The Total Cost of Our Trip

I know that ultimately this is the question that everyone has in mind...

 

"How much did the whole trip cost you?"

 

So it is now time for the breakdown of costs.  Remember that this is the cost for 2 people, and 14 days/13 nights in Costa Rica.  As you have read, I didn't have dental work done, I was there for support and a tan, i.e. vacation.  :-)

• Dentist - $2,200 (Could have been a bit cheaper with the "cash" discount, but we chose to put on our credit card, which is always paid off every month, no sense in  paying those interest fees!) One thing you will find is that "cash" is king!  This price was for the 3 implants, tooth extraction, bone graft, temporary crown, x-rays, drugs and impressions and the $150 warranty.
• Hotels - $1074 (For 13 nights, breakfast included, 8 nights in San Jose, 6 nights in Jaco, we did pay cash for the discount)
• Food - $185 (Includes 4 meals at restaurants and sodas, eating lunch at Sabana Park for 2 days, food from grocery stores in San Jose and Jaco, and the farmers market in Jaco)
• Airfare - $1,264 ($632. pp, Delta, straight flight from Atlanta to San Jose)
• Costa Rica Tax - $58 ($26 pp) This is the tax you pay at the airport when you leave Costa Rica.
• Taxis/Transportation - $136 (Taxi trips in San Jose and our RT Interbus transportation from San Jose to Jaco and back)

GRAND TOTAL = $4,917

$5,000 is around the bare minimum U.S. cost for 1 implant, and if you are lucky, with a crown!

One more thing to note: We do have to return because of the type of implant that Bakty had done, it is called a 2-stage implant or dual load implant.  This means he has to return and get the permanent crowns put on the posts.  While we are there he is going to replace a couple of his crowns, and I am going to have several of mine replaced as well.  Can you blame us?  At a cost of $300 per crown, can't beat that!  I figure that this will be our approximate cost for the upcoming trip.

• Airfare - $1,200 ($600 pp. I have already checked pricing and it is a little cheaper in the fall)
• Hotel - $657 (9 nights/10 days, if that is how long we stay, and if that is just us going.  We have already spoken with several friends interested in making the trip with us when we go back.  This will significantly reduce our hotel costs if we can split it.  Remember we are staying in an "Apartotel" Apartment/Hotel.)
• Food - $150
• Costa Rica Tax - $58
• Dentist - $3,850  (I anticipate 5 crowns for Bakty and 6 for me @ $300 per crown, plus x-rays and impressions for both of us, and of course my warranty fee for 3 years.)

 These are just our hard costs and doesn't include extra curricular activities or transportation. It all is depending on how long we are actually there, plus while in San Jose, we walk pretty much everywhere.

Total for upcoming trip = $5,915.

 That is less than the cost of 5 crowns for us here in the U.S.!

 

So, now let me ask you-

 

 Have you finally been removed from your brainwashed, hypnotic state that has you believing that you can only have your dental work done here in the U.S.?  Have I given you enough information to help you make a solid decision to take the next step and make your plans for Costa Rica?  I hope so, after all you have better things to do with your hard earned dollars, enjoying life should be one of them!  I hope I have helped you and that this will be the best experience for medical care you have ever had!

 

I will still be continuing on with my blog and talking a bit about our trip to the beach and our experience after returning home, which by the way, is all good.  I will pick back up when we head back to Costa Rica in the fall and let you know how our return visit turns out.  Who knows, maybe we will meet you there!  

 

Pura Vida!  

 

The Final Implant

Wednesday February 27

  The morning was less rushed for us as we didn't have to be to the dentist office until 2:00pm.  We took our time at breakfast and spent about 2 hours eating and chatting with our fellow dental patients.  We met more people this morning, and even someone who grew up in the town next to where I am from, and someone else who had been driving a little too fast thru my hometown and received a ticket!  A very small world it is!  We also met a wonderful single woman adopting a 10 year old boy.   Very admirable for her to be doing it as she is single and will be raising him by herself, although I can see from her blog she has plenty of friends and her parents to help.  

  After breakfast we went for a walk thru the Italian restaurant, El Oliva, which is connected to the hotel, it wasn't open for business yet, but we took the shortcut through, it looked very neat and clean and had a special charm about it. I understand from people who have dined there that it is very good Italian food.  Next, on in to the casino to exchange currency,  no gambling though.  The machines were way different than what Bakty was used to seeing in the U.S., so he thought it best not to waste any money on them. Like it really matters what machines are played, they still get your money!  The casino was the best place for us to exchange our currency.  Then on to the Palma Real hotel to check out the workout room.  It is on the top floor of the hotel and has a mountain view from the outside patio and you can see all the way to the end of the road and Sabana Park. So when doing your workout you have an enjoyable view, and afterwards you can step out onto the open roof and relax.  The workout room consists of treadmills, an elliptical, a bike and some free weights. 

