DENTAL TOURISM
By Karen Hamlin
1024 words
THE PINNACLE
Most of us have already climbed the rock wall of our life’s
journey to the peak of our mountain and are now on the
slippery slope of the descent. Grasping to hang on to our
prime, we must confront each deterioration brought on by
the aging process and stop it, slow it down or reverse it. It
requires a lot of research, money and risk into attributes we
always took for granted because they came naturally with a
young body.
CHANGES
One deterioration you may need to attend to is teeth. Even if
you had excellent teeth your entire life, changes can occur.
Your once rock-hard teeth may start to crumble or crack. Or,
your gums may become swollen or bleed from gingivitis that
can loosen your teeth. As a former dental hygienist, I had
perfect teeth and then I turned 55. At first, one old, huge,
silver filling fell out of a molar, leaving behind a half of a
tooth: that is crown number 1 ($1200). Since that year,
crowns, root canals, cavities, extractions along with a
myriad of other complications have long begged for
attention. Dentistry was at the top of my Dread List.
DENTAL TOURISM
Dental Tourism is following right behind Medical Tourism
that has garnished a lot of attention lately. Since dentistry is
still considered an adjunct to medicine and not all that
important, few people have comprehensive dental insurance.
And the cost can be prohibitive. But, savvy people are
looking outside of our borders and comparing prices and
dentists.
OPTIONS
With a bit of research, I contacted Servando Acuna,
President of the Cancun Medical Travel Association, and
requested some assistance. Mr. Acuna is serving as
president of the newly formed Dental Association and invited
me to visit some of the clinics.