This was a story posted that we found about one persons dental tourism experience in Costa Rica. We enjoy sharing them when we find them. It was written anonymously in reply to a bloggers question regarding seeking treatment in Costa Rica.
I got some dental work done in CR in June, and I have plans to go back for more. If you are looking for a dentist that caters to tourists (they speak English and many are American educated) a root canal will cost you about $300 (I think) and a crown is about $550. Keep in mind the $550 crown is the top quality one that I can’t afford in the states. I used Dr Mario Garita. I didn’t get a root canal, so I’m trying to remember the price, or maybe I didn’t get that quoted? Don’t take my word for it, but my extraction was $30, my cleaning and xrays was $50 and my crown was $550. It’s a first class operation. I’m going back to get my old crowns replaced with the good crowns and get veneers on the fronts. I highly recommend them.
The crown fee is about 1/3 the price of many US dentists, the extraction about 1/5 the price. So why not dental vacation to Costa Rica?
Dental Vacation Reviews
One of the necessities for any dental vacation are your x-rays. The language of x-rays is universal. Dentists around the world are taught how to read dental x-rays. The reading is not in a language but in the nuances of the picture. Being able to tell which gray areas on the x-ray are healthy and which are possible dental decay or abcess is what each dental student learns on their progression towards becoming a doctor.
As such they are easily transfered between dentists and do not need a written translation. Thus no matter if you are a dentist in the US or Thailand you will be able to diagnose from a x-ray put in front of you. Since most x-rays are now in a digital format they can easlily be sent to any computer around the world.
The dentist you choose in another country will be able to give you a recommendation of treatment from those x-rays and from that a price quote. One thing to keep in mind though is that x-rays are only one diagnostic tool for dentists to use. It is also important for dentists to do a visual exam to get a more complete picture of ones’ dental health. But having those x-rays is an important first step for you experince in dental tourism.
Dental Vacation Reviews