Work out room at the Palma Real

On the rooftop at the Palma Real

  We left the Palma Real and continued our walk back down the street toward the Cristina Hotel.  We decided to venture a little further past to see what was at the end of the street.  Nothing there except more gated industrial business complexes and a street vendor peddling his wonderful avocados and sapotas!  We bought 3 avocados and 2 sapotas.  He asked us if we wanted them for "hoy", (today) or "mañana", (tomorrow)? Great service at least we didn't have to guess as to the ripeness. "Uno (1) for hoy and dos (2) for mañana", we told him.  The sapotas were delicious as well as the avocado, very sweet.  We couldn't wait to get back and have some for a  mid-morning snack.  He had given us some samples before we bought any, so we knew it would be good, and it was, and all for under $5! 

  We still had a couple of hours before we needed to head on over to the dentist office, so I went out by the pool to get some sun and Bakty caught up on his emails and work in the room.  At about 1:00 we headed on out to have lunch at the local soda up the street.  It is called Soda Keren, and it was very good and inexpensive. They have a daily food bar or you can order from their menu.  We took from the bar, chicken and rice with black beans and salad and a fruity drink that was included in the price ($5). The serving size was plenty for both of us to share. We had time to eat in and chose a small table toward the back of the restaurant.   


  After finishing our meal we took our time walking to the dentist office.  Upon arriving we did the usual, sign in and sit and wait for someone to call Bakty's name and of course visit with those we had previously met and meet some new people who had just arrived.  Within about 10 minutes they called for Bakty and he was off to the surgery room.  This time it was about 45 minutes before he was done.  This was the most painful day of his visits.  He had the bad tooth removed, a bone graft done and the implant put in all at the same time.  He had taken his pain medicine before hand and was glad that he did!  They sent him away with a frozen blue surgical glove, very ingenious!  We were able to keep it with us frozen & thawed to use during the rest of the time he needed it while we were in Costa Rica. 

  Before leaving the office, we settled up our total bill for the work that had been done; 3 implants, 1 bone graft, 1 tooth extraction and temporary crowns for 2 teeth, and our "insurance policy"-$2,200!  That in and of itself is less than the cost of 1 implant here in the U.S.!  They didn't put any temporary crowns on the 2 upper implants, just on the bottom one and the tooth behind it. Diana told us that Bakty would need to come back in 8 days to have the stitches removed from where the bone graft was placed. That was perfect!  Since we had planned on being there for 14 days anyway, it allowed us to head to the beach for a week, then come back and have the stitches removed and then head home.  We asked if there were any other fees that would be due and she said no, this was all we would pay until we came back for the permanent crowns.  We would need to return to Costa Rica anytime after 4 months to have the permanent crowns put on.  Before we left home we knew that we would have to make 2 trips, so not a problem for us.  We scheduled our return visit with Diana, to have the stitches removed, for the following Thursday afternoon.

  Now, about the "insurance policy", for $150, if you have a problem with your dental work, i.e. a failure of your implant, within 3 years, Dr. Cavallini's office will pay for your return airfare (up to $750) and lodging for up to a week (up to $75/night). Of course this is for the patient only.  When filling out your initial paperwork don't miss this important piece of paper, it has a heading of "Extended Travel and Lodging Warranty for Our Patients".  This is a great deal, considering that prior to this the patient was responsible for their own return expenses, even though the guarantee replacement/repair policy has always been free, you had to get back to Costa Rica at your own expense.  Now, consider the U.S. alternative-If it fails, you pay again.  I'll take Costa Rica any day!

  After saying our goodbyes to fellow patients in the waiting room, we headed back to the hotel as Bakty just wanted to rest.  He said he felt a lot more soreness from the bone graft; there was a lot of poking and packing to the procedure.  It wasn't that it was extremely painful, it was just discomfort. There wasn't very much swelling, just sore and throbbing.  Chicken soup is definitely on the menu for today.  He was told to stay away from smaller foods that would get into the gum of the newly placed bone graft, so no seeds, rice etc. So on we walked back to the hotel, Bakty with his blue hand against his face. 

  We hung out in the room for a while, ate soup and fruit and discussed what we were going to do for the next week while we waited for his mouth to heal.  We decided that we would head to the beach. 
Now I just had to find a cheap hotel at the last minute. 

Next Post:The Total Cost of Our Trip

The First Implants Are In!

Tuesday February 26

 My confirmation of not returning to the restaurant that we ate at last night- I woke with a splitting headache and swelled fingers!  MSG-ugh, it would take me,1 Advil,  most of the day and a few gallons of water to rid myself of the horrible side effects of dinner the night before.  For those who don't know me, I don't take drugs for my headaches, but this was the exception, I didn't want to be miserable all day since Bakty was having his first dental appointment for his implants to be done.  He was going to need me in top form to help him in whatever way he needed. 

  When we were up and moving we went out to the pool area to have breakfast. Breakfast is served from 6:30 am to 10 am.  It is a nice combination of options to choose from.  Coffee, milk, tea, juice, yogurt drinks, a fruit or 2 of the day, eggs however you want them cooked, meats & cheese, breads, jellies, fried plantains and of course beans & rice.  The menu varies somewhat from day to day, but it is all good! We got our food and sat down at one of the tables near the pool.

  The weather was pleasant, mid 70's.   There were quite a few people at breakfast and a few of them we had seen the day before at Dr. Cavallini's office.  We struck up a conversation with a mother and daughter who were there to get the daughter's teeth completely redone.  They had an appointment that morning around 11:00, as did we, and they asked if we wanted to walk with them to the office.  We accepted and agreed to meet them in the lobby around 10:30. We enjoyed the rest of our breakfast, meeting a few more people before we left to go prepare for the trip to the dentist.

  Not knowing how long we would be there this time, we took the laptop and more snacks with us.  We met our new friends in the lobby and proceeded on our way.  They were very helpful with information about the area; the museum and the park and the consistent warning of "don't go out after dark for safety reasons".  They gave us options for the route we could take, and told us about the different places they had eaten and shopped at.  All a great source of information for us newbies!  We were very appreciative of their company and knowledge.  They also expressed their gratitude and satisfaction with Dr. Cavallini and his staff, another happy client!  It took us about 20 minutes to get to the office walking at a slow steady pace.  Here is our route, which is the safest & most direct route to take.

  Upon arriving we signed the sheet and proceeded to get settled in for what we figured might be a long wait again.  Our friends asked if we had seen the hotel that is directly linked to the office, which we hadn't, so they took us on a tour.  The hotel is very nice and extremely convenient!  If you don't mind not having the pool, you might want to choose to stay there, if rooms are available. We finished our tour and sat back down in the waiting room.  Surprisingly enough, it was only about 10 minutes and they called for Bakty to go to one of the procedure rooms.  I followed him back and waited until Dr. Cavallini came in.  Dr. Cavallini then asked me to leave, but before I went, he had to tell us a blonde joke, about a blonde in a first class seat on a plane headed to New York.  Just in case you haven't heard it, I won't spoil it by retelling, but it was funny!  Maybe he moonlights as a comedian?

  So, I went back to the waiting room while Bakty was getting his first implants done. Thirty Five minutes later Bakty is walking back to the waiting room to tell me he is done.  Done?  He'd been there for just a few minutes!   Yep, done for the day.  He said Dr. Cavallini did the upper 2 implants instead of removing the bad tooth first.  His reasoning was, better to help the wounded first instead of the dead.  He does have a point. I think he knew that the other implant was going to be a bit more painful, so he delayed it another day.  So we stopped by Diana's desk and scheduled another appointment for Wednesday to have the last implant done.  We would need to be back at 2pm the next day.  Well that suited us just fine, and gave us opportunity to go shopping, and exploring.

  We walked back to the hotel, making a stop at the Mas X Menos grocery store.  Bakty was still a bit numb and we knew he would need soft food for the next couple of days.  Chicken soup was the menu of choice for him, so we ventured in for our first shopping experience since arriving.  The grocery store is laid out pretty much like the ones we have at home.  We hit the produce isle first, purchasing bananas, papayas, avocado, a coconut, organic carrots, onion, garlic, spinach and parsley, as well as other spices for the soup. We then moved on to the meat department and picked up a large package of chicken thighs.  Plain yogurt, rice, pasta, saltines and some  sweet rolls and a tasty treat from the deli. Total spent:$30 and I had enough food to last us for several days.  We spent quite a bit of time roaming up and down isles to see what they had.  Lot's of interesting things to be checked out at a later time. 

   Our kitchen was stocked with 4 of each of the essentials; cups, plates bowls, glasses and silverware.  We also had plenty of pots and pans and utensils to complete the task of making chicken soup. I proceeded to get the chicken  cooking for our supper.   We ate a quick lunch of fresh fruit, rolls and some of our snacks, Oh, and the cream filled pastry.  After that we went to the pool for some sun and then on to the lobby to meet more new folks.  We then returned and Skyped home to our family.

  The numbness was wearing off from the anesthesia injection.  Bakty didn't feel much pain, just a bit of throbbing.  He took some Advil and that seemed to ease the throbbing for the rest of the evening.  Bakty noted that unlike getting numb at the dentist office at home and having it last for hours, this seemed to wear off within about 2 hours.  Not a bad thing, very helpful when trying to eat soup.  These carrots were delicious!  Very sweet and very large.  One good thing to come from the restaurant was our to-go containers they served us well in keeping all of our leftovers without having to buy any type of plastic wrap or foil. 

  We ate our dinner and went back out to explore up and down our street,since it was only about 5pm and still daylight.  Just a few hundred feet from our hotel is another hotel, Palma Real, which houses the exercise room.  It seems they don't have a pool so they allow guests from Cristina to go there in exchange their guests use the pool at the Cristina. We would check it out on Wednesday morning before going to the dentist.  Around the corner from there is the casino, great place to exchange your dollars for colones.  We got the best price there.  We walked down the street all the way to the park and then decided we wanted to just relax, so we went back to the pool and struck up conversations with others relaxing for the evening.  It was great!  We met more interesting people and heard their stories; people from Alaska, Florida, Pennsylvania, all in Costa Rica for dental work.  Again, very positive experiences from all. 

Next Post: The Final Implant

 

Meeting with Dr. Cavallini

Monday February 25 continued....it has been a long day!


 Finally, they called for Bakty again, and we were off to have our consultation with Dr. Cavallini.
Bakty has given me permission to let y'all know this; he was pretty scared about the whole implant thing!  The whole idea of having something screwed into your jaw is pretty intimidating, not to mention he was anticipating major pain from the whole procedure.  That is another reason (other than the tanning thing ;-) ) that I came along, spousal support! 

I borrowed these photos from Dr. Cavallini's website- It seems my camera somehow lost my photos of these.

3D X-ray

Garden Area Near Front Waiting Room

   Dr. Cavalllini's office is to the right of the waiting room at the front of the office. He has a big comfortable office filled with books, photos, trinkets and his degrees posted on the wall.  He is very pleasant and personable, I can't imagine anyone not liking him.  He loves to tell jokes!  He didn't start our conversation with "well here is what we are going to do", he took his time and got to know us a little first.  He asked us where we were from, and where Bakty was from originally.  He looked at me and ascertained that I had a bit of English decent in me and insisted I speak with a British accent, I do Southern so much better and easier. He wanted to put us at ease and get to know us better.  He has clients come to him from all over the world, and being as Bakty is originally from Indonesia, we had to discuss languages. Dr. Cavallini makes a point to learn as many phrases from all different languages that he can.  He keeps a little book with the most popular phrases in it and we discussed quite a few of them.  He gave us a lesson in Turkish, Thai, Polish, Arabic & Italian.  After discussing languages and where we had traveled in the world and if this was our first time to Costa Rica, he then asked Bakty what he was wanting to have done with his teeth.  We explained what we thought needed to be done as he pulled the x-rays, that they had taken earlier that day, up on the large computer screen on his desk.  We had said originally we thought Bakty needed 4 implants, but he said there was no need for 4 and that 3 would do.  Bakty was actually only missing 2 upper back molars, but thought he was missing 3.  One more of  Bakty's other teeth needed to be extracted before the implant could be done on it, this was the tooth that prompted us to leave for Costa Rica as quickly as we did.  Bakty was ready for it to be out so the pain would go away.  We asked if that tooth could be taken care of first and Dr. Cavallini said that it could. 

  Bakty's next question was "So, what is the process going to be tomorrow?".  In a most serious expression, Dr. Cavallini explained that, " First we are going to call the funeral home, and then we are going to pick you out a nice casket, we'll be sure you have a nice funeral, then we are going to make sure we find your wife a good husband."  I was laughing, Bakty, not so much. He confessed to me later that he wasn't sure just how to take that statement, it had him a bit unsettled.  I understood Dr. Cavallini's personality and the humor, but Bakty was already nervous and apprehensive about the whole ordeal and didn't find it quite as amusing as I did.  Bakty eventually overcame the apprehension of the whole ordeal.   

  Dr. Cavallini explained further about the implant procedure and the fact that due to the infection in the lower tooth, that would be extracted, it would be necessary to do a bone graft as well.  Also because of the area of infection, the size of the implant would be pretty large. He asked if we had any further questions, and the only one at that point was, what time did we come back to get started.  We didn't need to know what this was going to cost, as we had already received an email estimate of charges for the procedures before we had left home.  $2,000 was our approximate total for this time around.  3 implants and a bone graft for less than the cost of 1 implant in the U.S. !  We would have to return to Costa Rica again, anytime after 3-4 months to have permanent crowns put on the implants.

  I have to interject here for a moment and say that both Bakty and I felt very good about the amount of time that Dr. Cavallini spent with us.  There hasn't been any physician, dental or otherwise who has ever taken so much time to get to know us and try to put us at ease before a procedure.  We weren't the only people who felt this way about Dr. Cavallini, and Dr. Marcos (his son), as well as the rest of the staff.  They all want to make you feel as comfortable and at ease as possible. We heard the same sentiment over and over again from the people we met.  Rest assured it is all well worth the wait!

  He said Bakty would need some pain medicine and antibiotics and he then scribbled out his prescription and walked us out to the back of the office to the pharmacy.  We paid for the prescriptions and headed back to the front office. We then went to schedule with Diana. She looked at her schedule book and told us to be back in the office by 11:00am the next morning (Tuesday).  It is now about 7:15pm, dark and still a bit rainy.  We asked Diana to call for a cab, we figured we would tackle the walking thing tomorrow, after all we weren't' really sure how to get to our hotel.  We met the taxi within a few minutes outside the office and asked for Hotel Cristina, although I believe Diana had already given him this information.  He didn't talk much and we were tired anyway, it had been a long day! I was watching the meter in the cab to see how much the ride was going to cost us.  The meter didn't move for quite sometime and then it quickly started to rack up the colones.  Traffic was bad and the closer we got to the hotel the worse it seemed to get.  We were almost to the hotel at the intersection of Pan American Highway #1 and Boulevarde de Rohrmoser when traffic was stopped in all 4 directions.  There were 2 large buses that seemed to have ever so slightly collided with one another and behind one of them was another bus, all in the middle of the intersection.  We needed to go straight which meant that we would have to squeeze through the 5 feet of space that was between the latter 2 buses.  Everyone else was doing it, and so did our driver.  Finally on the other side of the traffic jam we quickly made it to the hotel.  The taxi ride came to a total of 2,000 colones or $4 U.S., which the driver gladly accepted.

