<p>I’ve heard about “medical vacations” where you travel to a different country to have a procedure done (safely) and save a lot of money over the cost here. Is this also true for dental work? I have a friend who needs thousands of dollars of work done… root canal, crown and filling replacements, etc… and is hoping that there is a more affordable option.</p>
<p>I read an article last month that mentioned Los Algodones, Mexico. People stay in Yuma and walk across the border. I hope someone has actual experience with the dentists down there. Stuff is hugely expensive here near Seattle - $8500 for an implant and crown, money that easily pays for the flight and a few days in a hotel.</p>
<p>When I lived in San Diego (ages ago) there were lots of people who went into Mexico for dental care. An easy way to save if you live close by. I’m not sure how the savings would pencil out if you had to travel a long way. </p>
<p>Another option is to see if there any local dental schools, as the students need to practice and the work is done at a reduced rate. </p>
<p>Costa Rica is big in this. I know some places advertise US trained dentists and sell packages for travel. </p>
<p>I know people who have gone to Costa Rico and been very happy with price and results. Thinking about it myself. I need a lot of work. </p>
<p>A volleyball friend of my H went to Thailand when he needed a mouthful of crowns.</p>
<p>@Magnetron you might find a better deal in Canada, I know someone whose implant was around $2000 in Aldergrove. I don’t recall if that included the crown or not.</p>
<p>One warning–find out what happens if there is a problem. Not all dentists will want to help sort out problems created by another dentist, especially if there is an infection or possibly a broken crown or implant, or other issue. This is the main issue that I can see in “medical tourism.”</p>
<p>I paid a lot less than $8000 for implant. I had dental insurance and if iirc it was around $1500 about 5 or 6 years ago. The guy graduate top 1% of UCLA dental school.</p>
<p>H has medical insurance that covered a large % of the cost of our crowns, so we were able to use our regular dentist. I think we paid maybe $1500 out-of-pocket? Not sure. We also paid for D and S to get wisdom teeth extracted and for LOTS of fillings. Insurance paid a portion of those as well, so we were able to cover our share. So far, have never been tempted to get care out of country, but if you do your research, it would probably work, as long as the savings justify the travel and potential risk for you.</p>
<p>My daughter had 4 very hard to extract wisdom teeth about $2000+ when she was 21. Luckily she had them pulled out just before she turned 22 when she was no longer qualified for dental insurance through her parents. We didn’t pay a dime.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of this for dental work, but I’m sure lots of people are doing it if they can save money and get good results. I would want the dentist to be U.S. trained–just not sure what the standards are in other countries. I have a mouth full of crowns. Paid about $500 each (I think insurance paid half.) </p>
<p>Thanks for the information… I’d never heard of this for dental work so knowing that it’s done will motivate my friend to do more looking. She doesn’t have dental insurance, which is why she needs so much work now. We’re in Seattle so a trip to Canada or Mexico or Costa Rica would probably be fine.</p>
<p>Id never thought of traveling for dentistry, but expenditures over the last few years for wisdom teeth extraction( after the quotes for implants, I decided just not to chew on that side), make it sound very attractive.</p>