Sockhopper
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- Nov 16, 2008
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Don't worry. Have it done in BA so long as you're not in pain with the tooth now or before you go on your trip. Having it done in BA will save you a fortune. I just had completed this April in BA the second, final stage of work I needed there- 6 implants with 5 crowns. That was preceded last October by my having the actual implant surgery along with a 'bone-splitting' surgery that is still so new in North America that it was only approved as a recognised procedure by the American Dental Association 2 years ago. Very few North American dentists yet know of or do this procedure whose benefit is that it makes implants doable, depending upon the patient's bone flexibility, to have implants in gums that can't now or even with grafts of commercial bone, support implants. "Bone-splitting" saves the patient from having to have their own bone taken from the back of their jaw and placed in the implant site - a hellishly painful thing to have done, I'm told. I was saved from needing a jaw operation because I happened to luck into a dentist 10,000 miles from home who has been doing this procedure for several years.
I had done at the same time, also for the purpose of these implants, an ordinary 'sinus lift', and eventually a regular dental cleaning by the same dentist when the work was completed. All this was done by one dentist in his office overlooking a beautiful street downtown. (So much better than at home where I would have been looking out onto a boring strip mall alongside an expressway where there was nowhere to even have a coffee before surgery.)
I had to see my family doctor for something after I returned home after I got my new teeth. My doctor asked about my "teeth and tango" trip to BA. I told him about the excellent care I'd had in BA. He told me he was amazed at how 'brave' I was which was hardly the case - I was scared about this venture to give myself what I needed. So I set my doctor straight by detailing how I was treated in BA. How my dentist had volunteered his phone number to me after the surgery saying I must call him at home if I thought I should for any reason even though a religious holiday was about to start and he was devoutly Jewish and so wouldn't be working the next day. How he told me that I was to turn up at his office at any time of my choosing during my 5 weeks there if I sensed anything wrong or had too much pain while healing. How he apologised for my having to wait a bit if I turned up when he was with a patient! My family doctor then asked me what was there so special about me that this dentist would go so far out of his way for me- "why would he do those things for you-why you?", he asked! Hearing this, I felt that I must be on a different planet where my own doctor must not have taken or had forgotten the Hippocratic Oath....or was it just that the reliance upon technology has been so complete that patients aren't seen now as entities who need care in order to support and assist their own healing? So, I told my doctor that this dentist told me at our first appointment after examining me, "You are my patient now. It is my duty to do everything you need, everything I have to do -that's necessary-to give you new teeth". My doctor then asked me if this was just some idea I had created!! Insulted and astounded, I replied, "No, HE told me that!" The recognition that what I was saying was true flabbergasted my doctor so much that he lost balance in his chair, nearly fell off it, righted himself, rolled to his desk and laid his forehead on it for a half-minute. He uttered a huge "Whew" when he looked up at me again, and went quiet, thinking. Since that moment, my doctor's attitude towards me has radically changed for the better. He smiles when we meet and doesn't keep me waiting after having done that for 10 years. I see this change as the result of a third-world lesson to a first-world medical practitioner. This was a wonderful and unexpected benefit of having continued through on what first seemed to me a very crazy but possible idea of travelling half-way around the world to fix my teeth.
The quality and commitment I received from my BA dentist made all the difference to my spirit and healing. Inside, I never stopped smiling where it counts when you're alone in a foreign country and hurting from 8 surgeries. His former patients around the world had written me the very same thing about him and that's why I settled on him. He made me so comfortable and confident post-surgery that I was able to have a really busy month doing every single thing I wanted to do in BA - tango privates, side trips, meeting people, and so on. I had to put up with living on ice cream and liquids for 2-3 weeks though - not bad for having had 8 surgeries.
You won't have an eating problem like I had when you have a root canal and a crown done - only a day's discomfort at most after the root canal, more like a soreness in the one tooth than pain. (I'd had 17 root canals before my teeth deteriorated more over the years, so I know.) My BA dentist does root canals and has his own lab on site to make crowns. My crowns are perfect.
Whoever you choose, first get personal references from the dentist's former patients who've had root canals and crowns done by him. All BA dentists will gladly provide you e-mails of former patients who've agreed to refer them. Schedule all your appointments for the root canal and crown fitting and placement before you leave home so that you already know what will be happening when. This makes things more predictable and comfortable so that the dentistry doesn't interfere with your fun things.
