  • On-site research — Daily life in Antalya since 2019. 70+ videos published on YouTube covering the city, clinics, logistics, and local experience.
  • Data work — Analyzed 55 dental clinics in Antalya using accreditation databases, Google Reviews, and published price lists.

Why this site exists

After my own treatment I noticed a pattern: most "dental tourism in Turkey" content online is produced either by clinics themselves or by affiliate sites that get paid per lead. That's a conflict of interest. Patients deserve honest numbers, real photos, and disclosure about who benefits when you click a button.

smile-antalya.com is my attempt to fix that. Everything is written in-house, prices are verified from multiple sources, and when I recommend a clinic I explain exactly why — accreditations, years in operation, reviews, and what to watch out for.

Research methodology

Every claim on this site is traceable. Here is how the research is done:

  1. Price data — Collected from public clinic price lists, patient-shared quotes, and verified treatment bills. Ranges are published instead of single numbers because prices genuinely vary.
  2. Clinic data — Cross-checked against the Turkish Ministry of Health's licensed clinic database, JCI and ISO accreditation records, and Google Reviews (filtered for recency and language).
  3. Safety claims — Backed by peer-reviewed literature when possible (ITI Consensus Conferences, Cochrane reviews, ADA guidance). Otherwise explicitly marked as "based on patient experience".
  4. Updates — Pages are reviewed at least every 90 days. The last-updated date reflects the most recent fact check, not a template touch.

My personal experience

I came to Antalya as a dental tourism patient myself. Between 2020 and 2024 I had six implants placed across multiple visits, along with the usual healing time, abutments, crowns, and the occasional adjustment. I went through the exact same process I now describe on this site — airport pickup, consultation, 3D scan, treatment plan, staged treatment, and recovery with sightseeing in between.

That is why the guides here are not generic: they are written by someone who has been in the chair, who knows what "pain level 4" actually feels like, and who can tell you which hotels near the clinics are worth staying at for a week of recovery.

YouTube channel — 70+ videos from Antalya

I run a personal YouTube channel with 70+ videos from Antalya in German, covering daily life, neighborhoods, beaches, food, weather, and travel tips. It is not a clinic marketing channel — it's documentation of what Antalya is actually like, useful if you are considering coming for a dental trip.

Visit the channel on YouTube →

How to reach me

I answer every email personally. If you have a question about treatment in Antalya, want an honest second opinion on a quote, or just want to talk to someone who has actually been through this — write to me.

Email: info@smile-antalya.com

Find me online: