Hello All
I have not written in my blog for the last several weeks due to the fact that I have been in Costa Rica attending the “Global Latin American International Medical Travel Conference”
I had the opportunity to sit in on numerous presentations from a varied array of speakers that discussed everything from statistics on the health of Costa Rican citizens to the advantages of travel to obtain expensive medical treatment.
The Costa Rican government heavily sponsored the conference and is actively promoting travel for medical and dental services in Costa Rica. This was evidenced by the fact that the Costa Rican Vice President and several cabinet members were in attendance and were spending a great deal of time discussing opportunities with people like me.
I will be discussing in a series of blogs the experiences I had there and what I think the possibilities are for the future of medical travel as it pertains to American citizens.
Since I was going to Costa Rica for the conference and since I needed some dental work done I began to study the Costa Rica dental business and its ability to provide me what I needed. I will admit I was a neophyte when I began to look at the risk and rewards of having dental work done in Costa Rica. Everything I read was positive about the training and expertise of the Costa Rica dentists in general. Many of the dentists received their training in the US and all that I looked into used modern up to date equipment and techniques.
I did searches through the Internet and talked to several medical travel facilitators in order to narrow the list of dentists down to about 5. I then sent emails to all of them explaining that I had been told I needed 1 implant and that I would probably need another one soon. I also was interested in veneers as my front teeth were chipped and the enamel was worn down in spots. I received numerous replies with price quotes from all. The prices for implants including the crown ran from $760 to $1,600 compared to $4500 to $5300 in the Twin Cities.
The dentist I chose to do my work was Marcos Munoz. He and his father had done over 17,000 implant as oppose to the dentist that I consulted with in Minnesota that had done 1200. In addition he was able to do single stage implants in addition to 2 stage implants. This means that I did not need to go back to have a crown mounted after a healing period.
When I arrived the dental office had sent a driver to pick me up and drive me to my hotel.
The next day the driver picked me up and drove me to the dental clinic at 9am. I signed in filled out an array of paperwork and got my x-rays taken within the first 2 hours. I then waited for 4 hours to see the dentist. I must admit I was quite upset about the waiting time.
After complaining I was ushered into the dentist’s office for a consult. We reviewed my x-rays and he examined my mouth. He suggested the 2 implants I knew I needed and he indicated that the single stage implant would work. In addition he said that I should have 6 veneers on the top and two other crowns. I had not counted on the 2 other crowns. I had thought that veneers on 6 of my bottom teeth would work well but he said I have a cross bite and the only way to permanently fix that was to extract two teeth and put in another implant and two crowns. I decided to pass on the additional implant and crown. He said eventually I will need that done but he could temporarily fix it by grinding a couple of teeth and whitening the lower teeth. In addition I opted for Zirconium Crowns (no metal and stronger than metal) and pressed porcelain veneers. The implants were Titanium.
I went to lunch and returned at my appointment time of 2:30pm. I spent the next 3 hours waiting for treatment to begin. Once Dr Munoz began it was non-stop until 8:30pm. I had just spent 11 ½ hours in the dentist office.
The next day I returned for a sizing appointment at 9am and was not seen until 10:30am.
I returned on Monday at 4pm for another sizing appointment and to repair the temporaries I received and I was not seen until 7pm.
Throughout the entire experience the waiting rooms were crowded with more people than there were available chairs. All of the patients were from the US, Canada and Europe and most were people over the age of 55. I spoke with numerous people who were repeat patients and all spoke very highly of Dr’s Munoz. I did not meet one person who was not happy with the work they had done. And I can say I was very happy with the end result as well.
The last day of treatment for me was on Thursday. I arrived a 9am and had my veneers mounted. This was finished by 11am. I was told to return at 2pm to have my teeth whitened and my crowns installed. I got in immediately and my treatment was complete by 5pm. They then took the final x-rays and reviewed everything with me.
I had a long conversation with the clinic owners about the main issue I had with their facility which is the wait times. They are in the process of building a hotel that is attached to the clinic and they feel that will help with the waiting issue as people can stay in their rooms or by the pool until they are called down for their appointment. I told him he needs to hire a couple more dentists and not book appointments if they can’t keep the wait times reasonable. Be that as it may the work is superior and the prices are low.
Here is a comparison of prices for the work I had done..
| Procedure | Minnesota | Costa Rica |
| Titanium implant | $3,000 | $500 |
| Abutment | $900 | Included above |
| Digital X-rays | Not available at my Dentist | $50 |
| Full Mouth X-rays | $130 | 0 |
| Ceramic Crowns | Not available at my Dentist | $400 |
| Porcelain Crown | $1,187 | $285 |
| Pressed Porcelain Veneer | $1,024 | $360 |
| Temporaries | Included | $50 |
| Whitening | $670 | $200 |
Total costs for 6 veneers,4 crowns, 2 implants, whitening, 2 sets of full mouth x-rays and temps:
- My Minnesota dentist $ 19,622 (using inferior porcelain crowns and no digital x-ray equipment)
- My Costa Rica dentist $4,960
This is a $14,700 savings.
In my next episode I will address other dental clinics that I visited.
Dave Wiest
President
EMEX Benefit Systems
www.emexbenefits.com
881 Meander Court
Medina, MN 55340
Phone: 763-478-9050
.
Toll Free 877-478-EMEX (3639)
Fax: 763-478-9014
Cel: 952-239-7374
W7602 Wallin Drive
Minong, WI 54859
715-466-4105