I live in Canada. My local periodontist (a gum specialist who inserts the metal implants) and local prosthodontist (crown person) at home wanted $23,000. upfront for this work (not counting bone-splitting) between them, before they would even touch me. I know now that without the bone-splitting surgery which my periodontist here didn't realise was necessary or know about although he's the top specialist in my city, my body would have rejected the implants on one side of my mouth had I had them done here by him. Ie,; I would have saved money for 2+ years to pay to have this dentistry done at home but got only more trouble down the road for all the expense. I would have had to pay even more to remove the rejected implants, spent another 3 months healing from that surgery and ended up still with no teeth. Then more money would have been needed for serious jaw surgery here and the implant surgery all over again. Then heal from the jaw surgery and the new implant surgery. Some part of me would have seen my body as inferior for having rejected the first implants. Right now, I'd still be without 5 teeth, be still unable to eat or talk clearly, would still be covering my mouth when I smile. We'd still be unable to replace our old TV as we did this summer and we wouldn't have been able to afford even a week-end away together in 4 years. I wouldn't be going to restaurants now.
My BA dentist saved me from 2 more years of that. I have really strong implants and eat anything I want. I look pretty again.
$20,000. (of the $23,000. my dentists at home wanted) covered all my following BA expenses:
-all the dental work in BA at a cost of just under $6,000 (including the bone-splitting which isn't included in my local quote), completed over 2 separate trips;
-3 return airfares to BA and all travel expenses;(I needed two trips; my husband came with me on my second, final trip);
-9 weeks altogether in a furnished 1BR apartment in Recoleta for 2 people;
-all my and our restaurant meals including dining at fancy restaurants often; 7 taxis a day for 9 weeks;
-10 private tango lessons with a top tango instructor @ AR 250/hour (with a teacher we'd found on an earlier trip to BA that we'd made for fun);
-an audial Beginners' Spanish course bought online before my first dental trip;
-our tango CDs and milongas; stocking the BA apartment with basic food upon arrival;
-3 side trips to the Tigre Delta, 2 nights' hotel there;
-a wedding anniversary big night out; bars/lounges; museums, galleries;
-a day at a spa; manicures and pedicures; colour changes whenever I wanted them;
-flowering ceibo trees and birds around us while winter cold was approaching at home;
-gracious people who inspire me; and
-a chance to begin speaking Castellan (Spanish) in the right place for it and so be able to concentrate on learning something new rather than worry about upcoming dental treatment.
And I had money left over which I used towards shopping in BA for shoes for my husband and me, leather bags, costume jewelry and lingerie.
Going to BA for dental work was the best decision I've ever made. Rather than pay 3 years' of all our earnable savings to greedy dental specialists here who brag to me while I've got my mouth open about all the luxuries their children have when my husband is out working 2 jobs to pay my dental bill, we used that money to fix my teeth, nourish our hearts and souls, improve our dancing and start learning a new language. The high price of dental fees in the West is scandalous. It doesn't make sense considering what most of us earn. Private insurance won't cover implants ever and is finding more ways to not even pay for crowns. Fewer jobs now come with the option of a private health insurance plan.
The work in BA cost me 1/4 at most of its cost in Canada and the US, without considering any of the further costs that would have ensued when the implants failed because only commercial bone was being used in the quote provided me at home.
Please message me for this dentist's, and another one's contact details. I don't publish my dentist's name unless someone is in difficulty as you are. BA has a solid history and reputation for 'medical tourism'. I've never come across anyone who's dissatisfied. People say they were treated in a far more humane fashion there and received top-notch treatment. I haven't found a single complaint in online forums.
One thing to know about dental practice in Argentina is that all dentists are trained and experienced in all areas. Of course, some dentists specialise in a defined area such as endodontics as you need, but whether or not they do, they are still just called 'odontologists'. Not having to go to 2 or more specialists for one dental need is a real boon in terms of a patient's comfort and time. With 2 specialists as I had here at home, I could never mesh their appointments, eg. crowns need to be made and placed 3-6 months after implant surgery which creates a dilemma if the 'crown person' has no openings for the next year. I found myself becoming these dentists' office administrators as I chased down x-rays that had to be sent to the other specialist. I also received conflicting post-treatment advice about caring for my new dental work. I was left to pick the advice I liked best wheich I regard as completely negligent – I’m a layman, how would I choose? Because these 2 specialists financially benefit from one another's patient referrals, they won't criticise one another's advice or work or resolve informational dilemmas. (I got an infected gum once as a result of choosing the ‘wrong’ one’s advice and was then criticized by the other guy for not following his own advice. He refused to speak to the other specialist about this. Now that’s not caring.) Under the holistic Argentine approach, you’re not put in this position of not knowing who’s right. If I were rich, I'd fly to Argentina for anything more than a dental filling.
