Low-Cost, First-Rate Dental Care That Won’t Hurt Your Wallet
By Jason Holland

I had never felt pain like it before. It woke me from a dead sleep and wouldn't go away. Throbbing. Stabbing. In my back-bottom molar.

First thing in the morning I went to a new dentist in town. They were able to see me right away. I had seen the place a few times when walking around; it was just a 10-minute walk from my house.

As I walked there that morning, I was worried about the diagnosis, although anxious to get rid of the pain. But what I wasn't worried about was the cost, as I always was when I lived in the U.S.—even though I had dental insurance. I know that dental care here is high quality but cheap.

It's the same story country-wide. I have friends who travel from the U.S. every couple of years for dental work…and a vacation. They head to a beach resort, about a two-hour flight from my adopted hometown. Their latest visit to a state-of-the-art dentist's office there cost about one-third of what they were quoted in the U.S. They enjoyed a week at the beach after.

They were inspired to make the trip by a brother who was quoted $10,000 for major work in the U.S. Instead, he flew down here and spent $6,000 for the dental visits, airfare, and a week in a resort for his wife and two kids. In fact, the thought did cross my mind that if this tooth pain had started while I was on a visit to the U.S., I probably would have flown back to get it taken care of.

Over the years here, I've had exams, X-rays, and cleanings. My wife and kids have too. My eldest son needs braces. The quote from an orthodontist was $500 for a multi-year treatment. It would be more like $5,000 in the U.S., according to friends with kids back in our home state of Florida. I told them it would probably be cheaper to fly here for orthodontist appointments periodically…and I'd be happy to host them at my house.

The truth is that, much like the healthcare, the dental care system in the U.S. is broken. Costs are high. Insurance covers maybe half and often has a cap on spending each year. And many procedures, especially those considered cosmetic, are not covered.

An estimated 114 million U.S. citizens, including 46 million aged 65 and older, have no dental insurance at all, and care is not covered as standard by Medicare. That means out of pocket…and, often, out of reach.

As a result, millions of us go without much-needed dental work…aside from those who've discovered it costs much less (60% to 80% less, according Patients Beyond Borders), and that you get great results when you are among the 400,000 U.S. patients who go overseas for care.

As I walked up to the dentist's office, the front door was surrounded by lavender plants that are popular in this part of the world. The waiting room had plush leather couches and chairs; the other patients were U.S. retirees.

I first went for a CT scan of the affected area. Then an exam with the dentist. The office was spotless, the equipment high tech. The dentist, who had trained at the University of North Carolina, spoke flawless English. His assistant did not.

The bad news: an old filling had cracked, leading to hidden decay. I would need a root canal and then, most likely, a crown. But first things first, get rid of the infection with a week's course of antibiotics (cost: $10), and Ibuprofen for pain.

The following week I had my appointment with the endodontist in the same office. The root canal went off without a hitch, and then the dentist popped in to see the results. There was better news. Instead of full crown, they could do an inlay, which is more like a large filling and would preserve more of the original tooth.

The next appointment with the dentist consisted of prepping the tooth for the inlay, including making a mold. A week after that, my last visit and the inlay, made of gold, was placed and adjusted. Every step was pain-free, with the dentist making sure I was comfortable and could understand what was happening at every point.

I paid $100 for the initial exam and diagnosis, including CT scan, $200 for the root canal, and $650 for a gold inlay. The total cost was $950.

It was a great experience—quality care at an affordable price.