DENTAL visits in Aruba :-)

[Andrea J.]

sounds like an oxymoron right?

i cannot tell all of you just how pleased i am with my new dentist!
let me backtrack......
pual and i had dental insurance til we retired.
we both hated our dentist though in waltham and avoided him.
big mistake!
we should have had our work done while we had the good insurance.
that being said, went to the dentist in maine for cleaningns and exams.
the new maine dentist did our exams and eztimates for replacing old amalgam fillings, and crown and bridge repair for me.
the estimates were astronomical.......$4000+.

next chapter
i heard that dentists outside the country are just as good and are less costly.
BINGO, i will find an aruban dentist!
so with the help of you, the community forum members, i found dr. ras. http://www.rasdental.com/
dr ras is a young woman that graduated from dental school a couple of yrs ago and has opened her own practice here in aruba.

• she is incredibly competent
• has an amazing staff
• has the latest equipment
• i had no pain, gives a great local anesthetic (lidocaine)

example of her pricing

• a 4 surface composite filling/restoration costs less than $100

(in maine and mass the cost for the same was over $190)

• a nesbit appliance (a removable bridge for lower that replaces 1 or 2 missing teeth.....in my case a lower left 1st molar) cost approx $400-$475 (in maine and mass the cost was over $1000

so i had (i think i have lost count) 6 amalgam fillings replaced with composite restorations. (NO MORE SILVER BULLETS IN MY MOUTH HOORAY)
and
1 nesbit appliance to replace a missing tooth that had been extracted yrs ago when a root canal went sour.

this morning is my last visit and my total bill was $ a few cents less than $750.

everyone in the office is great
dr ras employs a good hygienist, assistant, office manager and has a contract with a very good and fast dental lab.

is dental work in aruba something i would recommend?
yup
and the caveat here is................
you have to be willing to give up some beach time.
i had 7 appointments
most of the appointments were either at 8 am or 11:30 am
those times were fine for me.
at no time was in in the office for more than an hr.
at no time was my "eating" (restaurant dining out) effected negatively.

it was well worth my time
high recommendations for dr ras!
andrea

[rob o]

Interesting way to help "pay"for a trip!

A day in the dentist chair in Aruba is better than a day in the office in New England!

Hold the novocain, pass an Aruba Arriba!

[tom and pam]

Hi Andrea,
Thank you for this post. I wanted to get the name and address of dentist on the island but forget to ask you about her. This helps me out. Thank you. . .

Tom and Pam

[Edronenburg]

Darn, Andrea J; I only have a few natural left; if I had only known, I could, most likely, have saved a fortune!

Congratulations. Recommendations and follow-up research, more often than not, give splendid results.

[Andrea J.]

yes ed
the internet and this fine community make doing homework and research much less taxing.
be well
andrea

Originally Posted by Edronenburg

Darn, Andrea J; I only have a few natural left; if I had only known, I could, most likely, have saved a fortune!

Congratulations. Recommendations and follow-up research, more often than not, give splendid results.

[amarg]

Oh my goodness Andrea and Lisa, this makes me so happy! I wonder if I can book with her for while I am there?
I had dental insurance too until May when I decided not to go back to work after my baby. My husband is self-employed so he doesn't have benefits either.
Well of course like you, Andrea, nothing happened to my teeth until I had no coverage, of course.
So last month I had the worst tooth ache imaginable. Worse than labor pains! I couldn't eat or sleep. It turned out that one of my fillings had come out and I had a horrible infection right down to the bone of my tooth. Disgusting and painful. I needed a root canal and antibiotics asap. I found a dentist in Toronto as I'm originally from Vancouver and got the quote for the root canal and it was about $1000. I asked repeatedly if that covered everything for the root canal and was assured yes. Well due to the pain, I had no choice, I went ahead. Well it ended up costing more as I had four roots instead of three apparently. It was about $1200! It took 3 appointments due to the infection. Then as I was leaving the last appointment, I was told that I need to come back to get the tooth filled. What? Excuse me? I thought the tooth was filled and finished? I mean how do you do a root canal and take out all the pulp and not fill it?
Apparently I had a temporary filling and the root canal was done and that's what I paid for. Here's the zinger - the filling is $275 more! I haven't gotten it done yet.
I tried to look into buying private benefits and contacted about a dozen providers. No one covers root canals in the first year and only a small portion of fillings.
I also need a root canal in another tooth. I had a filling done in it before and was told at that time that it may need a root canal but the dentist would try a filling instead first to see if it worked. It hasn't and that tooth causes me pain and the x-rays show a need for a root canal. I have been avoiding it and the costs associated.
I never considered getting it done in another country while on vacation but hey, Andrea if it works for you, I'm game!
Thanks again for more great info!

[amarg]

Hey Andrea, I tried to go to Ras Dental home page at the link you provided as well as typing it in myself and the page no longer exists. I also tried finding an alternative for this dentist but can't seem to locate one. Do you have recent contact info?

[Arubalisa]

Ras J M M Dental Clinic N V
Seroe Blanco 27 O'Stad
Phone 582-9900
Fax 582-9902