Smile Hair Clinic, Istanbul

[alex_mil]

Looking for anyone with advice or experience of Smile Hair Clinic in Turkey. 
 

[digi23]

1 hour ago, alex_mil said:

Looking for anyone with advice or experience of Smile Hair Clinic in Turkey. 
 

One of the worst places in Turkey to get a hair transplant.

[alex_mil]

What makes you say that? 

[digi23]

18 minutes ago, alex_mil said:

What makes you say that? 

Because I dont want you to be butchered.

You should do some research what is important with a hair transplant and you can understand why.

Clinics like Smile do 10+ people every day with no Dr involved, the time you see the Dr(if he is a Dr at all, its also common in Turkey for the clinic to only have nurses) is when he draw a hairline. You are then left to some tech team which you do not know anything about and you cannot find any review of them. 

The difference is that there are Drs who have their own clinic and do only 1 patient a day. So when you research these Drs, if they have a bad result it will be their fault not the 10+ different tech team. 

Usually clinics with alot of tech teams have 50/50 success rate, basically like betting your money on red on the roulette table. Good clinics with a Dr with 10+ years experience doing quality work over time have some 95+% success rate.

This is just a small simple explanation, there are so much more details aswell, like multiple grafts in the hairline, bad hairline design, unnatural look, potential overharvesting and more..

The better places in Turkey on a budget would be Dr Erkan Demirsoy, FueCapilar(Dr Gur/Dr Turan), Dr Resul Yaman.

Edited January 21, 2022 by digi23

[kirkland]

3 hours ago, alex_mil said:

Looking for anyone with advice or experience of Smile Hair Clinic in Turkey. 

If cost is an issue for you, such that you are considering Smile, consider an alternative like Eugenix. More members on this forum are familiar with Eugenix and their founding doctors are listed coalition members of this site.

[ITA]

8 hours ago, alex_mil said:

Looking for anyone with advice or experience of Smile Hair Clinic in Turkey. 
 

One of the many hair mills in Turkey to stay away from.  Where have you seen the results of guys who have transplanted in this place?  (I don't even dare call it clinic), On their website?  Have you read positive reviews on Google (perhaps from users with only one review), on Trustpilot?  Are there any here on HRN?

[alex_mil]

5 hours ago, digi23 said:

Because I dont want you to be butchered.

You should do some research what is important with a hair transplant and you can understand why.

Clinics like Smile do 10+ people every day with no Dr involved, the time you see the Dr(if he is a Dr at all, its also common in Turkey for the clinic to only have nurses) is when he draw a hairline. You are then left to some tech team which you do not know anything about and you cannot find any review of them. 

The difference is that there are Drs who have their own clinic and do only 1 patient a day. So when you research these Drs, if they have a bad result it will be their fault not the 10+ different tech team. 

Usually clinics with alot of tech teams have 50/50 success rate, basically like betting your money on red on the roulette table. Good clinics with a Dr with 10+ years experience doing quality work over time have some 95+% success rate.

This is just a small simple explanation, there are so much more details aswell, like multiple grafts in the hairline, bad hairline design, unnatural look, potential overharvesting and more..

The better places in Turkey on a budget would be Dr Erkan Demirsoy, FueCapilar(Dr Gur/Dr Turan), Dr Resul Yaman.

Thanks for replying, I do appreciate that you’re looking out for my best interests. I looked at your review on your experience with Dr Yaman which sounded really positive. I checked him out today and did an online consultation with photos, the reply said I would need 3500 grafts which would cost $2900 (£2200) with 3 nights stay. This is not only the highest estimate of grafts suggested to me so far but also the cheapest option I have come across. This was a red flag for me. 
I started researching Dr Yaman and not only does he not have any Google reviews or Trust Pilot reviews but he appears to have more than one Facebook page. Another red flag. 
I see he comes up on some reputable associations (IAHRS) and some publications but that doesn’t override those red flags for me. I’m happy you had a good experience with him but researching him actually made me feel more secure in my decision with Smile. 
I’ve chosen a more expensive package where a chosen Dr does the hairline and incisions then ‘supervises’ (to what extent I don’t know) the transplant by techs. 
As far as I can see this is no different to any other operation. Even in the UK the Dr won’t sit there and do the entire transplant, techs do. 
I guess I’m justifying this to myself now, not arguing with you! 🙃
 

[alex_mil]

3 minutes ago, Egy said:

One of the many hair mills in Turkey to stay away from.  Where have you seen the results of guys who have transplanted in this place?  (I don't even dare call it clinic), On their website?  Have you read positive reviews on Google (perhaps from users with only one review), on Trustpilot?  Are there any here on HRN?

