Are there a trusted organizations for arranging Dental Tourism from the US?

[-]

rharper38@reddit

I have seen where people had implants put in and they implanted them into their gums, not the actual bone. The implants fell out and there was nothing that could be done because it was overseas.

Talk to your regular dentist. Explain what is going on and see if they can come up with a better treatment plan. Mine did the grouping with my first makeover and I had to pay $7000, but that was OK. I need more work now and I am going to be honest. We have to make my dental dollars work hard.

The other option is a dental school. It takes a while, but it's done right.

[-]

Sullacuda@reddit

We had a dental emergency recently and my spouse went to the dental school walk in urgent clinic at our cities largest university, and they were fantastic. Like insanely skilled, with an attending, resident and three students all providing care.

In fact it was so good we’ve started the very long process of getting accepted as new patients. We had several coverage, but the experience at the dental school was better than any we’ve had at a private practice.

[-]

MountainCry9194@reddit

I had a very expensive care plan that was more than I could deal with from my dentist. I was considering going to Mexico to get the work done, but I’ve been accepted by the local dental college. The process hasn’t been real fast at first, but the work is great and the cost is minimal, they’re also billing my insurance. The only down side is the appointments take longer than the normal dentist because they are very comprehensive and everything is checked by the attending professor.

[-]

gunterrae@reddit

I am in the process of being referred to the local dental school. My dentist told me that they basically bill my insurance, take whatever insurance pays, then charge me for materials.

[-]

MountainCry9194@reddit

For me it’s been very reasonable so far. A full set of x rays was about $70. A cleaning was $60. A gold crown and root canal is $400. I’ll know what a cavity and 4 silver filling replacements costs on Friday, but I don’t think it will be too bad.

[-]

gunterrae@reddit

Yeah, my dentist wanted to charge me $1300 for a root canal and crown, and there’s just no way.

[-]

Public-Quarter-2753@reddit

I paid $1800.00 for a root canal in Atlanta. Credit carded it. Needed another and had it pulled. Can’t do in US.

[-]

beaushaw@reddit

I must be getting tired. I thought you were recommending OP go to dental school to learn how to do it themselves.

[-]

Aggravating_Lunch888@reddit

😆 me too at first

[-]

Some-Attitude8183@reddit

This! A friend at work just had one implant put in - the initial step where they put the implant in the bone. She said it’ll take a couple of months for that to and become imbedded into the bone before they can put the tooth on it. I presume that’s pretty standard.

[-]

Nisi-Marie@reddit

I had my orthodontia done at the UCSF school when I was a teen and my parents were young and poor.

Included having to do several extractions and some pretty hard-core stuff. I can’t tell you how much they saved by going there, but the service was great.

[-]

pegasus7x77@reddit

Had 6 veneers done in vietnam after thoroughly research like 5-7 clinics. Ended up with Picasso dental in Hanoi and I couldn't be happier.

https://smilejet.app/ was very helpful

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

Thank you

[-]

VelvetElvis@reddit

Dentures.

[-]

Parking_Pomelo_3856@reddit

I think the NY Times did a piece on Los Algadones. It’s right across the border from Yuma Arizona. If I remember correctly a full set of implants including travel was about $18,000. Just don’t try doing this on your own. You’ll need someone to help you recover.

[-]

lrondberg@reddit

I know people with a lot of dental needs who travel there for care and are very happy with it

[-]

Working-Active@reddit

My wife just had dental implants, as she always has had really bad teeth and it took well over a year for the entire process. There's a lot of time with healing involved, but the results were worth it and she's very happy. We're living in Barcelona, Spain and the entire process was about 22,000€ with the dental implants being the most expensive part.

[-]

EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit

If a dentist creates a treatment plan of a single solution - Full Implants - then they might be trying to make a sale. Options like 4-8 implants and bridges between should be considered.

Also remember whatever option you choose your payments will be made as the treatment progresses. You won’t be making a one time payment. You’ll make them with each appt. Any dentist can outline the plan and group together treatment plans. My ex returned from the dentist saying he’ll simply have them all pulled instead of treatment. Because the estimate was $22k. I showed him how we can maximize the $1000 coverage annually to reduce the overall cost. Then the dentist grouped the services so the out of pocket annually came to $3500 annually.

