Save $30,000 on Dental Costs in Costa Rica

I saved $30,000 on my new choppers.

International Living Postcards--your daily escape

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
San José, Costa Rica

"Crowns for 18 teeth, attach a permanent bridge, sculpt the gums, and fill the cavities." Fifty-three years of avoiding the dentist and not flossing or brushing properly had finally caught up with me.

"How much?"

"$30,000." And that was for 18 teeth. What about the other 10 remaining lost souls? Like many, I have no dental insurance. I'm not so richly endowed as to be able to reach into my cookie jar and pull out this size of a wad. Sell my house? Take on a night job? Make payments until I'm 200?

Costa Rica gets big kudos for its health care system. My research turned up a group of Costa Rican dentists that focus on servicing multinational clients, speak fluent English--many of them have been trained in the U.S. and regularly submit to advanced continuing education stateside and beyond--and the products the group uses are FDA approved.

A full diagnosis can't be made until the dentist has examined your mouth. Until this happens, you can't estimate the impact on your wallet. I got my dental records (digital picture-files and X rays) from my dentist back home and e-mailed them to the Costa Rican dentists I had selected. From those, they were able to give me an idea of the costs involved: $13,000 with metal; $15,000 with gold. It was such a compelling savings that I went for it.

The work I had done in 14 days in Costa Rica with Prisma Cosmetics (contact details below) I'm speculating would have taken months--maybe even a year--at my local dentistry. But here, it took three days of repair and prep time and 10 days of downtime to create the new teeth and allow the gums to heal, a day for the crowns to cement, and a day on each side for flights--a total of 16 days for the entire procedure.

During the downtime I discovered Costa Rica's natural beauty; palm trees, pristine beaches, colorful birds, and smoking volcanoes. Although my command of the Spanish language is limited, I experienced no real problems communicating, and I traveled for miles on my own.

Had I gone with a top-shelf Utah dentist and a full-mouth restoration--28 teeth--with eight root canals (this is what I got in Costa Rica), I'd have confronted a bill of about $45,000, plus the cost of a mouth guard to be worn at night. Here's how my bill came together in Costa Rica:

Root canals: $250 each
Posts: $190 each
Gingivoplasty: $350 for each (upper and lower)
Crowns: $250 each
Mouth guard: $350

My total cost of the procedure was $13,000. Add another $2,000 for lodging, food, and fun. With a savings of $30,000, this seems like a win to me. Am I having any problems? None as of this writing. Am I happy? Yes. In my view, my mouth looks pretty snappy. I'm healthier than when I started this adventure. I can now drink a triple-chocolate malt without going through the rafters and bite on a piece of grisly steak without jolts of pain shooting through my head.

John Barrett
For International Living

Editor's note: Costa Rica is one of the most popular destinations for foreigners looking to retire, invest, and find a better quality of life. To find out what this fascinating country can do for you, sign up for our new free Costa Rica First Alert service.