  Upon arriving back at the hotel we stopped at the front desk to get our bags and head to our room.  Remember our room wasn't quite ready when we first arrived.  It was just around the corner to the right.  Our room layout was very nice, just flip the kitchen and sitting room and that is what we had.  We were starving by now and threw our bags into the room and secured the necessary items in the safe and off to the Chinese restaurant, Flor de Loto, down the street from the hotel.  We had been told it was good, we would soon determine if that was so.

  It was the only close, within walking distance, restaurant open, except for the Italian one in the hotel, but we didn't want Italian.  We entered in and seated ourselves near several other tables of people.  We ordered 2 bottled waters, tofu soup, fried rice, mango chicken.  We were not very impressed with it at all, where was the mango with the chicken?  All we got was a sauce and fried chicken strips, no veggies, nothing.  The fried rice was equally absent of veggies. The soup was okay, not very flavorful.  We asked for a to-go box, there was at least enough portions to have left overs for the next day.  We paid our $32 check and left, vowing we would not return.  The next morning confirmed that for me...
  
Next Post: The Implants Are In-

Tico Time

Monday February 25, 2013 continued...

 If there is one thing we have learned from our travels abroad, it is, the U.S. runs on a totally different time warp than most of the rest of the world.  I would say we (U.S.) are probably in hyper-drive most of the time, if not all the time.  The fast paced society that we live in detracts so much from the things that are really important in our lives.  Especially quality time with family, friends and other things that are more relaxing, like beach time for example.  Anyway, there is something to be said for a slower, more relaxed approach to life, rather than trying to hurry everything along so much that we miss the moment.  In Indonesia it is called jam kerat "rubber time", and it is very flexible "rubber".  Nothing will ever happen in the time you think it should, so just sit back, relax, enjoy and spare yourself the heart attack, you never know who you might meet.  For Costa Rica it is Tico Time, not sure if that is the official name or not, but a friend of ours says that is what he has heard it called, so Tico Time it is!

  As we got settled in to the waiting room at the front of the office and Bakty worked on filling out his paperwork, there were several people discussing the process of being seen.  One man was not too thrilled at his wait time and he was very vocal about it.  These folks had been here waiting longer than we had, it was past 3:00pm and the office reopens in the afternoon at 2:00pm, so I figured they had been there at least since then..  I anticipated that we might have hours to wait as well, not knowing what the exact procedure would be.  As it turns out, we were sitting there for probably 25 minutes, just enough time for Bakty to get through most of the paperwork, before his boredom of form filling finally set in and he turned it over to me to finish, when one of the nurses called his name, "Yon Barber" (John Barber). We figured John would be easier to pronounce than Bakty, and it is his first name, which he adopted upon becoming a U.S. citizen.  We could see the astonished look on  some of the waiting patients faces, thoughts running through their minds must have been, "Wait, I was here first! I have been here for more than an hour and a half!", and so on. 

 Part of the fun, for me, in the waiting room was listening to the nurses call out patient names and the patients having to tune their ears to the Costa Rican accent to figure out if their name was being called.  I love different languages!  Don't get me wrong, I am not making fun of the nurse's accents, I actually find it very interesting to see how tuned-in other people, who don't speak the language, are.  Once again, I think we are too conditioned and too much in hyper mode to slow down and pay attention and listen closely. 

  We got up, followed the nurse as she led us down the hall to a room on the left that contained their 3-D X-ray machine, complete with a hookup directly to a laptop.  (More modern than some of the U.S. dentist offices we have been in!) She got him settled down and positioned just right and she stepped out of the room, pushed the button, and the machine revolved around his head and took the necessary shots.  She then directed us to the room directly behind that one where they proceeded to take impressions of his jaw.  While he was having this procedure done, I finished his paperwork and double checked it.  Hmmm, what is this form about, $150 for a 3 Yr Warranty?  A fantastic thing actually, cheap, cheap insurance!! More on that later. Once his impressions were done and he had finished spitting out the last of the residue from the casting, we were told to go back and have a seat.  I turned in his completed paperwork and we sat and waited.

Bakty waiting in the nice comfy chair!

  Fortunately we had brought the laptop with us, so this gave us time to Skype to family at home.  Bakty had also brought a book to read.  Dr. Cavallini's office is complete with WiFi, large screen TVs, water, snacks, free phone to the U.S. (just ask to Diana to make a call), cell phone rentals at about $5 per day, outlets to charge your electronics (all 110V-120V so no need for a converter, this was the case throughout where we traveled in CR)  There are actually 4 separate waiting areas dispersed throughout the office, 3 with a TV and separate A/C. Sometimes the very front office, due to the glass windows, became a bit warm, even with the A/C.  There is also a lovely atrium in the center of the office, filled with plants and light flooding in from the skylight above.  All around the office posted on the walls are photos and poems and letters from people around the world who have expressed their gratitude for the work that Dr. Cavallini and his son have done.  It was very encouraging to read these while waiting.

