I am very upset about my dental work done here at Clinica West. It's a group of specialists located in Guachipelin. The office is lavish, the equipment is modern but the work done is terrible. I have been seeing this group of doctors for about well over a year now, and I go there every two weeks. First I went to this dentist, left my teeth terribly sensitive. She told me I had to get an emergency root canal, with what turned out to be her husband. I had the work done and then they sent me to Javier Quiros for a crown, which I've had all sorts of problems with and paid $600 for, and now I find myself paying another $300 because it broke. I insist the crown is not a perfect fit, he said I needed a psychologist because I have OCD problems. The point is don't get your work done here because you might think your saving money but in the end I've spent well over $3000 on a crown and root canal. I've had the crown done 3 times and spent $500 each time.
I sent the following emails to other members about two weeks ago who had emailed me asking about Prisma Dental, and the outcome of my trip. Anyway I hope this helps. ( PS Since I sent this email I saw a post about Dr Karver "Smiles" that you might want to read. Dr Karvers web site is listed in the email below. This was the first negative post that I found about him. http://www.medtripinfo.com/node/204 )
Â
I'm just back from CR, and I had one crown done out of five needed, I wanted to do one and see how it went while I'll I was on vacation there. I spent quite a few hours on line researching CR dentists by reading forums, articles and visiting sites. Unfortunately the more I researched the more undecided I became. At first I was going to go to Prisma, I spoke with them twice and made an appointment which I later canceled. The reason I cancelled was because out of all the dentists that I read about in the forums Prisma had quite a few negative reviews. In their defence, they also had allot of good reviews, however, I did not find any negative reviews about most of the other dentists mentioned. The forum post that clinched it was http://plasticsurgeryjourneys.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6851
You will find much more dental forum posts at this site.
Â
I chose Dr Eduardo Castro http://www.interdentcr.com/index.php based on my research and a phone call from a member of med trip who responded to my forum.
Dr Castro is affiliated with Dr Arnoldo Anglada http://www.costaricaimplants.com/index.php who does the implants. Both of these dentist are mentioned in the forums @ PSJ.com along with http://www.kaversmiles.com/ , http://www.aestheticdentistrycr.com/ , and check out this site about the different dentists http://www.sonrisacosmeticdentistry.com/average_costs_sonrisa_dentists.htm .
My experience with Dr Castro went very well and his staff was very friendly. I do not speak Spanish (he speaks English) but I have been to CR many times so I knew what to expect as far as the culture and surroundings. I am planning to go back to have my other crowns done in the near future and will not hesitate to use Dr Castro again. All in all, I would think that you would do alright with most of the dentists mentioned in these forums. If you speak Spanish that's a major plus. I think that maybe some of these dentists are becoming very busy and are over booking? Visit your dentist at home before your leave for their recommendation as to the procedures that you will need and check out the forums. Make sure that you find out how much the entire process for your procedures will cost because there is usually more that one charge per procedure.
I've alreay posted the following, but if I can save someone the pain, loss of time and money that I have endured then it is good that it appears more than once!!
I recognize that many are travelling to Costa Rica for Dental work, and I want to warn fellow travellers to beware of Prisma Dental in San Jose Costa Rica. The Doctors there Dr. Thema Rubenstein and Dr. Jospeh Cordero are very bad, and not competent. .I have had a lot of dental work done in my life, and an old molar which had a root canal had to be pulled as it just gave out. I decided to interview several Implant specialists to discuss the possibility of an implant, and Prisma Dental ws my first appointment for the day. They examined me, and they told me I needed to have an immediate Bone Graft in order to have implants. They said it needed to be done immediately, and couldn't even wait for a few days. I was startled as I thought it was a consultation and was not planning a procdure.
