[el mechanico]

I'm replanning a long weekend trip to Colombia or ??? Im thinking about having some Dental work done while i'm there.

Any tips?

[Lumiere]

Yeah I had laser whitening done in Medellin by a good guy.

Local guy but speaks English and did his dentistry studies in New York.

Laser whitening was about $100 even though all the equipment was brand new and his surgery was spotless.

[el mechanico]

(08-02-2011 11:19 AM)Lumiere Wrote:  

Yeah I had laser whitening done in Medellin by a good guy.

Local guy but speaks English and did his dentistry studies in New York.

Laser whitening was about $100 even though all the equipment was brand new and his surgery was spotless.

Whats his name?

[defguy]

Im gonna do mine in Mexico to save myself $300. I have to get a crown which costs $750+ and thats about market price. In mexico its about $200 but I have to factor in transportation.

Check out THIS website for reviews of different dentists.

[el mechanico]

(08-02-2011 03:29 PM)defguy Wrote:  

Im gonna do mine in Mexico to save myself $300. I have to get a crown which costs $750+ and thats about market price. In mexico its about $200 but I have to factor in transportation.

Check out THIS website for reviews of different dentists.

Thanks defguy, when are you going to MEX? I may be down for a trip.

[defguy]

Still working on it. It will cost more for the transport than the actual dental work so Im working out the best method. Im thinking greyhound transpo since I dont trust my car to drive that far lol

[oldnemesis]

(08-02-2011 03:29 PM)defguy Wrote:  

Im gonna do mine in Mexico to save myself $300. I have to get a crown which costs $750+ and thats about market price. In mexico its about $200 but I have to factor in transportation.

What about quality? Thing is, cost of materials is a significant part of your dental bill, so they have the reason to use lower quality materials to save. And this is something most people cannot even estimate.

[defguy]

I live near the border so my experience has been that products in Mexico are just as good if not better than products here in the US. Sure you might get screwed over if you go to a hole in the wall or buy pharmacy drugs from a pharmacy where a prescription is not needed (there are 2 types of pharmacies in Mexico) but most quality is legit. I mean just look at something simple like Coca Cola in the US vs Coca Cola in Mexico.

Personally I would be more worried about whether or not the dentist or doctor you go to is accredited and the quality of HIS work. Materials are cheap, the work and labor is whats expensive. And for those of you that still think the US is still the best in the world at health care take a look at Ranking of World Healthcare. And the US fell from grace not because we are not socialized but because of how many people die in our hospitals every year due to over treatment and people staying in hospitals much longer than they need to (hospitals aren't sanitary they are FULL of sick people). Check THIS out if your not yet a believer.

[el mechanico]

I was reading a thread here about Jamiacans being crazy about teeth and I like black chicks so that may be the place?

[Gunner]

Good Dentists in MX are really good but bad ones are hell, lot of gringos go to MX for dental tourism and LASIK.

[Brian]

i actually heard of a family friend going to Costa Rica and having work done much cheaper, said the dentist was as good as any he'd been to in the US and the equipment was top notch

[defguy]

Costa Rica has awesome healthcare! They beat the US by 1 place on the World Heath Organizations rankings I posted above.

[Sardino]

What's up with everyone in Medellin having colored braces? I never could figure that one out while I was there.

[OSL]

Medical tourism, what a great opportunity. A friend of mine in Mexico is looking at setting something up with Colombia, which apparently is becoming a hub for plastic surgery.

Thailand, Singapore, and S. Korea are popular destinations in Asia.

I wonder if there is a biz opp here?

[ElJefe]

Got a molar surgically removed (had to drill, break it in two, and tug it out) for $80 in Nicaragua. Wasn't too bad.

[DVY]

IMO, the level of care is on a whole better in the US than mexico. How much depends on the dentist. Personally have seen horrible dental work that was done in Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala that all had to be replaced in <5 years. But it really depends on the dentist.

[DVY]

The bigger issue is that you CANNOT generalize. Dentistry is a hand-profession, there is a large variability in skill and aptitude. The liability in the USA scares incompetent dentists from performing shitty work. 3rd world countries-????

[Sherman]

I recently had a root canal and a crown in Mexico. One dentist did the root canal and the other the crown. It was about $250 for each so it came out to about $500. They both had modern equipment and the dentists were good.

There are some things I like about Mexican healthcare. One is that when you have lab reports you go to the lab yourself and bring the reports to the doctor. After the consultation the doctor gives you the reports to keep. I have my own reports and ultrasounds stored at my home. They are mine to keep. In America, you just see the bills. The battery of blood tests have been really useful to look at for my diet. Also, I like being able to walk into a pharmacy and buy Viagra without a prescription. Also, Mexico has a pharmacy chain called “Farmacia Similares” which has a resident doctor, so you can always get a prescription for anything for about 5 dollars.

[bacon]

ive had dental work in mexico its maybe 15% of the cost than in the US. i had my teeth cleaned a month ago i paid $17. best of all no waiting time