  The sky had steadily been growing dark as we sat and waited.  Then it began to rain, and rain hard!  The office staff was shocked by this as it is the dry season and very unusual for it to rain like this.  We will definately get a taxi for the ride home!

  By now it is close to 5:00pm and we have Skyped our sons, my mother, Bakty's brother in Indonesia and anyone else who was online that we could talk with, to let them know that we had arrived safe and sound. We had checked our emails and our voice mails through Google Voice.   We hadn't eaten since the sandwich and cookies that we were given on the flight and we were getting hungry. (Remember, 5pm CR time is 6pm our time).  Thank goodness I had brought the bag with supplies in it! We had brought some Larabars, raw almonds, cashews and Pirates Booty for snacking in the airport and on the plane.  We always carry some type of food with us, just in case.  Now was the "just in case"  and we were prepared for it. I went to the desk to ask how long before our consult and was told 40 minutes which eventually became about 1 and a 1/2 hours.  Thinking it was 40 minutes kept us from running out to get a bite to eat...so we snacked, waited and got to know our fellow waiting room companions.

  There were people from all over the U.S., Canada, Russia and Costa Rica waiting in the office. It was comforting to know that this wasn't the first time for many of them.  Some were back for their 3rd or 4th office visit because of the extensive work they were having done.  For some it was their first time (day), like us.  For others, they were returning to have corrections done to failed implants.  It concerned us when a few of them were telling us how their implants had failed and they had to return to Costa Rica to have them redone.  We then wondered whether or not this was the right thing to do, was that going to mean we had to pay again to have the implants done if they failed?  Why did their implants fail?  Was the work not being done properly?  Was this going to be more costly than we first had anticipated? Not really the time to be having second thoughts!  However, we were committed and there was no turning back now, and as we talked more with them, we found the overall attitude from everyone was very positive. (Much good news later regarding all of our questions!)  You see, unlike the dentists in the U.S., if your implant fails, you pay them again to redo it.  If you don't have insurance and even if you do, this can get expensive.  Implants can and do fail, for various reasons and most of the time it is probably due to the health of the patient and the way they take care of their teeth (my analysis from discussion with people who were there for that reason). It seems that having considerable bone loss and gum disease adds to that statistic of failure.  I will say if you are considering implants and have lost teeth already, don't wait to get the implants!  The longer the time period lapse is, the more bone loss and the higher probability of implant failure.

  I am going to take a momentary respite from our experience to comment on the U.S. dental fees.  I am sure that if there are any dentists reading this they may have some disagreement in my recommendation to have work done in CR or anywhere else other than the U.S.  Some would say the work is inferior, or the equipment is outdated, etc. Is this true? Or is it all so they can charge you anywhere from $3,500 to as much as $8,000 for an 1 implant? Or, how about $1,200 and up for a crown?  Or $900 and more for a root canal?     Maybe..., or maybe they are just misinformed as to the dentists' education (U.S.), quality of work and high tech equipment & materials that are available.  And yes, I also realize that in the U.S. there are other factors that increase the cost of any medical procedure.  These U.S. cost figures came from our own experience, as well as everyone we spoke with from around the U.S. and Canada.  

Which is why we were all there in Costa Rica for dental work!  

Some of these people had gone back to their dentists and were told the work wasn't good and they were going to be sorry they had done it in CR (which they weren't), some of their dentists even said they wouldn't do anymore of their dental work.  On the flip side there were a few dentists who commended the job that had been done on their patients' teeth by Dr. Cavallini.

 Back to the waiting room, it was now pushing 6:30pm and we had been talking with several of our waiting room friends and watching it rain.  Bakty even shared his snacks with a young lady who sat down next to him. Despite the fact that we had to wait as long as we did, it really wasn't so bad.  It was raining, so it wasn't like I had missed much sun, and we got to talk with some really great people while we were sitting there.  Everyone has a story to tell and to me they were all interesting.  Many of these people we saw over the next few days and had even greater conversations with them.  Remember we need to slow down, there are terrific people out there that we just haven't met yet.  It was wonderful getting to know them and learning about their dental experience as well as their life experiences.  We met people from Canada, California, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, New Mexico, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Alaska, Maryland. Had we stayed longer than our 2 weeks, we just might have met people from every state in the U.S.  

  After all of these discussions, we now know that our fears were unsubstantiated! The praises from our fellow waiting room friends have confirmed, that they would do it again. The work is done to the highest quality and the guarantees are better than you could ever imagine. 

  They called Bakty's ("Yon") name again, now time to meet with Dr. Cavallini.

Next Post:  Meeting with Dr. Cavallini
 
   
 
 
 

Arrival in San Jose

Monday February 25, 2013

  Sunday evening, we spent the night with our son and his wife since they live closer to the airport than we do.  That way we wouldn't have to fight morning Atlanta traffic and probably an hour or better drive. Not to mention how stressed out we would be by the time we got there.  We don't want to be late!  We arrived in plenty of time at the new International Concourse for the airport, the place was pretty empty. Passports & boarding passes in hand we check our one large suitcase and continue on to security with our carry on luggage.  It wasn't too much of a hassle to get thru security, although we did opt out of the body scanner and went through the ever so pleasant "pat down".  They didn't find a thing on us, imagine that!