I wish you the very best. So long as the root of your tooth doesn't put you in pain, you won't have to spend 2.5k to have a root canal and crown done.
I had done at the same time, also for the purpose of these implants, an ordinary 'sinus lift', and eventually a regular dental cleaning by the same dentist when the work was completed. All this was done by one dentist in his office overlooking a beautiful street downtown. (So much better than at home where I would have been looking out onto a boring strip mall alongside an expressway where there was nowhere to even have a coffee before surgery.)
I had to see my family doctor for something after I returned home after I got my new teeth. My doctor asked about my "teeth and tango" trip to BA. I told him about the excellent care I'd had in BA. He told me he was amazed at how 'brave' I was which was hardly the case - I was scared about this venture to give myself what I needed. So I set my doctor straight by detailing how I was treated in BA. How my dentist had volunteered his phone number to me after the surgery saying I must call him at home if I thought I should for any reason even though a religious holiday was about to start and he was devoutly Jewish and so wouldn't be working the next day. How he told me that I was to turn up at his office at any time of my choosing during my 5 weeks there if I sensed anything wrong or had too much pain while healing. How he apologised for my having to wait a bit if I turned up when he was with a patient! My family doctor then asked me what was there so special about me that this dentist would go so far out of his way for me- "why would he do those things for you-why you?", he asked! Hearing this, I felt that I must be on a different planet where my own doctor must not have taken or had forgotten the Hippocratic Oath....or was it just that the reliance upon technology has been so complete that patients aren't seen now as entities who need care in order to support and assist their own healing? So, I told my doctor that this dentist told me at our first appointment after examining me, "You are my patient now. It is my duty to do everything you need, everything I have to do -that's necessary-to give you new teeth". My doctor then asked me if this was just some idea I had created!! Insulted and astounded, I replied, "No, HE told me that!" The recognition that what I was saying was true flabbergasted my doctor so much that he lost balance in his chair, nearly fell off it, righted himself, rolled to his desk and laid his forehead on it for a half-minute. He uttered a huge "Whew" when he looked up at me again, and went quiet, thinking. Since that moment, my doctor's attitude towards me has radically changed for the better. He smiles when we meet and doesn't keep me waiting after having done that for 10 years. I see this change as the result of a third-world lesson to a first-world medical practitioner. This was a wonderful and unexpected benefit of having continued through on what first seemed to me a very crazy but possible idea of travelling half-way around the world to fix my teeth.
The quality and commitment I received from my BA dentist made all the difference to my spirit and healing. Inside, I never stopped smiling where it counts when you're alone in a foreign country and hurting from 8 surgeries. His former patients around the world had written me the very same thing about him and that's why I settled on him. He made me so comfortable and confident post-surgery that I was able to have a really busy month doing every single thing I wanted to do in BA - tango privates, side trips, meeting people, and so on. I had to put up with living on ice cream and liquids for 2-3 weeks though - not bad for having had 8 surgeries.
You won't have an eating problem like I had when you have a root canal and a crown done - only a day's discomfort at most after the root canal, more like a soreness in the one tooth than pain. (I'd had 17 root canals before my teeth deteriorated more over the years, so I know.) My BA dentist does root canals and has his own lab on site to make crowns. My crowns are perfect.
Whoever you choose, first get personal references from the dentist's former patients who've had root canals and crowns done by him. All BA dentists will gladly provide you e-mails of former patients who've agreed to refer them. Schedule all your appointments for the root canal and crown fitting and placement before you leave home so that you already know what will be happening when. This makes things more predictable and comfortable so that the dentistry doesn't interfere with your fun things.