Hi, thanks for replying. I don’t want to come across as blindly defending Smile but the reason they were my initial choice is because my wife’s boss had his crown done and is very happy and plans to go back again. I have also reached out to someone on Reddit who I’ve spoken to in DM and he was happy with the results. 
What exactly have you found out about them specifically that gives you that opinion? 

[digi23]

4 hours ago, alex_mil said:

Hi, thanks for replying. I don’t want to come across as blindly defending Smile but the reason they were my initial choice is because my wife’s boss had his crown done and is very happy and plans to go back again. I have also reached out to someone on Reddit who I’ve spoken to in DM and he was happy with the results. 
What exactly have you found out about them specifically that gives you that opinion? 

Unfortunaly I think we cannot give you any advice if you already are set I am afraid. I wish you good luck and hope you get a good result.

Just a 1 minute look on their Instagram page makes me wonder how anyone can choose them really, some of the most unnatural results I have ever seen. You can find alot of info on a Facebook group called "Hair Loss Conquerors" that is doing alot of reviews on these cheaper clinics why you should not go to Smile. This site is more high-end clinics being reviewed.

Edited January 22, 2022 by digi23

[MachoVato]

4 hours ago, alex_mil said:

Hi, thanks for replying. I don’t want to come across as blindly defending Smile but the reason they were my initial choice is because my wife’s boss had his crown done and is very happy and plans to go back again. I have also reached out to someone on Reddit who I’ve spoken to in DM and he was happy with the results. 
What exactly have you found out about them specifically that gives you that opinion? 

You're asking a group of people that have seen MANY actual patient results. And a group that knows what good transplants look like. 

Smile is a budget clinic. Technicians doing the whole procedure. It's your head, your money, go where you want. But no one on this forum will recommend them.

[JDEE0]

Digi and the others have given you good advice and valuable insight.

I'll just say this, and I mean no offence, but it's clear you've only recently had the idea of undergoing a HT and really know very little about the overall subject itself. I don't think you know what makes a good surgeon/clinic, what practices to look out for and avoid, what can go wrong, how often this happens (especially with clinics such as the one you've chosen) and the resulting consequences that can become a living nightmare if this happens to you.

I would strongly suggest cooling your jets, spending a few months (at least) reading and researching on this forum, asking questions, looking at results, and overall getting to know about the intricacies of the overall process. It might just save you from making one of the worst decisions of your whole life.

[alex_mil]

4 hours ago, digi23 said:

Unfortunaly I think we cannot give you any advice if you already are set I am afraid. I wish you good luck and hope you get a good result.

Just a 1 minute look on their Instagram page makes me wonder how anyone can choose them really, some of the most unnatural results I have ever seen. You can find alot of info on a Facebook group called "Hair Loss Conquerors" that is doing alot of reviews on these cheaper clinics why you should not go to Smile. This site is more high-end clinics being reviewed.

But this is what I’m a little confused about! The clinic you went to yourself in Turkey,  Dr Yaman, his team just quoted me £2200 for 3500 grafts! And the cheapest option would be for his techs to do the whole procedure. So I’m not sure what the difference is really. 
i appreciate your input. 

[alex_mil]

1 hour ago, JDEE0 said:

Digi and the others have given you good advice and valuable insight.

I'll just say this, and I mean no offence, but it's clear you've only recently had the idea of undergoing a HT and really know very little about the overall subject itself. I don't think you know what makes a good surgeon/clinic, what practices to look out for and avoid, what can go wrong, how often this happens (especially with clinics such as the one you've chosen) and the resulting consequences that can become a living nightmare if this happens to you.

