Archive for the Costa Rica category
Some patients at Prisma Dental are enamored of more than just their new smile. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and increasing numbers of North Americans are choosing to live there. Here is an email from a recent patient:
Dear Doctors and Staff,
Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you sooner but my husband and I have started to make plans to move to Costa Rica! We are in the process of taking care of some business matters and hope to be back in your beautiful country by October or so.
I wanted to let you know everything is going well with my dental work and I just love how it looks and feels! Also to let you know I will be back for any other work I will need in the future. Everyone from my first phone call with Tiffany to walking in the door and meeting everyone was great. Your office was wonderful. I have told everyone I know about you! So here’s to everyone at Prisma! “Five Stars” for sure.
Thanks again,
Elizabeth G.
Prisma Dental has extended its practice in 2008 to provide comprehensive dental care for children, in response to the desire of many of our patients who travel to Costa Rica from the United States with their families. “I wish I could bring my kids in for appointments when I come in,” is what they told us.
So we have responded. The latest addition to the staff and family of Prisma Dental is Dr. Diana Fishman, who specializes in dental care for children. Diana is a pediatric dentist who has worked at the National Children’s Hospital of Costa Rica and the Dentistry Clinic of Saint Gabriel in Costa Rica. Prior to that, she did her postdoctoral work in Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Costa Rica and interned at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Dr. Fishman perfected her English while studying in Boston.
“She’s wonderful with children — the kids all love her,” said Dr. Telma Rubinstein. “And it is great that we now have a specialist on staff for pediatric appointments and cases.
“Many people are unaware of how important dental care is for children. Taking proper care of primary teeth is very important and can make a huge difference in the health of a child and in avoiding problems as an adult.” Read the rest of this entry »
When I first considered going to Costa Rica for dental work, I had dozens of questions. I was comparing and contrasting my options; I was nervous about going outside of the United States for major dental work; and after all, I was contemplating spending what was, for me, still a lot of money (though many thousands less than the same work would have cost in the U.S.)
It was the spring of 2004, and Dr. Telma Rubinstein had answers for all of my questions. Thank goodness for e-mail, though we also spoke on the phone several times. I remember noticing that I would sometimes get e-mail from Telma at odd hours — midnight and later. When I got to Costa Rica, I found out that those late night hours were pretty much the only ones she had for corresponding with possible patients. Prisma Dental often stays open into the evening to accommodate patients; and Telma and Josef reasonably liked to have at least a few hours to have dinner with their two terrific kids … so the e-mail box waited, until the very end of the day. It was a crazy life, and I wondered how she did it.
So did Telma.
So I was glad of Prisma’s decision, in 2005, to hire an overseas patient coordinator, Tiffany Kofroth. Now it is Tiffany who handles most of the e-mail and phone calls, in consultation with Telma and Josef — freeing them to spend more time with patients (and to get a little more sleep.)
Tiffany lived in Reading until she was 21 and then moved to Houston, Texas, for three years. She’s a certified and licensed pharmacy technician in the U.S., where she worked for doctors’ offices and in hospitals. (Click on the photo to view larger size.)
“I have been at Prisma almost three years now and I love working here,” she says. She has been married “to the most wonderful husband in the world” for about three years as well. 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 »