Getting Settled in for the Trip

  Anyway, we finally board the plane and get settled in to our seats, it is a full flight.  We are dressed in layers since we are leaving freezing weather and headed to a much warmer climate.  This time of year it is the dry season for Costa Rica.  Mid November thru May/June and then the rainy season starts, so we expect lots of sun and warm breezes.
  We finally arrive safely in San Jose after a bit of a delay in Atlanta, remember it is a full flight.  Well, they asked for volunteers to give up their seat before departing and we had to wait for Delta to find, then unload the volunteer's luggage before we could leave.  Amazingly enough we arrive only 20 minutes behind schedule, we must have had some great tail winds. 

  Arrival in San Jose airport was pretty easy, we went straight to immigration where we stood in line for probably 30 minutes before we finally got our passports officially stamped. 
 

We're Officially In Costa Rica!

  Note:We were given a slip of paper written in Spanish with a triangle and exclamation point in the middle.  This was to inform us that beginning April 23, 2013 should we stay over our limit, we will be fined $100 for every month we have exceeded it.

$100 fine per month you overstay your allotted time in Costa Rica

   There wasn't any sort of major suitcase check, we just ran our bags thru a scanner and went on our way to meet Carlos, our driver.
  Dr. Cavallini's office had prepared us, in an email with instructions, for pickup at the airport.  We were told Carlos would be picking us up and to look for him at the right of the exit outside.  We were given his phone number as well, just in case we couldn't find him.
  We made our way through the masses of people trying to find rental cars and taxis and stepped out into the Costa Rica air. The weather was wonderful!  Somewhere in the high 70's with a slight breeze, there was a bit of overcast sky near the airport but further off in the distance the sun peeked through the clouds. The warm weather was wonderful and I couldn't wait until we got to enjoy this beautiful country. 
  Just as they had said, there was Carlos, with our names on his sign, standing &  waiting for us to exit.   Carlos was very talkative & spoke excellent English, having lived in the U.S. for several years.  He took us to his car, loaded our luggage and then proceeded to the Cristina Suites Hotel.  Along the way we asked lots of questions, where to eat? (local sodas), what about grocery stores? (AM/PM which is more of a mini mart or the larger grocery store Mas X Menos), why did you move back to Costa Rica? (for a better life, great climate, good food)... It took approximately 20 minutes or so to arrive at the hotel.  Traffic was crazy and the motorcyclists were even crazier!  Thank goodness we hadn't chosen to rent a car!  They zip in out between cars and buses taking advantage of every opening in traffic they could get.  Although at least the cars, buses and trucks stayed between the lines, where as in Indonesia and several other countries we have visited, they make their own lanes, as wide as the road will go. We asked Carlos if he had time to drive us to the dentist office and he said, if we could be quick with check-in he would be happy to drive us.  It was about 2:30pm at this time.
  Before leaving Georgia I had asked Edward what the schedule was for us once we arrived in Costa Rica.  He said to be at Dr. Cavallini's office sometime after 2:00 for the initial consult. 
  Upon arriving at the hotel we were greeted by Elizabeth, who speaks perfect English as well.  She was very pleasant and greeted us with a big smile.  We told her that we were in a hurry because our ride was waiting on us, she said no problem, this will be quick.  We filled out a small amount of paperwork and gave her our credit card for security.  She said our room wasn't quite ready yet and that we could leave whatever luggage we wished with them at the front office and they would keep it safe until we returned. We were a bit apprehensive, but since we had locks on the luggage anyway, we figured we didn't have anything to lose (it was only clothes), if that were to be the case. We took the important stuff with us laptop, money & passports. So, we hopped back in the car with Carlos and headed to Dr. Cavallini's office.  We asked Carlos about walking from the hotel to the office and he said it would be no problem for us, about 15-20 minutes, but not to walk the way he was driving us.  There are several one-way streets in San Jose so he had to drive in less than a direct route to get to our destination.  We arrive at the office and Carlos dropped us off outside, as he has someone else to pickup at the airport.  We push the doorbell to be let in, it is securely locked at all times, and unless someone releases the lock you don't get in.  Once in the building you can use the stairs or the elevator to get to the reception/waiting area. Don't expect that this office or clinic, as the name reads on the outside of the building, is anything remote to the environment you might be used to seeing at home, at least in the U.S. anyway.  There is a small hotel called Cacts on the left next to the office and what looks to be someone's resident on the right.  As in most countries like Costa Rica you will most certainly find homes intermingled with all sorts of businesses, some of them even live over their establishment.
  Upon arriving in the office, the reception desk is to your left.  This is where you will find Diana, who is almost always at the front reception desk.  You are instructed to sign your name on the check-in sheet and you are given a clipboard full of papers that need to be filled out.  These are the standard, medical history & release forms. We found a  couple of seats in the waiting room, which was pretty full, and Bakty began working on filling out the forms.

