Dentistry and optometry are two areas where Accra offers genuinely good care at prices well below what the same work costs in Europe or North America. Enough so that some diaspora visitors schedule their dentistry around trips home.

Dentists

Where they are. Private dental practices are concentrated in Osu, Labone, East Legon, Airport Residential, Dzorwulu and Cantonments, with more spread across the city. Korle Bu has a dental school and clinic, which handles complex and surgical work and trains most of the country’s dentists. 37 Military and the larger private hospitals have dental units.

What NHIS covers. Basic dental care — pain relief, extractions, simple treatment — at accredited facilities. It does not cover cosmetic work, orthodontics or implants.

What it costs privately. A scale and polish, a filling or an extraction are all modest by international standards. Crowns, root canals, orthodontics and implants cost meaningfully more but still typically well below UK or US private pricing.

Choosing one:

  • Check registration with the Medical and Dental Council
  • Ask what sterilisation protocol they use, and look at whether the surgery looks and smells clean
  • Ask for a written treatment plan with costs before starting anything multi-stage
  • Ask what happens if something fails — guarantees on crowns and fillings vary

Get a check-up when you arrive, not when it hurts

Dental emergencies in an unfamiliar city are miserable and expensive. A check-up in your first month establishes a relationship and a baseline, and costs very little.

Opticians and eye care

Where. Optical shops across Accra, with clusters in Osu, Accra Central, the malls and East Legon. Korle Bu has an eye centre; the Ghana Eye Foundation and other NGOs run services including outreach.

What NHIS covers. Eye care within defined limits at accredited facilities, including consultation and some treatment. Frames and lenses are largely not covered.

Eye tests are inexpensive and often free with a purchase of glasses — which is a sales model, not a clinical one, so if you want a proper ophthalmological assessment ask for that specifically.

Glasses are good value. Frames span the full range; lenses are competitive. Turnaround is usually days.

Contact lenses are available; solutions less consistently, so if you wear lenses bring a supply and find a reliable source early.

The sun, and your eyes

Ghana sits close to the equator and the sun is strong year round, including under harmattan haze.

  • Wear real sunglasses with UV protection, not fashion lenses. Cheap dark lenses without UV filtering are worse than none, because your pupils dilate behind them.
  • Harmattan is hard on eyes. From roughly December to February the dust irritates, and dry eye is common. Artificial tears help, and are sold in any pharmacy. — Weather and seasons
  • Cataract is a leading cause of blindness in Ghana, and surgery is available and effective. It is worth an older relative having their eyes checked.

Serious eye conditions

Glaucoma is disproportionately common in West African populations, often develops without symptoms until sight is already lost, and runs in families.

If you are of West African descent, particularly over 40 or with a family history, get your intraocular pressure checked. It is quick, it is cheap, and it is the single most useful sentence in this guide.

Korle Bu’s eye centre and the private ophthalmologists in Accra all offer it.

Finding a doctor Specialists in Accra NHIS and health insurance