Archive for February, 2008
Among the compelling reasons that patients come to us in Costa Rica for dental crowns and prostheses is that we run our own dental lab, which means we control the quality. We make our own crowns and bridges right at Prisma.
Not many dentists have that kind of control. A report in The Columbus Dispatch of Ohio today (link to story) that also aired on TV station WBNS (link to video) said that dangerous levels of lead has been found in dental crowns coming from a lab in China, “the source of a growing number of dental implants used by U.S. dentists.” Read the rest of this entry »
The Daily Express of London, in an article today, is reporting, well, just what the subject line says, in big capital letters.
11 MILLION CAN’T AFFORD DENTIST
By Victoria Fletcher, Health Editor
MORE than 11 million British adults have not seen a dentist in the last two years – because even a check-up is too expensive.
And more than half the adult population now have teeth missing.
Almost eight million patients admit they have not had recommended dental work in the last five years because of the cost.
See the full story here.)
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Editor’s Note: This is a story with which we are all too familiar. Prisma Dental sees many patients annually from the U.K. It is not a difficult flight from London airports, and U.K. patients are delighted by the climate and the Costa Rican culture as well. We offer implants, crowns and veneers and have tremendous experience with affordable whole mouth reconstruction.
Companion Global Dental, a division of Companion Global Healthcare, Inc. in Columbia, South Carolina, has chosen Prisma Dental as among its first partners in healthcare abroad. Companion Global Healthcare is a subsidiary of BlueCross Blueshield of South Carolina.
Phil Midden, manager of complementary health care programs at S.C. BlueCross, said rates at Prisma are substantially lower than those at many U.S. clinics, and that he was thoroughly impressed with Prisma, its facilities and the dentists and staff. Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Friends and Patients,
If you have visited Prisma Dental, you know that we like to be at the leading edge of dental technology, and that means staying up with the latest in materials science and computers as well.
Zirconium oxide is the latest material to be adapted by modern dentistry. The introduction of this material in restorative and prosthetic dentistry is made possible by computerized dentistry technology in use at Prisma Dental, and is a decisive step towards the use of full ceramics. Zirconium oxide has very high strength and corrosion resistance. With new zirconium crown techniques, we can also eliminate the problem of exposed metal crown margins in the older, porcelain-fused-to-metal technique.
Zirconium oxide crowns have several advantages … Read the rest of this entry »
I was on the radio program “Windsor Now” (AM800 CKLW, Windsor Ontario and Detroit, Michigan) with host Melanie Deveau yesterday, talking about medical tourism and travel, and of course Costa Rica came up as one of the main places that North Americans go.
Most people are unaware that dental care is the biggest single component of the so-called “medical tourism” phenomenon. Major dental work is expensive in both Canada and the U.S. (one of the reasons I and thousands of other Americans and Canadians went to Prisma over the last 16 years.)
According to Neilesh Patel of the non-profit company HealthCare Tourism International, more than 40 percent of patients who search his organization’s website are looking for dental care and, after that, cosmetic surgery and treatment. Read the rest of this entry »