I would strongly suggest cooling your jets, spending a few months (at least) reading and researching on this forum, asking questions, looking at results, and overall getting to know about the intricacies of the overall process. It might just save you from making one of the worst decisions of your whole life.

Thank you. I think you’re right, I’m not going to rush into anything. My biggest worry is looking back at this moment in time and wishing I could go back and do it differently. Soo yeh, jet’s on cool 👍 

[digi23]

4 hours ago, alex_mil said:

But this is what I’m a little confused about! The clinic you went to yourself in Turkey,  Dr Yaman, his team just quoted me £2200 for 3500 grafts! And the cheapest option would be for his techs to do the whole procedure. So I’m not sure what the difference is really. 
i appreciate your input. 

The clinic I went to should not be the norm, I would always recommend a clinic who only do 1 patient a day thats why I told you about Dr Demirsoy and Dr Turan/Dr Gur. But it is a difference to do 3 people a day(like Dr Yaman) vs doing 10+ people a day, sometimes 20 a day. Dr Yaman does the most important step, incisions. 

If you can share any photo I can tell you if you need 3500 or not. What clinics/Drs have you consulted with? How many grafts did Smile want to do? I think Dr Yamans assessment is more realistic usually than a clinic like Smile.

Edited January 22, 2022 by digi23

[alex_mil]

5 hours ago, digi23 said:

The clinic I went to should not be the norm, I would always recommend a clinic who only do 1 patient a day thats why I told you about Dr Demirsoy and Dr Turan/Dr Gur. But it is a difference to do 3 people a day(like Dr Yaman) vs doing 10+ people a day, sometimes 20 a day. Dr Yaman does the most important step, incisions. 

If you can share any photo I can tell you if you need 3500 or not. What clinics/Drs have you consulted with? How many grafts did Smile want to do? I think Dr Yamans assessment is more realistic usually than a clinic like Smile.

Ok thanks, that makes sense. So far this is my results from consultations: 

UK Hair Transplant Clinics: 

1800 grafts (~3600 hairs) {I assume most clinics refer to hair number as grafts since every other consultation has suggested around the 3500 mark}
£6,800 FUE. Presumably doctor does incisions and transplant but not confirmed. 
*********

Smile 

3000-3500 grafts £2,250 with chosen doctor performing incisions. 
*******

Dr Yaman 

3000-3500 grafts

1st Package: DHI with Yaman Implanter for £2,140 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

2nd Package: Sapphire FUE for £1,475 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

Neither option here suggests a doctor will be doing incisions / DHI implant. 
*******

Dr Serkan Aygin

(He was mentioned in GQ article, haven’t don’t any research on him yet) 

Has not given quote yet. 
 

Some pics .. 

[JDEE0]

Nope, the others are referring to grafts, whilst the UK clinic is referring to actual hairs. A graft has an average of around 2 hairs in It, so their 1800 grafts equals 3600 hairs as they say. it's half the amount of all the other quotes basically, and is nowhere near enough for a good result for you I don't think. It's hard to say exactly as the first picture your hair doesn't look too thin in the frontal 3rd, but in the second it looks very thin. I imagine the second is a more accurate representation of the harsh reality, so I think around 3-3500 grafts is a fair quote for you. 

Honestly, Yaman is the only one on the list you should even consider, but even then I would strongly urge people to spend a bit more and pick a better option as he is pretty much the lowest you can go and still have some decent quality. Have a look at this list, you really don't need to look any further than it. My opinion is that all the doctors from (and including) Dr. Vila onwards are world class, best of the best category HT surgeons with very little difference in quality even as the price increases (which start at 2.5 EUR per graft): https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/61215-top-doctors-table-prices-technique-doctor-involvement/ 

The cheaper doctors in the list previous to Vila are also decent options too if you're really on a budget, but like I say, the others are all top tier choices out of all surgeons worldwide and I would just pick one of those, a minimum price of 2.5 EUR per graft is not that expensive. 

