Call it a Mexican Dental Vacation, Dental Travel or Dental Holiday.. Whatever you call it...
If not planned properly - dental tourism can be your worst nightmare come true.
By David de Los Angeles
Here's how to avoid starring in your own dental vacation horror story:
1. Always get estimates from board certified dentists who are accredited for your procedures. Board certified dentists in most developing countries cost the same as less trained general dentists. And many general dentists would love to learn advanced dentistry at your expense. Board Certified Dentists Internationale' Association will get 1-3 estimates for you without any additional cost or obligation.
2. Choose dentists who speak your language. So you won't need to know how to say “Take it easy doc!” in Spanish, Thai or Mandarin. Most foreign board certified dentists speak English fairly well as they often use English language textbooks and many do graduate study in the US & UK.
3. Avoid commercial dental broker agencies like WhatEva Dentist, Tooth Fairy-a-GoGo, DentureAdvetures etc. who list any dentists who pay their fees and who cannot possibly vet the 1,000’s of dentists they feature. Properly vetting each dentist can often take weeks contacting and recontacting local authorities and colleges. Best go direct to the specialist associations to avoid the non-certified dentists who make up the majority of the listings on those sites. The specialist associations do a good job keeping the riff-raff off their rosters. And by going direct you avoid the agency fees.
