Archive for March, 2008
Folks from the U.S. and elsewhere who have come to Prisma for dental work and care are always struck by the friendly atmosphere and the flexibility of the dentists and the staff, even on the busiest of days. Drs. Telma and Josef know that their patients are juggling their own schedules and home lives and do everything they can to accommodate that, including fitting in walk-ins.
But patients who need major work — dental implants, oral surgery, crowns, veneers, etc. — generally must schedule their appointments a month in advance. Prisma’s overseas patient coordinator, Tiffany, who does an incredible job of handling patient e-mail and phone calls and also helping with accommodations and travel, advises that April is just about booked up for major dental work.
“I have great May and June dates still, but April is just too tight,” she said today. “Some things can’t be rushed, and great dental work is one of those things.” Read the rest of this entry »
Companion Global Dental of Columbia, South Carolina — a company that has chosen Prisma Dental in launching its option of overseas dental care for Americans — has now affiliated with a tour company to provide “one stop access” to scenic attractions in Costa Rica.
U.S. patients who travel to Costa Rica for care now have a convenient way to see Costa Rica’s volcanoes, national parks, coffee farms, biological reserves and other breathtaking scenery while awaiting their dental appointments, according to Phil Midden, Companion Global Dental’s manager of operations. Companion Global Dental, a division of Columbia, S.C.-based Companion Global Healthcare Inc., has affiliated with Tropical Expeditions of Costa Rica to provide its clients with day or overnight tours of popular attractions. Clients may schedule tours for before or after completion of dental work, or between appointments if multiple visits are required over several days.
“At Prisma Dental, we have had a happy association with Tropical Expeditions and we look forward to continuing to work with them,” said Dr. Telma Rubinstein. “We often have patients from abroad for full mouth reconstruction, crowns and implants who spend a week or two in Costa Rica, and they want to see some of our beautiful country. Providing that there is no medical risk, we are happy to help them do so.”
Tropical Expeditions specializes in tours for medical patients. Tours, including white-water rafting, waterfall excursions, rain forest tours and more, are led by English-speaking guides certified in first aid and CPR. Read the rest of this entry »
The media in the U.K. recently has been full of stories about the inadequacy of dental care under the National Health System there, as we pointed out on Feb. 28 here. Today, there’s a report about waiting lists from The Scotsman.
“WHEN Caroline Dollemore-Hunt urgently needed a dentist to treat a painful problem with her teeth, she thought the NHS would provide one.
But after being told she is 6,836th on the waiting list merely to be registered with an NHS dentist, she has become resigned to her teeth crumbling and falling out before she can get help …”
Read the rest of this entry »
Zirconium crowns are beautiful, aren’t they? They look even better, of course, after Josef puts them in and creates a new, perfect smile for a patient.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Sun-News of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has an article today about people traveling abroad for medical care. The paper notes that:
“But with hefty medical costs in the United States, more Grand Strand residents and others across the country are taking advantage of cost-saving health care opportunities abroad.”
… and goes on to give an example of a patient who went to Costa Rica and saved approximately $30,000 on dental implants. Dental care abroad tends to cost roughly 60 to 80 percent less than care in the U.S., said David Boucher, S.C. Blue Cross Blue Shield senior vice president for health care services. Prisma Dental is in partnership with Companion Global Healthcare, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield South Carolina (as this blog has previously noted.)
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