Looking for great dentist for implants

Blue Cross recommended Dr. Mario is a dental implant specialist located in Escazu and featured extensively on this site at:

[ https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/department88.cfm ]

Scott

The thing about Prisma to me was that they wanted to sell me everything under the sun – they gave me the “your teeth are like jewelry so you need to buy this $300 teeth guard” plastic thing to use at night. Then they told me I had a cist and it needed to be removed or it could rupture. Another $300 or so to remove (another doctor said that it was so small that it was nothing to worry about and that i had had it for a long time and they are not uncommon). Then they wanted to do a complete make over and extract teeth and replace with implants and do root canals in healthy teeth. What got me is they wanted to do a crown on a perfectly healthy tooth rather than a veneer to match color (maybe higher profit in a crown? who knows – but very fishy smelling)…

Now, this might make since if you are looking for cosmetic dentistry so your teeth look picture perfect. I wasn’t into that and explained my desires, but that failed to impress them. They saw the gringo dollars and tried to sell me the whole show. Also they were semi high pressure sales tactics as well and had a kind of “we expect you to agree to the quote and do the work now” – vibe.

They looked upset when i walked out after paying for a teeth cleaning like about $80 – $100 and paying for a panoramic x-ray. The whole appointment cost me around $300.

Plus they have you locked in the back office. I know buildings here have guard gates where you have to hit the buzzer so the door opens and this building has one at the main entrance, but the office has one between the inside dental office and the waiting room. I really disliked feeling captive.

Well if you are a gringo that does not care about price because you think you are saving so much because of the inflated prices in the US, than they may be your cup of tea. To me they appear very greedy and not Pura Vida at all. Very uppity… Money hungry wanabe rich gringos to me. I didn’t come here to be around those kind of Ticos.. Plenty of those types in the states. So I prefer not giving those types my business.

I used to use Dr Marcos because they are genuinely nice people but now they have a churn and earn mentality and some guy from New York managing their business. It has really changed and to me the quality and individual attention has faded. They are still a good value price wise but the quality/individual attention…???

I am thinking about trying to fins someone in the middle. An average size practice that is not focused on the gringo buck and treats each patient like an individual rather than a client..

Its harder now because Costa Ricans in general are much more materialistic and greed is on a dramatic upswing here. This place is losing its soul, but still compared to the semi-souless US there are still compassionate people but less and less all the time when it comes to professionals in San Jose…

Just my view…

If anyone knows of a middle of the road practice with good quality and reasonable prices (Not Prisma prices)for Costa Rica – in that I mean one Costa Rican professional compared to another. Not comparing US dental prices to Costa Rican prices – PLEASE let me know. I need some work and am not going back to Dr. Marcos Cavellari.

You have to be careful here. About a year ago I lost a crown in Grecia and a gringa recommended a dentist near by. I went there and he charged me $60 to glue it! I was in the US not too long ago and lost the same crown (which now has been replaced) and they charged me $45 in a modern immaculately clean facility..

Gringos are viewed as ripe for the pickings so be aware,,,,

Depends what you are looking for… No? I am not saying Prisma is incompetent… I am saying they will try and charge you for services and work you may not need… Now if you are going there for a crown or a specific need its one thing, but I was looking to have a lot of work done (in my opinion) and they really poured it on price wise. As an example Dr Marcos charges $40 for a cleaning and Panoramic xrays and molds are included in the price – not so at Prisma… Guess they need you to pay for all that shiny stuff inside their office… I don’t need Beverly Hills flash… guess that’s why I live here!