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If You're A New Visitor Then Please Use The Archive Menu To The Right To Start At Post #1 (2013 Dec)

Sunday, March 1, 2020

63: NOT ALL ARE CREATED EQUAL

Back in 2013, I was doing hours upon hours of research regarding dental tourism.  I wasn't just researching what type of dental procedure I wanted but where to get said procedure done.  I talked to many people who had work done in Costa Rica and I also emailed and called quite a few dentists to ask questions.  I talked to one particular dentist, via email, in which I was surprised when he answered my questions.  The reason I was surprised was due to him being one of the most highly regarded, respected and experienced dentists in the country and also due to the fact that he doesn't really do "dental tourism" work.  He's more of a "high-end" doctor that caters to the affluent and wealthy community in and around the San Jose area.  He is also known for correcting bad dental work done by inferior dentists.  I never have published this email before due to it having the potential to ruffle a few feathers. But, over 6 years now have passed since this conversation took place and I believe it to be valuable information in which any of you who are considering a dental trip to CR would be glad to have. I will NOT disclose who this email came from so please don't ask. With that being said here is the quoted email I received when I asked this doctor about some particular dentists/clinics that I was considering going to for my work.


Dear Rod

I will just give you my sincere opinion, dental tourism in an industry. The most successful clinic for dental tourism in CR is the Cavallinis. Why, because they know how to make business (cost management etc, very low-cost materials, volume work...just imagine Walmart), but that type of business does not give you long-lasting teeth. 80% of the patients will receive any kind of dentistry and that work will last a couple of years but 20% of the cases really need trained dentists to manage not just esthetics but function.

The dentists that work at Cavallinis are not trained in implant dentistry, they just work A LOT and they received like 20 new patients daily. They have people working in all the different parts of the business like taking out bad comments on the net. So it is very simple to get 5-10 positive testimonials if you get 20 patients daily. They placed a lot of implants but like Michael Jordan said, "You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way"  

40% of my work is redoing treatments of the first 3 dentists you mentioned, The only serious dentist you mentioned is Dr. Prada because he is the only one well trained and not money focused. Anglada is just like Cavallini but a little better trained, performing 90s dentistry and having all the implants restored by a non-specialist dentist. Garita is a very nice guy but similar old fashion implant dentistry. Obando is just like Anglada but really really really money focused. So my sincere opinion is Dr. Prada is your best choice. Remember you are too young, your dentistry should last 40 more years not 2 years. Redoing treatments is VERY VERY expensive, so if money is your issue just try to do fewer procedures but the right way instead of wasting all your money and then having no money to redo your work. All of them may give you a nice experience here in CR and you give them a nice review, you go home with no idea what you really have in your mouth because you are not a dentist and then you may need to redo things. There are, besides Prada, a couple of dentists doing things the right way but they are not focused on tourism, that is why you don't hear about them. Obviously, you may have complications with any dentist, even the best dentist in the USA, but you need to avoid as much as possible the chances to have complications and then more importantly if you do have complications, be with a dentist with the training and disposition to help you fix it. Hope this email helps you, good luck with your trip. 

Monday, January 20, 2020

62: CONTACTING ME WITH QUESTIONS

Hello readers!

I recently realized that for some reason many of the emails I received from you went directly into my spam folder and that my spam folder auto deletes everything after 30 days. So if you have sent me an email with questions regarding my dental journey and didn't receive a reply from me...well now you know why. I do apologize and I urge you to please resend those emails so that I may respond to any questions you may have. I have changed my email filter settings so that this doesn't happen again.

I'll take this opportunity to say that I'm fast approaching 6 years since getting my dental work completed at DDS in San Jose, Costa Rica and everything is still 100% perfect! I have zero issues with my teeth or implants and the only regret I have is that I should have done this dental tourism trip sooner. If you're on the fence about making this journey, unsure about going to another country for dental work then please, please send me an email and I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have. No, I won't steer you only to the clinic of my choice but instead, I'll try and give you the answers you need in order to help you decide what is best for you. Where you go, which clinic you use is a personal decision that everyone must make for themselves and if I can help you with that then it makes this whole blog worth it!

Talk to you soon!

TheDentalTourist@gmail.com