Next Post: Tico Time

More Questions

There are a lot of things to consider when deciding to go to a foreign land for vacation, even more when it is for dental work.  We still had a few questions that needed to be answered and things to consider and double check before we left so that we were prepared or as prepared as we thought we should be. 


Passport, Visa or Both
  For citizens of the U.S. at this current time there was only a need for a passport.  No visa necessary, however, before entering Costa Rica, you must have a round trip ticket or a ticket to another country.  Your passport should have 6 months minimum left on it from your date of entry.   Once in Costa Rica you only have 90 days to stay before you must leave for a minimum of 3 days and then you may re-enter again for another 90 days and so on.  Also, note there is an exit fee that you pay when you leave the country ,currently it is $29 U.S. per person.  If you are coming to Costa Rica you might want to consider trip insurance.  This is especially true if you will be here for medical reasons.  You never know if you will have to extend beyond your allotted time or not.  You can go to this website for more information: http://www.costarica-embassy.org/?q=node/72

Diseases
  Did I consider the possibility of some disease?  No, actually I didn't. We have traveled all over the world and for most of those places we visit, we have never worried about what we might catch.  We try to watch what & where we eat/drink, and really haven't had too much of a concern of getting a deadly illness.  We have picked up a parasite or 2 in our travels and have managed to rid ourselves of them.  Would I consider vaccinations?  Probably not, and that is a whole other issue and I am choosing not to delve into it at this time.  :-)  
  However, If you tend to be the worrisome type or you feel that your health is not as good as you might wish and that you may be susceptible to illnesses, before you go you can check with your physician, local free health clinic, as well as this website, http://www.who.int/ith/en/, to determine what you might need to protect yourself against while traveling in Costa Rica or any other foreign country.  The choice is completely yours.

What to Pack
  This is going to be primarily determined by what you plan to do while in Costa Rica.  As I said before, I am the ocean, sun, beach loving girl!  So for me, a couple of bikinis, flip-flops and a cover up would have worked just fine, except we wouldn't be at the beach the whole time we were there, so I had to consider other articles of clothing.  Bakty on the other hand would have gone with soccer & tennis attire.
  We would be in the city and walking, so comfortable walking shoes were a must.  The temperature in San Jose, which is pretty much a city in a valley, is cooler than the coast.  Although cooler, the temperature still ranged from the low 70's to low 80's during the day.  It was very comfortable weather, a bit breezy and almost always sunny for most of our visit.  We packed sleeveless & short sleeved shirts, shorts, and an extra pair of long light weight pants. I packed 2 pair of dressier capri pants, sleeveless casual/dressy shirts and a lightweight dress and we wore jeans on the way to San Jose. We had our personal toiletries, minus shampoo and lotion, a few pair of socks, underwear, sandals, a light jacket for the cooler evenings (sometimes low 60's in San Jose), 1 set of workout clothes for both of us and a beach towel. 
  We filled 2 carry-ons and 1 large suitcase.  We over packed!!!   Hard as we tried not to, we did.  I could have done with 2 less pairs of shorts, 2 less pair of capris, 1 less pair of long lightweight pants, and 4 sleeveless shirts.  Bakty only wore half of what he brought as well, so we could have gotten by with just our carry-on bags.  When we travel we aren't usually looking to dress up a lot anyway so we tend to be a lot more casually dressed. Note to self:1 carry-in is all you need, no matter where you are going!  If we didn't have to worry about the larger suitcase we probably could have traveled a little differently than we did. But, having the large suitcase did give us that extra room to bring back lots of Costa Rican coffee!
  You might also want to bring your own washcloth or extra towel depending on what type of hotel you will be staying at.  Both of the hotels we stayed at had towels and washcloths, but I understand that some hotels are bare minimum in that area.  If that seems too much to bring, you can always buy them if you find the need. Costa Rica is very environmentally conscientious and they don't want to wash more than necessary so you need to hang your towels out to dry and not just dump them on the floor.  They will replace them about every 3 days with clean ones. Also note that you have laundry service available in most hotels or depending on your hotel, you may have a laundry available for use.  We had washers and dryers available at the Cristina Hotel, it was $6 U.S. to wash and dry 1 load of laundry.
  If you are traveling during the rainy season or plan on trips to the mountains & volcanoes, you will want to be sure you have packed items that will keep you warm and dry.  When up in the higher altitudes and the dampness it can be a bit cooler.  So, bring a jacket, some light weight water proof clothing, a compact umbrella, and some good shoes for the wet slippery environment. 
  You will want to have sunscreen, if you like hats bring one, and insect repellent. We didn't bring any of these and just purchased what we needed from the local store.  We never saw one mosquito the whole time we were in Costa Rica, that doesn't mean they weren't there, we just never got bitten or saw one anywhere we were. If you just can't live without them, bring a hairdryer and/or your flat iron.  One of our hotels didn't have a hairdryer in the room. You could have one if you asked, but we were at the beach and I like beach hair, so I didn't ask. Check with your hotels if you are not sure.  Bringing them certainly expands the need for more luggage. 

Next Post: Arriving in San Jose and the Dentist Office