They shocked me by their urgency, and I consented to this dental procedure. Dr. Rubenstein was the salesman in the group. The pain was intense from their dental work. They gave me a $100. shot after completing the procedure and sent me on my way with instruction to take an anti- inflmmatory and an antibiotic.
  had to go to the hospital the night of the surgery for pain medication.
he work they did was expensive, painful and when I called them for follow up consultation a week later they were rude and uncaring.Â
They also told me to leave the stitches in for 4 weeks, and that they would dissolve. After 12 days, the dental pain was intense. I went to another dentist, also in Costa Rica, who told me they had not done the procedure correctly, that while they may have inserted some bone, they never did the actual graft and he put me on amoxicillin as I had a raging infection.Â
This other dentist refused to take any money from me and was only interested in stopping the infection and seeing me get healthy. He was also shocked that a dentist could tell a patient to leave stitches in for four weeks!! He shared with me that he had heard from other patients that Prisma Dental frequently told patients they needed immediate work.
I had phoned Prisma Dental several times for follow up, and to tell them I was in pain, and they never phoned me back.
When I finally reached Dr. Rubenstein, and told Dr. Rubenstein that I had been to another dental surgeon, and that he had said that they had not done this bone graft procedure correcty, her response to me was "that the other dentist needed to get glasses." She was rude and again uncaring.
Run from Prisma Dental. Do not have dental work there. They may be all over the Internet, but they are incomeptent and uncaring.Â
 I will apparently have to have this bone graft procedure redone in a couple of months after the site has had time to heal.
My son sees one of his partners, Dr. Arnoldo Anglada. My son will be seeing Dr. Castro for the final phase of his mouth restoration. Be happy to talk with anyone who is researching this and tell you what I've learned. Cheryl
I just visited the office of Dr Eduardo Castro in Sabana Sur (San Jose) and was very impressed. They speak perfect english and the offices are very modern and advanced. Prices are about a third of the usa prices.
I'm trying to speak with and research the process, decision points etc. that you went through in making your decision to go abroad for dental care. Would you be willing to speak with me on the phone?
Clinica West
I am very upset about my dental work done here at Clinica West. It's a group of specialists located in Guachipelin. The office is lavish, the equipment is modern but the work done is terrible. I have been seeing this group of doctors for about well over a year now, and I go there every two weeks. First I went to this dentist, left my teeth terribly sensitive. She told me I had to get an emergency root canal, with what turned out to be her husband. I had the work done and then they sent me to Javier Quiros for a crown, which I've had all sorts of problems with and paid $600 for, and now I find myself paying another $300 because it broke. I insist the crown is not a perfect fit, he said I needed a psychologist because I have OCD problems. The point is don't get your work done here because you might think your saving money but in the end I've spent well over $3000 on a crown and root canal. I've had the crown done 3 times and spent $500 each time.
Implants
Back from CR
Hello to all,
I sent the following emails to other members about two weeks ago who had emailed me asking about Prisma Dental, and the outcome of my trip. Anyway I hope this helps. ( PS Since I sent this email I saw a post about Dr Karver "Smiles" that you might want to read. Dr Karvers web site is listed in the email below. This was the first negative post that I found about him. http://www.medtripinfo.com/node/204 )
Â
I'm just back from CR, and I had one crown done out of five needed, I wanted to do one and see how it went while I'll I was on vacation there. I spent quite a few hours on line researching CR dentists by reading forums, articles and visiting sites. Unfortunately the more I researched the more undecided I became. At first I was going to go to Prisma, I spoke with them twice and made an appointment which I later canceled. The reason I cancelled was because out of all the dentists that I read about in the forums Prisma had quite a few negative reviews. In their defence, they also had allot of good reviews, however, I did not find any negative reviews about most of the other dentists mentioned. The forum post that clinched it was http://plasticsurgeryjourneys.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=6851
You will find much more dental forum posts at this site.
Â
I chose Dr Eduardo Castro http://www.interdentcr.com/index.php based on my research and a phone call from a member of med trip who responded to my forum.