Care credit can be used and often have interest free loans when paid off in a specific time frame with affordable payments.

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

I’m quite sure he was making a sale. But at the same time, he wasn’t wrong. My primary dentist, whom I trust, flatly agreed that a full mouth implants would be the most effective treatment but would likely be unaffordable to me.

[-]

Outrageous_Drag6613@reddit

Can they do dentures or bridges and less implants?

[-]

Witty-Damfino@reddit

I worked for a dentist who did full mouth implant dentures which is what it sounds like you may be talking about (but I’m confused what they are offering that would only take a few weeks to have you to 100%ish). In general, this is the typical timeline (but it may be slightly different, I haven’t been in the field for a few years)- 1. Get extractions and bone grafts. At this time, they usually made a set of basic, old-school temporary dentures. So you would pay your portion just for those services. Then you have 3-6 months healing time for the bone to heal.

Place implants. Again followed by about 6 months of healing.
Then have implants created/installed.

So, you’re looking at least 12 months total, which if timed correctly you could have 2 years of insurance coverage to work with plus time to save up your co-pay in between the steps.

If they are prescribing something else entirely, then disregard! :)

[-]

EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit

A friend had an accident at 26 when rock-hopping and fractured his chin. He was not diagnosed with the fracture, only received stitches. FF to age 52 and his front lower jaw basically rotted away. A man with perfect teeth! Because there was a fracture the bone eventually wore away on the lower 4 teeth. He had 2 implants but it took 4 years to finish because he needed multiple bone grafts to fix the hole in his jaw. He missed key years of dental care when this was happening because he quit working after a divorce and didn’t take care of himself for 5 years.

[-]

tealccart@reddit

Best wishes to your friend, sounds like a tough shake

[-]

Witty-Damfino@reddit

Exactly! When I was a treatment coordinator, this was how I would make it easier to manage for patients. It’s a real disservice for offices to just make it sound like you have to write a $22k check right off the bat!

Also, some employer insurance plans have options to pay a bit more for an expanded plan. We did it the year my daughter was going to have a lot of expensive dental work and it helped a bit.

[-]

AntiqueCandidate7995@reddit

Go here: https://www.mhtc.org.my/

I lived in Malaysia for many years and the health care there is AMAZING. The dentistry I had done there is better than any I've had done here. The exchange rate is also amazing and the Malaysian gubment runs this whole program very seriously.

[-]

Outrageous_Drag6613@reddit

I’d love to live there as an expat

[-]

Left_Oliver@reddit

Yo& is wild bro, gotta find that affordable option fr

[-]

Individual_Lime_110@reddit

Check out smilejet.app

they helped my wife getting full set a veneers + several implants for me. super quick and efficient.

[-]

BohemiaDrinker@reddit

I'm Brazilian and have seen a lot of gringos come here for dental and other health stuff. You can find some on YouTube, I believe, telling their experiences. I don't know how stuff it would be, though, with plane tickets and hotels and such.

[-]

purpleskyblues@reddit

A friend did the costa rica option and was thrilled. She organized on her own with a dentist there and didnt use a 3rd party

[-]

iamcrazy4cats@reddit

My oldest sister also went to Costa Rica multiple times for dental work. Cheaper than dental work in Manhattan, for sure!

[-]

DrZeus104@reddit

I got 2 implants in the states. The process took well over 18months. Tooth removal, bone graft, few months healing time and time for graft to harden. Then post implant, more healing time. Then to regular dentist for artificial tooth mold. Wait for new tooth to be made and finally new tooth put on post. It cost about $8k a tooth. $60k for a whole mouth sounds cheap in the US. I’m guessing if you go to Mexico, it will be more than just one trip. Still cheaper.

[-]

tealccart@reddit

Same experience here with two implants. Though $60k aligns with my research for whole mouth and I think it’s because they don’t do a post per tooth, what I looked up said they’re be 4 posts in the mouth total.

[-]

worstpartyever@reddit

I literally Googled Dental Tourism and found this: https://dentaltourismassociation.com/

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

Anybody can create a website and populate it with fake reviews. I’m hoping for personal experiences

[-]

FiddleStrum@reddit

Proper implants that last take several visits over many, many months. While medical tourism is probably cheaper, it is not one and done. I also would not go to a specialist who says they can give you a mouthful of implants in weeks.