People like Aygin might be mentioned in GQ articles, but it doesn't matter. Hair transplants are extremely tricky as very few people really know the ins and outs of them (only really us forum dweller types), most people see a clinic featured in a popular magazine, that picks you up in a brand new Benz from the airport, puts you up in a 5 star hotel and has brand new modern facilities and assume it means they are quality. But it doesn't, trust me. The journalist who wrote whatever article you saw probably got caught up in the exact same trap himself when doing the research for his piece, and he/she also has no idea about what makes a good HT surgeon. Aygin is a bad choice. 

Actually, here's a case of a guy who went to Aygin recently and incidentally ended up to go to the same surgeon I just had my hair transplant with to get it fixed up a little. Now, it's not a terrible butcher case or anything, but it's just poor quality, and as you can see he wouldve been much better off just going to Dr. Pinto the first time around; would've saved him money in the long term, some grafts, scarring and a lot of stress/time - 2.6 Euro's per graft is extremely reasonable to begin with. 

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by JDEE0

[Melvin- Admin]

11 hours ago, alex_mil said:

Thank you. I think you’re right, I’m not going to rush into anything. My biggest worry is looking back at this moment in time and wishing I could go back and do it differently. Soo yeh, jet’s on cool 👍 

The only people who regret doing things differently are the ones who rush in to surgery and choose cheap hair mills. If you can’t afford a decent surgeon, don’t get surgery. Shaving is free.

[digi23]

2 hours ago, alex_mil said:

Ok thanks, that makes sense. So far this is my results from consultations: 

UK Hair Transplant Clinics: 

1800 grafts (~3600 hairs) {I assume most clinics refer to hair number as grafts since every other consultation has suggested around the 3500 mark}
£6,800 FUE. Presumably doctor does incisions and transplant but not confirmed. 
*********

Smile 

3000-3500 grafts £2,250 with chosen doctor performing incisions. 
*******

Dr Yaman 

3000-3500 grafts

1st Package: DHI with Yaman Implanter for £2,140 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

2nd Package: Sapphire FUE for £1,475 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

Neither option here suggests a doctor will be doing incisions / DHI implant. 
*******

Dr Serkan Aygin

(He was mentioned in GQ article, haven’t don’t any research on him yet) 

Has not given quote yet. 
 

Some pics .. 

Damn if this is true, Dr Yaman is now a hair mill officially.

@Melvin- Moderator

Edited January 22, 2022 by digi23

[Melvin- Admin]

18 minutes ago, digi23 said:

Damn Dr Yaman is now a hair mill officially.

@Melvin- Moderator

Didn’t you have surgery with him? You confirmed he was involved in the surgery. Is there something I’m not aware of? Did something change? I will need to speak to Dr. Yaman to confirm he’s not going down the tech-driven hair mill route. 

Now, I would be okay with him offering cheaper options, as long as there’s a junior doctor performing the incisions and supervision. But if it’s all technicians, that’s not acceptable.

[digi23]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Didn’t you have surgery with him? You confirmed he was involved in the surgery. Is there something I’m not aware of? Did something change?

See above what the guy wrote, now no Dr involvement and another change in price.

Edited January 22, 2022 by digi23

[Melvin- Admin]

Just now, digi23 said:

See above what the guy wrote, now no Dr involvement and another change in price, I will probably delete my review I guess, I was one of the last ones to get the Dr involved and everything it seems.

Well, there’s no need to delete your review. I need to confirm with Dr. Yaman, that there is a doctor involved in cheaper options. Maybe it’s a junior doctor. That would be okay, but if it’s all technicians that wouldn’t be acceptable. I will confirm and report back to the forum.

[alex_mil]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Didn’t you have surgery with him? You confirmed he was involved in the surgery. Is there something I’m not aware of? Did something change? I will need to speak to Dr. Yaman to confirm he’s not going down the tech-driven hair mill route. 

Now, I would be okay with him offering cheaper options, as long as there’s a junior doctor performing the incisions and supervision. But if it’s all technicians, that’s not acceptable.

Edit - sorry - Dr Yamans offer did actually state that he would be doing the incision step in FUE. DHI seems to be techs all the way. Apologies. 