Dr Castro is affiliated with Dr Arnoldo Anglada http://www.costaricaimplants.com/index.php who does the implants. Both of these dentist are mentioned in the forums @ PSJ.com along with http://www.kaversmiles.com/ , http://www.aestheticdentistrycr.com/ , and check out this site about the different dentists http://www.sonrisacosmeticdentistry.com/average_costs_sonrisa_dentists.htm .
My experience with Dr Castro went very well and his staff was very friendly. I do not speak Spanish (he speaks English) but I have been to CR many times so I knew what to expect as far as the culture and surroundings. I am planning to go back to have my other crowns done in the near future and will not hesitate to use Dr Castro again. All in all, I would think that you would do alright with most of the dentists mentioned in these forums. If you speak Spanish that's a major plus. I think that maybe some of these dentists are becoming very busy and are over booking? Visit your dentist at home before your leave for their recommendation as to the procedures that you will need and check out the forums. Make sure that you find out how much the entire process for your procedures will cost because there is usually more that one charge per procedure.
Good Luck!
Â
Mark
Good that you didn't go to Prisma
I've alreay posted the following, but if I can save someone the pain, loss of time and money that I have endured then it is good that it appears more than once!!
I recognize that many are travelling to Costa Rica for Dental work, and I want to warn fellow travellers to beware of Prisma Dental in San Jose Costa Rica. The Doctors there Dr. Thema Rubenstein and Dr. Jospeh Cordero are very bad, and not competent. .I have had a lot of dental work done in my life, and an old molar which had a root canal had to be pulled as it just gave out. I decided to interview several Implant specialists to discuss the possibility of an implant, and Prisma Dental ws my first appointment for the day. They examined me, and they told me I needed to have an immediate Bone Graft in order to have implants. They said it needed to be done immediately, and couldn't even wait for a few days. I was startled as I thought it was a consultation and was not planning a procdure.
They shocked me by their urgency, and I consented to this dental procedure. Dr. Rubenstein was the salesman in the group. The pain was intense from their dental work. They gave me a $100. shot after completing the procedure and sent me on my way with instruction to take an anti- inflmmatory and an antibiotic.
  had to go to the hospital the night of the surgery for pain medication.
he work they did was expensive, painful and when I called them for follow up consultation a week later they were rude and uncaring.Â
They also told me to leave the stitches in for 4 weeks, and that they would dissolve. After 12 days, the dental pain was intense. I went to another dentist, also in Costa Rica, who told me they had not done the procedure correctly, that while they may have inserted some bone, they never did the actual graft and he put me on amoxicillin as I had a raging infection.Â
This other dentist refused to take any money from me and was only interested in stopping the infection and seeing me get healthy. He was also shocked that a dentist could tell a patient to leave stitches in for four weeks!! He shared with me that he had heard from other patients that Prisma Dental frequently told patients they needed immediate work.
I had phoned Prisma Dental several times for follow up, and to tell them I was in pain, and they never phoned me back.
When I finally reached Dr. Rubenstein, and told Dr. Rubenstein that I had been to another dental surgeon, and that he had said that they had not done this bone graft procedure correcty, her response to me was "that the other dentist needed to get glasses." She was rude and again uncaring.
Run from Prisma Dental. Do not have dental work there. They may be all over the Internet, but they are incomeptent and uncaring.Â
 I will apparently have to have this bone graft procedure redone in a couple of months after the site has had time to heal.
Dr. Castro
My son sees one of his partners, Dr. Arnoldo Anglada. My son will be seeing Dr. Castro for the final phase of his mouth restoration. Be happy to talk with anyone who is researching this and tell you what I've learned. Cheryl
I just visited the office of
I just visited the office of Dr Eduardo Castro in Sabana Sur (San Jose) and was very impressed. They speak perfect english and the offices are very modern and advanced. Prices are about a third of the usa prices.
Information
Hi,
I'm trying to speak with and research the process, decision points etc. that you went through in making your decision to go abroad for dental care. Would you be willing to speak with me on the phone?
Jim
Dr Castro
Thanks for the reply, let me know how you make out.