[-]

-Granby-@reddit

Turkey would be a good choice. I'm sure you can find info pretty easily.

[-]

katclimber@reddit

Turkiye is definitely capitalizing on medical tourism. My brother in law got dental caps there recently for a fraction of the price. However, the price of a flight to Turkiye has become astronomical (in the summer at least - my family of three is staring at a price of $5300 for three of us, economy basic, in June-July. Wait until Winter!)

[-]

randomquote4u@reddit

Search: Antalya, Turkey -- everyone from western europe goes there.

[-]

erus@reddit

Hi. Mexican living in Mexico here (in a state that borders with the US).

It is rather common to see people from the US come here for medical treatment of all kinds.

From my perspective, practices in border cities will in most cases speak English and be used to get patients from across the border (they might even specifically try to focus their marketing on foreigners). As you get away from the border English fluency decreases and they are less used to have patients coming from other countries.

Most places will accept credit card, and will not refuse cash (either in pesos or dollars) because that makes taxes less painful, if you know what I mean.

Will you pay a higher fee? Maybe, but still much much cheaper than in the US. Will it be quality work? In most cases, yes. If you go to a professional you will most likely get pretty much the same you would get in the US. There are of course places that are technically legal but where I would not get any procedure done (and would not recommend to any friends or family).

I would focus on options in the bigger cities in the northern states, GDL and CDMX are good options, too. Practices located in the big private hospitals Some people go to beach destinations to get all sorts of surgery, that sounds weird to me but some places specialize in that...

In Mexico we have a registry for all regulated professions. You can check the "Cédula Profesional" for doctors, dentists and more online (the websites for the Mexican gov. are a bit crappy, but most of the time get the job done). It is common to see medical professionals adding the number for their cédula in ads and what not.

Drop me a line if you have any questions

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

Much love. Thank you.

[-]

tcbuell@reddit

We went to Los Algodones across from Yuma. They call it Molar City. Easy walk across the border. Lots of dental clinics. I had tons of work done for 1/10th the cost quoted by my local dentist. Very pleased with the result.

[-]

Underdog1966@reddit

I also had my dental work done there. What a wonderful experience it was. I did implants so it was 2 visits. Total cost was about 25% of what it would cost here. Stayed at the Hotel California LOL. It’s possible to fly into Yuma and uber to the border. If you make arrangements the dentist office will pick you up and take you to the office. I used The Art Of Dentistry. Very nice place very clean and state of the art equipment. Plus you can also get your glasses super cheap and there is also stem cell research clinics but I haven’t used them. Lots of great food also.

[-]

Apprehensive-Stay196@reddit

My mom got dental work done there also. She was satisfied! They did a good job, but unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the dentist.

[-]

PHX480@reddit

Los Algadones near the border of AZ/CA

It is a town dedicated to dental tourism

You can get there through Yuma

Many people from AZ take advantage of this

[-]

MountainCry9194@reddit

If you have a local dental school, check with them. I wasn’t in as bad shape, but the proposed bill had me considering going to Mexico. The local dental college is now doing the work for a fraction of the price.

[-]

EdenSilver113@reddit

Planet Money (NPR) just did a rebroadcast of their episode on dental tourist town Los Algodones Mexico.

My husband needs thousands in crowns and we are considering it.

[-]

Reddisuspendmeagain@reddit

I’m going to listen to this, thanks

[-]

Wiser_Owl99@reddit

Look into dentists in Puerto Rico it is about half the cost of the mainland for dental services.

[-]

Phobos1982@reddit

TravelCostaRicaNow.com had a video on it where they show their dental tourism setup. Not sure if they’re still active.

[-]

Koumadin@reddit

I can’t vouch for them personally because I haven’t utilize them, but this place is well known https://coyotedental.com/

[-]

agirldonkey@reddit

My wife goes to a dentist in progreso, Mexico. She’s had good results for half the cost, and got new glasses across the street while they were making her a crown

[-]

Strong_College_21@reddit

I got a pair of prescription glasses when in Hong Kong on business many years ago. As soon as I put them on I became extremely dizzy. I took them to my guy in Texas when I got home(I really wanted to use the frames) And he said “they nailed your prescription perfectly… but they switched R with L…”

[-]

Ih8TB12@reddit

That happened to me 25 yrs ago. My 1st pair of prescription sun glasses - going on my 1st real vacation as an adult. I was so excited to have them for the trip. They flipped my lenses and they were useless. My Optometrist was so upset when I told him. Every other time he fits and checks new glasses with every patient. He was out of town so the office just handed them to me and sent me on my way.

