On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 01:23:47 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"bb" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 00:44:26 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


According to your link, implants in Costa Rica cost $750-800. In the
states, they cost $1200-1800. (We're talking about the implant...not the
abutment, and not the crown). That means they're about 50-65%...not 10%
as
you claimed.

Well, like it or not, I think offshore medical and dental care could
become a big thing in the future. Maybe, as you say, the quality is
hit and miss right now. It would appear there's a large market
potential for marketing cheaper medical and dental services by our
close neighbors. Certainly one such as yourself, who's relatively
early in a career, has a lot to be concerned about. Auto and steel
workers may not be the only ones who's life is adversely affected by
cheap foreign labor.

I doubt it. Comprehensive treatment (ie--the expensive stuff like full
mouth rehabilitation and dental implants) can't be completed in a day. It
requires dozens of trips to the dentist...in a period sometimes spanning
anywhere from 6 months to a year or more. The cost of travel and lodging,
and the inconvenience of multiple trips, takes away any comparative
advantage the foreign countries might offer.

Plus, who are you going to see for emergency care when the 14-unitb
roundhouse bridge you just had placed in Costa Rica fractures the weekend
before your daughter's wedding?

The non-comprehesive stuff (fillings and single crowns) can be completed in
a day or week...but who's going to travel to Costa Rica for treatment just
to save $500-600 dollars?


bb, this is all true. I had eleven teeth pulled and replaced with
implants. I went to the dentist about every 3-4 weeks for over a year.
No way could I have afforded to fly to Costa Rico for all those trips.

And yes, in between the scheduled visits I made several trips to get
the temporary dentures repaired, reglued, or replaced because I bit
down on something the wrong way. (Or because I chewed Nicorette's and
they stuck to the plastic stuff the temporaries were made of!)

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!