Seeing a Dentist without Insurance

[edlefou]

So for those whove made the trip out the country how much did you spend including getting to and from the place you got it done?

I never make a trip just for dental or medical stuff, but I get stuff done wherever I am at the time.

I love the attitude where doctors' and dentists' websites have price lists and I don't have to wonder what the price is like it's some kind of secret or something.

I can get blood tests, prescriptions, dental work, whatever I want as long as I pay for it. I don't have to get a referral or go to some doctor to tell me what the results are.

To answer your question, some recent dental work:

3400 UAH for a zirconium crown in Kiev
688 UAH for a cleaning in Kiev
800 PHP for a panoramic image in Cebu
800 PHP for a cleaning in Cebu

 

[d3traktion]

i had obamacare two years ago and went to the dentist for a cleaning. also for a cavity filling(or something of the like). didnt cost me anything. yeah its not the best insurance but it does cover some basic services. look into which dental offices accept your insurance (some of them do)

 

[farfallah]

I am facing a similar problem. I suspect i might have to have a wisdom tooth removed, Maybe two. How much do you think that would cost in an expensive city??


Also, i will be in colombia in jan, so how much would same procedure cost there cash out of pocket in Bogota if anyone knows. If anyone has a recommendation for a Bogota dentist, please let me know.

I've had three gold crowns installed in Bogota (Suba, close to the Bulevar mall). Price, including the gold, was just a little over $400 per tooth. Between 20-25% of the price for corresponding work here in the U.S. (North Texas) Quality work, based upon subsequent inspection by a U.S. dentist, whose opinion I trust.

Disclaimer -- I'm not a dentist. My understanding, though, is that non-impacted wisdom tooth extraction of lower wisdom teeth is simple--a regular dentist can perform the extraction--while upper wisdom tooth extraction is more difficult and might require an oral surgeon.

 

[doc holliday]

Thanks for the tips. I'm not "broke" by any means and can certainly pay for anything with credit. It's just something i'd like to not get sent to the cleaners for and was hoping for advice on ways to navigate this.

I found a dental college nearby that offers free cleanings in exchange for your time. I'm going to ask if they offer other dental services.

Here's what you should do. Ask some close friends colleagues etc for the name of a good dentist in your area. Google the dentist, see what kind of online reviews he has. Then when you have one that you want to try, call their office, tell them that you have a tooth that you think may have a cavity and ask them how much it is for an exam and an xray FOR THAT ONE TOOTH ONLY. Should be around $80 maybe less. If they balk at that, trying to upsell you over the phone then try a different office.

Once you go and get a diagnosis (hopefully you just need a filling but you need to have it looked at first), you can negotiate a lower price, tell them you'll pay cash. If you want, PM me and depending on where you live, I may be able to help you with a name along with giving you some other advice. At the very least though you can do the above. Or fly to the Ukraine or Colombia.

 

[lex the impaler]

Check Groupon as well. I've seen deals for cleaning and x-rays for as low as $50. You might get lucky on the fillings.

 

[LowerCaseG]

Gentlemen,

For those of you interested in dental work, I had phase one of a dental implant done in Bogota. I have nothing to compare it to, but was pretty much pain free from the time the Novocaine wore off. I will have to return for the crown in 3-4 months. Total price of the procedure not including travel = 3 Million Pesos = ~ $1000 compared to $4500-5000 US east coast. If you shop around you can probably get it for significantly less, but this is not something I am looking for the cheapest price for.

In and out 30-45 minutes. I would recommend wearing earphones because it sounds horrible. I will post the dentist once the procedure is complete with no complications. Feel free to PM me however. There is a hygienist who speaks perfect english.

 

[jamaicabound]

Don't feel too bad about not having dental insurance, it tends to not cover very much outside of two cleanings per year and xrays once a year anyhow. Not that it doesn't help at all but when I left my job to start a business, my dentist who is family told me don't bother getting dental insurance, just take the money I would have spent and stash it away and said I'd wind up comming out almost even.

 

[The Beast1]

Gentlemen,

For those of you interested in dental work, I had phase one of a dental implant done in Bogota. I have nothing to compare it to, but was pretty much pain free from the time the Novocaine wore off. I will have to return for the crown in 3-4 months. Total price of the procedure not including travel = 3 Million Pesos = ~ $1000 compared to $4500-5000 US east coast. If you shop around you can probably get it for significantly less, but this is not something I am looking for the cheapest price for.

In and out 30-45 minutes. I would recommend wearing earphones because it sounds horrible. I will post the dentist once the procedure is complete with no complications. Feel free to PM me however. There is a hygienist who speaks perfect english.

Really? I can find periodontists here in Los Angeles advertising root canals for molars (the most expensive) at roughly that same price up to $1600. Here's a guy that's advertising that price: https://www.drkezian.com/los-angeles-dentist-blog/root-canal-information/

I would expect the price for such a procedure in Columbia to be at least in the $300-500 price range all in (root canal and crown) for a top-tier dentist. It sounds like the guy you found is a top-tier dentist charging US prices!

I guess if you are living full time in Columbia, it makes sense. Did you travel down there explicitly for this procedure?

Have you figured out how much your crown will cost?

I had a root canal done back in 2012. However, I had dental insurance at the time which partially covered it. I believe the out of pocket cost came to about $1200 since I was out of network at the time. Our insurance mucked this up and i'm curious what the cash value would have been without.