[-]

ObjectiveUpset1703@reddit

Get a second opinion from an independently owned dental office instead of a corporate owned dental office.

[-]

robf168@reddit

This advice is a lot better than one might think at the surface. Definitely definitely check an independent dentist.

[-]

Witty-Damfino@reddit

One caution about this. I worked in the dental field for many years and all the dentist’s I know won’t touch work done in other countries. That means if something needs a slight adjustment or repair, they won’t do it, only a new replacement. It left patients in a situation of either paying the IS dentist a lot of $$ to replace or spending a lot of $$ to go back to where they had it done originally. Not trying to discourage, just trying to help you consider everything!

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

Right?!? As if getting major dental work done isn’t already panic inducing itself.

[-]

Witty-Damfino@reddit

It definitely is but a good dental practice should help walk you through it where you understand and it not be so stressful. I wish that dental care in the US wasn’t so complicated and confusing, it just compounds dental phobias! But most of the problems originate with insurance companies, they are the absolute worst and make healthcare providers life hell.

[-]

nomedent@reddit

Dentist here.

It is very possible you go somewhere and get world class dental care. I don't know how you make sure that is the case. Like here, there are also places that are more of a business first, than a caring/thoughtful clinic.

Work like you described routinely comes with a lot of follow up care. Once you come home, having a dentist who has to get caught up with what was done and then deal with any issues is going to be the difficult part.

Maybe find a dental school nearby? Less cost. Excellent results. They will likely be there for you if something is an issue in the coming years.

[-]

SufficientOpening218@reddit

i also recommend a dental school.

[-]

zunzarella@reddit

https://coyotedental.com/

Legit org, run by a dentist (non practicing now).

[-]

Barbarossa7070@reddit

Podcast episode about Molar City in Mexico: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/659-molar-city/

[-]

Elegant-Pineapple-56@reddit

I did this a few years ago - did a ton of research before selecting a dentist. Very happy with the work.

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

Thank you. Super helpful

[-]

yoyogm1@reddit

https://youtu.be/xcbLmoScd7M

[-]

gravely_serious@reddit

Secondhand reddit advice okay?

Try Vietnam. My uncle got a ton of work done there for cheap, and it's quality. He's in the process of retiring there.

[-]

Constant_Roof_7974@reddit

Absolutely Thailand. So good for dental care and medical tourism.

[-]

ParticularDance496@reddit

Hey OP, what state are you in? AZ has Nogales, walk across and shop around. CA has Tijuana, same as before, walk across. Just do a search on the TT and you’re golden.

[-]

queeniejaye@reddit

Dental Laser in Nogales MX is fantastic. You could rent in Tucson , drive to Nogalas AZ and walk across the border. I have multiple friends who recommend them

[-]

yoyogm1@reddit

https://youtu.be/1T69pDJKVtA?si=Yup-mTp-XE4DzhLa

[-]

MrBiscotti_75@reddit

Do you have anyone in your social circle ( not social media friends , real life friends ) who has contacts outside of America ? That will hopefully lead you to the right dentist.

[-]

TheOtherMaelja@reddit (OP)

I’m afraid not. Most of my real life friends would not be phased by paying $60k on a procedure or have had access to quality dental care at a young age that was preventative in nature to avoid this very thing. Their socioeconomic backgrounds do not align with mine.

[-]

scooterj54@reddit

Google naick and kim dentist Serbia and you can see where these YouTubers went for dental care after recommendations online. It lists the dental practice in the video.

[-]

jt2ou@reddit

You can try

https://dentaltourismassociation.com

I would think that Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica would be on your short list. Going to Asia or Europe would probably cost more from a flight standpoint. ymmv

Do your research and good luck!

[-]

oldg17@reddit

Omg. Head to Mexico or Turkiye. Will be 20% of that and Better work.