I live in Canada. My local periodontist (a gum specialist who inserts the metal implants) and local prosthodontist (crown person) at home wanted $23,000. upfront for this work (not counting bone-splitting) between them, before they would even touch me. I know now that without the bone-splitting surgery which my periodontist here didn't realise was necessary or know about although he's the top specialist in my city, my body would have rejected the implants on one side of my mouth had I had them done here by him. Ie,; I would have saved money for 2+ years to pay to have this dentistry done at home but got only more trouble down the road for all the expense. I would have had to pay even more to remove the rejected implants, spent another 3 months healing from that surgery and ended up still with no teeth. Then more money would have been needed for serious jaw surgery here and the implant surgery all over again. Then heal from the jaw surgery and the new implant surgery. Some part of me would have seen my body as inferior for having rejected the first implants. Right now, I'd still be without 5 teeth, be still unable to eat or talk clearly, would still be covering my mouth when I smile. We'd still be unable to replace our old TV as we did this summer and we wouldn't have been able to afford even a week-end away together in 4 years. I wouldn't be going to restaurants now.
My BA dentist saved me from 2 more years of that. I have really strong implants and eat anything I want. I look pretty again.
$20,000. (of the $23,000. my dentists at home wanted) covered all my following BA expenses:
-all the dental work in BA at a cost of just under $6,000 (including the bone-splitting which isn't included in my local quote), completed over 2 separate trips;
-3 return airfares to BA and all travel expenses;(I needed two trips; my husband came with me on my second, final trip);
-9 weeks altogether in a furnished 1BR apartment in Recoleta for 2 people;
-all my and our restaurant meals including dining at fancy restaurants often; 7 taxis a day for 9 weeks;
-10 private tango lessons with a top tango instructor @ AR 250/hour (with a teacher we'd found on an earlier trip to BA that we'd made for fun);
-an audial Beginners' Spanish course bought online before my first dental trip;
-our tango CDs and milongas; stocking the BA apartment with basic food upon arrival;
-3 side trips to the Tigre Delta, 2 nights' hotel there;
-a wedding anniversary big night out; bars/lounges; museums, galleries;
-a day at a spa; manicures and pedicures; colour changes whenever I wanted them;
-flowering ceibo trees and birds around us while winter cold was approaching at home;
-gracious people who inspire me; and
-a chance to begin speaking Castellan (Spanish) in the right place for it and so be able to concentrate on learning something new rather than worry about upcoming dental treatment.
And I had money left over which I used towards shopping in BA for shoes for my husband and me, leather bags, costume jewelry and lingerie.
Going to BA for dental work was the best decision I've ever made. Rather than pay 3 years' of all our earnable savings to greedy dental specialists here who brag to me while I've got my mouth open about all the luxuries their children have when my husband is out working 2 jobs to pay my dental bill, we used that money to fix my teeth, nourish our hearts and souls, improve our dancing and start learning a new language. The high price of dental fees in the West is scandalous. It doesn't make sense considering what most of us earn. Private insurance won't cover implants ever and is finding more ways to not even pay for crowns. Fewer jobs now come with the option of a private health insurance plan.
The work in BA cost me 1/4 at most of its cost in Canada and the US, without considering any of the further costs that would have ensued when the implants failed because only commercial bone was being used in the quote provided me at home.
Please message me for this dentist's, and another one's contact details. I don't publish my dentist's name unless someone is in difficulty as you are. BA has a solid history and reputation for 'medical tourism'. I've never come across anyone who's dissatisfied. People say they were treated in a far more humane fashion there and received top-notch treatment. I haven't found a single complaint in online forums.
One thing to know about dental practice in Argentina is that all dentists are trained and experienced in all areas. Of course, some dentists specialise in a defined area such as endodontics as you need, but whether or not they do, they are still just called 'odontologists'. Not having to go to 2 or more specialists for one dental need is a real boon in terms of a patient's comfort and time. With 2 specialists as I had here at home, I could never mesh their appointments, eg. crowns need to be made and placed 3-6 months after implant surgery which creates a dilemma if the 'crown person' has no openings for the next year. I found myself becoming these dentists' office administrators as I chased down x-rays that had to be sent to the other specialist. I also received conflicting post-treatment advice about caring for my new dental work. I was left to pick the advice I liked best wheich I regard as completely negligent – I’m a layman, how would I choose? Because these 2 specialists financially benefit from one another's patient referrals, they won't criticise one another's advice or work or resolve informational dilemmas. (I got an infected gum once as a result of choosing the ‘wrong’ one’s advice and was then criticized by the other guy for not following his own advice. He refused to speak to the other specialist about this. Now that’s not caring.) Under the holistic Argentine approach, you’re not put in this position of not knowing who’s right. If I were rich, I'd fly to Argentina for anything more than a dental filling.
I wish you the very best. So long as the root of your tooth doesn't put you in pain, you won't have to spend 2.5k to have a root canal and crown done.
