I need to get twelve crowns redone that I had for a smile makeover. I noticed I can get all twelve of them done for $6000 if I travel to Costa Rica. Is it possible to get close to that price in the United States?
Drew
Dear Drew,
I am glad you wrote because you did something that could ruin your life. Here’s the deal with dental tourism. Sometimes it works and you save some money. However, in many cases, you end up with some serious problems.
Here are just some of things I have seen go wrong from people who have traveled to Central America for their dental care:
- Their teeth became hypersensitive and hurt constantly.
- Their crowns looked very pasty and fake.
- The dentist used material that they were allergic too.
- The porcelain in their crowns just started to chip away after they got home.
- Their crowns fell off.
- They ended up with a nasty infection. With one of those, it cost them part of their jaw.
- They ended up needing a root canal treatment.
- Their tooth broke off under the crown.
- They ended up with TMJ Disorder because the crowns threw off their bite.
- They lost the tooth that was crowned.
- The crowns were placed in a way the negatively impacted their speech.
Sadly, this is not an exhaustive list. But, that is not the worst part. The worst part is that you have zero recourse. In most of those countries, there is little to no regulations that require the dentist to do any of the things that are required in the United States, including simple things like sanitizing their tools after each patient. Otherwise, it is completely up to the dentist. Many of those countries also have a corrupt government. One patient I know of made on online complaint about the dentist when she went to see another dentist who told her the work was criminally negligent. As a result, their government put out a warrant for HER arrest. She had to flee the country. Apparently, it is a felony in that country to speak against the reputation of a Costa Rican Citizen unless they have been convicted of what you’re saying about them.
As for getting care in the U.S. for a comparable cost, it is possible, but I would have serious questions about why that dentist is so much under the standard fee. It could be because they are new and trying to draw in new patients. That is not necessarily a bad thing. We all start somewhere. It could also be because they are terrible at their job and they have to keep drawing in new patients because they can’t keep their old ones.
I am a bit curious as to why the dentist who did your smile makeover used dental crowns. The standard for that is porcelain veneers because it does not require grinding down your teeth.
This blog is brought to you by Duluth, GA Dentist Dr. David Marion.