 

[LowerCaseG]

It's an implant, not a root canal.

 

[The Beast1]

It's an implant, not a root canal.

Missed that bit entirely.

But seriously still, the price is still in line with what I would pay here in SoCal locally without insurance for an implant. Take a look at this place:
http://www.atlanticdentalgrp.com/cost-of-dental-implants/

Strangely enough, it seems that dental care in the US is the most affordable in southern California. Your prices are very much in line with New England's!

 

[doc holliday]

Damn, I just looked at that site and I have no idea how he's making any money by charging 1200 for an implant, abutment and crown! It costs me $300 just to buy the implant from a reputable American implant company and then another $400 for the abutment and crown. Not to mention the more intangible cost of the liability and risk of doing the procedure itself, being a surgical procedure. My guess is that he's using some Chinese implant and lab co. I'd feel better getting in done in Colombia as they're most like using a reputable implant company who would be selling implants to Colombian dentists at a fraction of what they charge US dentists.

 

[The Beast1]

^^ Did you buy the implant and crown through your dentist? If so, he marked that up for you.

Apparently dental costs in Los Angeles are the lowest in the country. I have no idea why.

I'd rather go through the US. At least then, I can sue if something goes wrong.

 

[doc holliday]

^^ Did you buy the implant and crown through your dentist? If so, he marked that up for you.

Apparently dental costs in Los Angeles are the lowest in the country. I have no idea why.

I'd rather go through the US. At least then, I can sue if something goes wrong.

No that's the wholesale cost from the supplier and lab. You have to be a licensed dentist to be even able to buy an implant, abutment and crown. So that's a base cost to just get the parts you need to put them in someones mouth. You're right about the recourse avenue in the US and I'm guessing LA has cheap dentistry due to the shear number of dentists there and maybe the preponderance of fresh of the boat immigrants there has caused the cost of dentistry to drop there as well.

 

[edlefou]

Gentlemen,

For those of you interested in dental work, I had phase one of a dental implant done in Bogota. I have nothing to compare it to, but was pretty much pain free from the time the Novocaine wore off. I will have to return for the crown in 3-4 months. Total price of the procedure not including travel = 3 Million Pesos = ~ $1000 compared to $4500-5000 US east coast. If you shop around you can probably get it for significantly less, but this is not something I am looking for the cheapest price for.

In and out 30-45 minutes. I would recommend wearing earphones because it sounds horrible. I will post the dentist once the procedure is complete with no complications. Feel free to PM me however. There is a hygienist who speaks perfect english.

This is timely because I just had to do this in Cali, where it cost a bit more.

I paid 1.5 million pesos to extract a molar and put in a bone graft and membrane for the bone to regenerate.

After 6-8 months the gap in the jaw bone where the molar was will be regenerated and I will get an implant put in.

2-3 months later they'll put on the abutment and crown.

They said the cost will be 4-4.5 million for the implant/abutment/crown. This is for a Straumann implant, which I'm told is the Cadillac of implants.

@LowerCaseG: Which tooth did you get done? Was it a molar? Did you need a bone graft? Does 3 million include everything, i.e., extraction, tomography, implant, abutment, crown? Is it for a Straumann implant? My 6 million cost would be double what you paid, so I should probably get it done in Bogota with your guy.

@doc holliday: What's your wholesale cost in the US for a Straumann implant/abutment/crown, if you don't mind saying? Is Straumann really the Cadillac of implants?

 

[doc holliday]

Gentlemen,

For those of you interested in dental work, I had phase one of a dental implant done in Bogota. I have nothing to compare it to, but was pretty much pain free from the time the Novocaine wore off. I will have to return for the crown in 3-4 months. Total price of the procedure not including travel = 3 Million Pesos = ~ $1000 compared to $4500-5000 US east coast. If you shop around you can probably get it for significantly less, but this is not something I am looking for the cheapest price for.

In and out 30-45 minutes. I would recommend wearing earphones because it sounds horrible. I will post the dentist once the procedure is complete with no complications. Feel free to PM me however. There is a hygienist who speaks perfect english.

This is timely because I just had to do this in Cali, where it cost a bit more.

I paid 1.5 million pesos to extract a molar and put in a bone graft and membrane for the bone to regenerate.

After 6-8 months the gap in the jaw bone where the molar was will be regenerated and I will get an implant put in.

2-3 months later they'll put on the abutment and crown.

They said the cost will be 4-4.5 million for the implant/abutment/crown. This is for a Straumann implant, which I'm told is the Cadillac of implants.

@LowerCaseG: Which tooth did you get done? Was it a molar? Did you need a bone graft? Does 3 million include everything, i.e., extraction, tomography, implant, abutment, crown? Is it for a Straumann implant? My 6 million cost would be double what you paid, so I should probably get it done in Bogota with your guy.

@doc holliday: What's your wholesale cost in the US for a Straumann implant/abutment/crown, if you don't mind saying? Is Straumann really the Cadillac of implants?

Yeah Straumann is a great implant, used by a lot of surgeons. Wholesale cost is about $700-800 start to finish for implant, abutment and crown in the US. Like I said, they sell to Latin America and other parts of the world a lot cheaper than they do to US dentists.