The Prisma Dental blog was down recently for about five days due to server problems. We’ve restored the blog from backups but are missing some posts from June and July. I’ll be restoring those by hand and we’ll resume our regular updates.
If you have been a subscriber to the blog, you may have to re-subscribe in order to be notified of updates and we urge you do so.
We look forward to hearing from friends, patients and prospective patients in August and beyond. See our contact page!
Pura Vida, all …
-jeff
The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday on a survey that indicates that men and women over 60 “lack adequate insurance and cannot afford oral healthcare.” Link to full story:
Older L.A. County adults suffer from inadequate dental care
Dr. Roseann Mulligan, an expert in geriatric dentistry at USC, said she was not surprised to learn that so many older Angelenos were lacking in dental coverage and care.“
They’re on a limited income,” she said. “They have to pick and choose. . . . Dental insurance for seniors is virtually nonexistent, and unless you’re able to pay out of pocket, you frequently don’t get dental care.”
Increasing numbers of seniors and Baby Boomers are heading out of the country for dental and other medical care when they cannot afford it in the U.S. — especially when the work required is major.
Preventative care is key to long-term oral health at any age, according to Telma Rubinstein at Prisma Dental in Costa Rica.
Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Prisma Dental is closed Monday, May 5, for Labor Day in Costa Rica. The staff will be back in the office on Tuesday, May 6. They appreciate your patience.
As always, the blog is open for your reading pleasure. We have added a currency exchange calculator, near the bottom of the column on the right column, and will be adding other features for the convenience of readers and patients in the near future.
