Dental Tourism, Part 2
We met Margaret during breakfast yesterday, before we went to see my chosen dentist. She traveled here before for dental work with Dr. Arnoldo Anglada in San Jose. A friend of hers recommended him to her. In turn, she recommended him to Doris, who flew here from New Jersey. Both ladies were delighted with their Tico dentist.
My heart beat faster after talking with Margaret at breakfast. What if I chose poorly? I did all my dental research on the internet, and that, as we all know, can be fallible.
Like I said, our room doesn't have a couch, even though the picture showed one. (See my grumble in the last post.)
Our appointment with Dr. Kriebel started for one of us at 9AM, and the other immediately after.
I initiated communications with Dr. Kriebel's office last September, before the epic train voyage across Canada. Vivianne spends much of her time coordinating patients from other countries, and her kindness and helpfulness won me over. She speaks and writes perfect English, which is understandable now that we know she moved here from DC.
My concerns melted away after meeting Dr. Kriebel. Young Dr. Kriebel is a fourth generation dentist here in San Jose, Costa Rica. His English also is perfect, and he has a great smile and personality. Darling thinks he's "guapo" and he is.
Before we came here, we sent the treatment plan given to us by a dentist near home, as well as some x-rays (after signing ludicrous paperwork about x-ray ownership). Dr. Kriebel reviewed those, and gave us a preliminary plan, but he explained that we needed full x-rays at his office for him to properly evaluate our dental needs. I get it. E-mailed scans of x-rays just aren't that good.
So our USA dentist told Darling she needed four crowns over ten visits costing over $6500. The same dentist told me I needed one crown, gingivectomy across a number of teeth and about ten resin composites for the "ditching" in my teeth, as well as an occlusal guard since it was "obvious" I grind my teeth. A total of six visits and almost $8500.
I used to grind my teeth, but haven't in a few decades. He got in my face and told me that I must still grind my teeth. He never knew anyone to stop grinding. I admit, I felt like grinding something at that moment.
The thing is, I watched his face as he told me these things and my heart told me he was lying.
He was more than willing to work out a payment plan. I'm sure he was, probably aligned with the payments for his house or car.
After the x-rays yesterday, Dr. Kriebel told Darling she needs only two crowns. I don't need any crowns, but I do have a cavity and will need some composites to protect my nerves from the ditching in some of my teeth.
The work is not nearly as extensive as the USA dentist told us. Dr. Kriebel actually ran a pen across the previous dental plan and told me "This just isn't what we'll do." I said "You'd have to meet the other dentist to understand." "I don't want to meet him," he replied.
Bottom line, we'll be done with our dental work in a few days. I'll post as we progress.
I might need more work where the cavity is. That remains to be seen. I can, however, be sure of one thing.
Dr. Kriebel will do what is best for my dental needs, doing only what is necessary.
That's what we were looking for...
Thanks for reading.
My heart beat faster after talking with Margaret at breakfast. What if I chose poorly? I did all my dental research on the internet, and that, as we all know, can be fallible.
Like I said, our room doesn't have a couch, even though the picture showed one. (See my grumble in the last post.)
Our appointment with Dr. Kriebel started for one of us at 9AM, and the other immediately after.
I initiated communications with Dr. Kriebel's office last September, before the epic train voyage across Canada. Vivianne spends much of her time coordinating patients from other countries, and her kindness and helpfulness won me over. She speaks and writes perfect English, which is understandable now that we know she moved here from DC.
Before we came here, we sent the treatment plan given to us by a dentist near home, as well as some x-rays (after signing ludicrous paperwork about x-ray ownership). Dr. Kriebel reviewed those, and gave us a preliminary plan, but he explained that we needed full x-rays at his office for him to properly evaluate our dental needs. I get it. E-mailed scans of x-rays just aren't that good.
So our USA dentist told Darling she needed four crowns over ten visits costing over $6500. The same dentist told me I needed one crown, gingivectomy across a number of teeth and about ten resin composites for the "ditching" in my teeth, as well as an occlusal guard since it was "obvious" I grind my teeth. A total of six visits and almost $8500.
I used to grind my teeth, but haven't in a few decades. He got in my face and told me that I must still grind my teeth. He never knew anyone to stop grinding. I admit, I felt like grinding something at that moment.
The thing is, I watched his face as he told me these things and my heart told me he was lying.
He was more than willing to work out a payment plan. I'm sure he was, probably aligned with the payments for his house or car.
After the x-rays yesterday, Dr. Kriebel told Darling she needs only two crowns. I don't need any crowns, but I do have a cavity and will need some composites to protect my nerves from the ditching in some of my teeth.
The work is not nearly as extensive as the USA dentist told us. Dr. Kriebel actually ran a pen across the previous dental plan and told me "This just isn't what we'll do." I said "You'd have to meet the other dentist to understand." "I don't want to meet him," he replied.
Bottom line, we'll be done with our dental work in a few days. I'll post as we progress.
I might need more work where the cavity is. That remains to be seen. I can, however, be sure of one thing.
Dr. Kriebel will do what is best for my dental needs, doing only what is necessary.
That's what we were looking for...
Thanks for reading.
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