[alex_mil]

1 hour ago, digi23 said:

See above what the guy wrote, now no Dr involvement and another change in price, I will probably delete my review I guess, I was one of the last ones to get the Dr involved and everything it seems.

Hi, I’ve made a mistake, the FUE offer from Yaman did include him doing the incisions, that bit was buried in another paragraph. Apologies. The DHI option did not appear to have him involved. May as well read the offer in full: 

Hello,

After carefully examining and considering all photos and information mentioned at your messages, Dr. Resul Yaman recommends for your operation about 3000-3500 grafts. Your donor area looks good. When you get this operation done your frontal hairline will be recreated with single grafts to receive a natural look and we will reach healthy density on frontal area. Dr Yaman recommends also to begin to use Propecia or Finasteride minumum 15 day before the operation. If you don't want to use Finasteride or Propecia, in Turkey there is a mixture multivitamines in pharmacies, you can use a multivitamine after the operation.

If you go ahead with Dr.Yaman you should arrive to Istanbul 1 day before your operation day. Once you arrive, you are picked up from the airport to clinic for your blood tests and consulatation with Dr. Yaman. After your consultation, we apply PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma ) to implantation area. 
PRP helps us for 3 important areas in hair transplantation procedure:
1.Keeping hair roots removed alive longer without any damage.
2.Faster recovery of hair follicles placed and to provide lesser loss
3.To stimulate and boost thin and weak hair follicles. 

About charges:
We offer 2 different promotional packages to our patients: 

1st Package: DHI with Yaman Implanter for 2900$ including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor
* Blood analysis and PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma)
* DHI Operation
* Post operative control and cure
* Post operative medicines
* Special shampoo and lotion for the first 10 washing
* First washing by a specialist
* 3 nights 5* hotel (double room-breakfast inc.)
* Transfers (airport-hotel-clinic-airport) 

2nd Package: Sapphire FUE for 2000$ including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor
* Blood analysis and PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma)
* Operation
* Post operative control and cure
* Post operative medicines
* Special shampoo and lotion for the first 10 washing
* First washing by a specialist
* 3 nights 5* hotel (double room-breakfast inc.)
* Transfers (airport-hotel-clinic-airport)

In the operation there are 3 major steps of the surgery which are incisions step, extraction step and implantation step. Incision step is the first step of the operation and it's performed with sapphiere blade by Dr. Yaman. I also confirm that your consultation, hair analysis, hairline design, local anesthesia and incision steps are completed by Dr. Yaman himself too. 
Extraction is performed with low speed modified micro motor by our extraction experts that have been trained by Dr. Yaman himself personally. They perform only extraction step of the operation. 
Implantation is performed in 2 different ways considering the package you choose. 

If you choose DHI with Yaman implanter; implantation is perfomed by the implantation team with Yaman Implanter. Dr. Yaman worked on developing Yaman Implanter for 5 years and 2 years ago he took its patent. Since than we have been using Yaman Implanter for implantation step. Our implantation team members have been educated and trained personally by Dr. Yaman himself only to use Yaman Implanter. 

If you choose Sapphire FUE; implantation step is performed by Dr. Yaman’s experienced implantation team carefully with FUE technique. 

All operations are completed under watch of Dr. Yaman himself. Here you can reach a video of operational steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjQOXKa8wY&t=7s

Your bandage for one night is applied at the end of the  procedure and your file is given including recommendations and things to care for to have comfortable night. Your drugs are prescribed to use for 5 days. You may comfortably return to your work or home after the operation. 

You should visit our clinic on the next day or 2nd day and your hair should be washed by our nurses. Special lotions and shampoos are used during this washing procedure and you are recommended to wash your hair as instructed for 15 days. 

Our priority in our clinic is to meet your expectations completely and to provide the most qualified service by keeping your comfort on top level.
If you have any question I'll be glad to respond them. We're at your service. 

