Foreign-Qualified Dentist in Karachi: What It Means and How to Check

A foreign-qualified dentist in Karachi is a dentist who is registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and who also holds a degree from a university in another country, such as the UK. Patients ask for one often, and it is a fair thing to ask for. But the phrase is used loosely, and a degree from abroad is a starting point for your questions, not the end of them. This page explains what it should mean, how to check it for any dentist, and what my own training changes in the way I treat patients.

What a foreign degree tells you, and what it does not

A postgraduate degree from a UK university tells you that the dentist spent years studying one area in depth, was taught and examined to that country's standards, and usually completed a research project as part of it. That is real information. It usually means the dentist was trained to plan treatment carefully, to choose materials on evidence and to keep clear records.

It does not tell you how often that dentist does the treatment you need, how good their hands are, or how they treat nervous patients. A local dentist who has placed hundreds of implants may serve you better for an implant than a foreign-trained dentist who rarely does them. So ask about the treatment itself: how many do you do, and can I see how they are planned?

How to check any dentist in Karachi

Please do this for every dentist you consider, including me. It takes about five minutes.

My training, in plain words

I am Dr. Saad Irfan. I took my basic dental degree (BDS) at Fatima Jinnah Dental College in Karachi. I then went to the University of Sheffield in the UK, where I completed two postgraduate degrees: a Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) in Restorative Dentistry, and a Master of Science (MSc) in Dental Materials. I am registered with the PMDC (No. 11216-D) and have practised for more than fifteen years. In everyday terms, I am a UK-trained dentist working in Karachi.

What this changes when you are in my chair

Restorative dentistry is about rebuilding a tooth so that it works, lasts and looks natural. The materials degree adds a second question to every decision: what is this material made of, and how will it behave under your bite for the next ten or fifteen years? When a patient needs a crown, a set of veneers or an implant restoration, I choose the material for that mouth, not from a standard menu. For porcelain work, for example, we use IPS e.max, a lithium disilicate ceramic, and for strong back-tooth crowns we use full-contour zirconia. CAD/CAM technology is available at our practice, so a crown can be designed on a computer, and in suitable cases it is made by our lab and fitted on the same day.

In day-to-day work you will notice a few things. Root canals are done under an operating microscope, which is installed at all three of our clinics. Numbing is given with the Wand, a computer-controlled system that controls the speed of the injection. Instruments go through a Class B autoclave. And the plan and the price are given to you in writing after your assessment, which costs Rs 2,000.

What I do not do

I focus on restorative work, root canals and implants. Braces and complex oral surgery are handled by colleagues in our team whose main work is in those areas. Saying so is part of the point: a dentist who says yes to everything is harder to trust than one who says who is better placed to help you.

Where to see me

I see patients at our DHA Phase 5 and DHA Phase 8 clinics. All three of our clinics are open from 9 AM to 11 PM every day, and our emergency line is answered 24 hours a day, on both clinic numbers and on WhatsApp. If you prefer to see a female dentist, that can be arranged at any of the clinics by appointment.

We have 519 Google reviews across our three clinics, with a rating of 5.0, and you can read them for yourself. For patients living abroad who are planning a trip, there is a separate guide with a checklist.

If you are not sure whether I am the right dentist for what you need, send us a message on WhatsApp and say what the problem is. We will tell you honestly who in our team is best placed to help.