Lost in BA,
Your 2 posts confuse me because you called your thread "Cost of Dental Braces" and asked and got replies about these and then jumped in saying once people responded to you about that that you’re being charged for implants and crowns. People don't first have their natural teeth straightened with braces and later extracted so as to have them replaced by dental implants and crowns.
To answer your conflicting second question, I’d say that $US1050 or so in BA is exactly right for one implant surgery (about $US600) and when that has healed, its porcelain crown ($US450).
I've been a foreign patient of Dr. Samuel Pelcman annually during my visits to BA since 2008. Over that time, he has done for me 10 implant surgeries and their crowns, a root canal with post and crown, one bone spreading surgery, a sinus lift, one teeth cleaning, full exams, x-rays and I forget what else. He also charges nothing for reading new panoramic x-rays that he invites foreign patients to have done and e-mail to him from abroad one year after he has placed an implant crown on their healed implant surgeries. My dentists and specialists at home charge a lot for that check-up. Indeed, my specialists at home charge $CAD250 just for taking the panoramic before they send it to my local periodontists to read it for another $120.
When my local dentists in Canada tell me that I must bring them $CAD 3500 in 4 days to start a new batch of dental work that, in fact, I don't need, Dr. Pelcman has reviewed each of those x-rays and opinions also for free and provided me his professional opinion for free. Time has shown that not once have my local specialists been correct in their latest determination of my dental needs and my need to pay them any money. (Frankly, they’ve been downright dishonest. This happens to patients from the US too.) Not once has Dr. Pelcman’s opinion been wrong! He volunteers to consult with any and all of my local dentists but they ask me when I ask them to do this and even pay them to consult with him by ‘phone, “Why would I want to talk with some dentist in of all places, South America, ha ha! You can, instead, just bring me $CAD 3500 so we can start working on you. And, “you’re pulling my leg saying that you can’t access $3500; that is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!”
The fact that dentists within 3 miles of me take 3 weeks to answer my requests of them for info and think that 3 months from now for an appointment re. a seriously painful and infected tooth is good enough for me because it’s my job to fit in with their availability when I can instead have Dr. Pelcman’s e-mailed response before my eyes within 1,2 or 3 days definitely explains why I think of him alone as being ‘my’ dentist.
Time has shown that his reviews and opinions on the dental services I do or don’t need have always been the only correct ones.
He is a superb professional. He is contracted to be on call and fly to Cali whenever one team of dentists there runs into a really difficult case or problem they made. He demands perfection of himself always. He’s not even comfortable having more than one day off now and again. His patient base consists of plenty of portenos, and foreigners on 3 continents who've I've communicated with or met in person. One after another, the foreigners who've used his services -including those with very complex dental conditions for which periodontists and prosthodontists in North America say there exist NO solutions just because they do not have Dr. Pelcman’s skill and knowledge – say that Dr. Pelcman returned to them a normal life or yes, gave them one for the first time in their 28 years. My own dental problems aren’t rare in Dr. Pelcman’s eyes, and still my having chosen him was one of the 3 or so best decisions I made for myself in my life. It was he who allowed me to once again know the taste of many foods that I had missed but just put up with not tasting.
He's equally or even more renowned for his level of patient care which is beyond incredible. He goes way out of his way time and time again to help those of us abroad who cannot afford $US6,000-$US8,000 for EACH dental implant. His care is so amazing that after using him, it’s this that I remember while I tend to forget that he also saved me $US 5,000 PER tooth that I couldn’t possibly keep finding even though my husband worked 2 jobs to be able to pay for the odd implant that insurance, of course, didn’t pay a cent for because dental implants have become one more social-class identifier in North America. Those who aren’t wealthy are expected to settle for false teeth here!
Despite his 35 years of doing implants and his having done some 30,000 implants in that time - complete with crowns made by hand in his on-site lab by the highest trained technicians - he charges the standard BA rates for each dental service he offers.
I won’t go into detail about the quality of his work and care because I’d have to write about 50 things more and I’ve already done that on this forum.
Without Dr. Pelcman having treated me, my life would be hell. I would not be able to eat much and would still be taking 1-2 minutes to swallow each bite of food.
Please tell us why you requested here quotes from a dentist for first, braces, and after people answered you about those, you want to know what is a standard price for implants and crowns. Since you've already been charged for your implants, you must already have them, no? Surely, you would have asked for implant quotes around town before you chose a dentist to do these? Also, what is happening to you that you would have implants and crowns made and fitted in your gums, and afterwards want braces?
You paid a completely standard BA price for your implants and their crowns.