Best Regards,
Doga oksuzoglu

[digi23]

6 minutes ago, alex_mil said:

Hi, I’ve made a mistake, the FUE offer from Yaman did include him doing the incisions, that bit was buried in another paragraph. Apologies. The DHI option did not appear to have him involved. May as well read the offer in full: 

Hello,

After carefully examining and considering all photos and information mentioned at your messages, Dr. Resul Yaman recommends for your operation about 3000-3500 grafts. Your donor area looks good. When you get this operation done your frontal hairline will be recreated with single grafts to receive a natural look and we will reach healthy density on frontal area. Dr Yaman recommends also to begin to use Propecia or Finasteride minumum 15 day before the operation. If you don't want to use Finasteride or Propecia, in Turkey there is a mixture multivitamines in pharmacies, you can use a multivitamine after the operation.

If you go ahead with Dr.Yaman you should arrive to Istanbul 1 day before your operation day. Once you arrive, you are picked up from the airport to clinic for your blood tests and consulatation with Dr. Yaman. After your consultation, we apply PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma ) to implantation area. 
PRP helps us for 3 important areas in hair transplantation procedure:
1.Keeping hair roots removed alive longer without any damage.
2.Faster recovery of hair follicles placed and to provide lesser loss
3.To stimulate and boost thin and weak hair follicles. 

About charges:
We offer 2 different promotional packages to our patients: 

1st Package: DHI with Yaman Implanter for 2900$ including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor
* Blood analysis and PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma)
* DHI Operation
* Post operative control and cure
* Post operative medicines
* Special shampoo and lotion for the first 10 washing
* First washing by a specialist
* 3 nights 5* hotel (double room-breakfast inc.)
* Transfers (airport-hotel-clinic-airport) 

2nd Package: Sapphire FUE for 2000$ including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor
* Blood analysis and PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma)
* Operation
* Post operative control and cure
* Post operative medicines
* Special shampoo and lotion for the first 10 washing
* First washing by a specialist
* 3 nights 5* hotel (double room-breakfast inc.)
* Transfers (airport-hotel-clinic-airport)

In the operation there are 3 major steps of the surgery which are incisions step, extraction step and implantation step. Incision step is the first step of the operation and it's performed with sapphiere blade by Dr. Yaman. I also confirm that your consultation, hair analysis, hairline design, local anesthesia and incision steps are completed by Dr. Yaman himself too. 
Extraction is performed with low speed modified micro motor by our extraction experts that have been trained by Dr. Yaman himself personally. They perform only extraction step of the operation. 
Implantation is performed in 2 different ways considering the package you choose. 

If you choose DHI with Yaman implanter; implantation is perfomed by the implantation team with Yaman Implanter. Dr. Yaman worked on developing Yaman Implanter for 5 years and 2 years ago he took its patent. Since than we have been using Yaman Implanter for implantation step. Our implantation team members have been educated and trained personally by Dr. Yaman himself only to use Yaman Implanter. 

If you choose Sapphire FUE; implantation step is performed by Dr. Yaman’s experienced implantation team carefully with FUE technique. 

All operations are completed under watch of Dr. Yaman himself. Here you can reach a video of operational steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjQOXKa8wY&t=7s

Your bandage for one night is applied at the end of the  procedure and your file is given including recommendations and things to care for to have comfortable night. Your drugs are prescribed to use for 5 days. You may comfortably return to your work or home after the operation. 

You should visit our clinic on the next day or 2nd day and your hair should be washed by our nurses. Special lotions and shampoos are used during this washing procedure and you are recommended to wash your hair as instructed for 15 days. 

Our priority in our clinic is to meet your expectations completely and to provide the most qualified service by keeping your comfort on top level.
If you have any question I'll be glad to respond them. We're at your service. 

Best Regards,
Doga oksuzoglu

You wrote this before:

1st Package: DHI with Yaman Implanter for £2,140 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

2nd Package: Sapphire FUE for £1,475 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

What you are saying now is very different with pricing aswell.

Edited January 22, 2022 by digi23

[alex_mil]

14 minutes ago, digi23 said:

You wrote this before:

1st Package: DHI with Yaman Implanter for £2,140 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

2nd Package: Sapphire FUE for £1,475 including;
* Pre and post consultations with doctor

What you are saying now is very different with pricing aswell.

Quotes have been in € and $  so I converted them to GBP. 
apologies for the mis-quote about Yaman.