DENTAL CARE IN ECUADOR - Our Cuenca Dentist experience!

Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth. 

~Mallory Hopkins

Yes, we've been to the dentist here in Cuenca!  Good experience or bad experience?  Great experience!  So, how does one know who to go to for medical or dental care - and if they're reputable, and if they're going to do an excellent job and if they are honest and all about their patient's care?  Bo and I ask our Ecuadorian friends for recommendations.  One Ecuadorian family who are well-connected here in Cuenca and who are like our family here are a fabulous source of information for us.  We found our family doctor and dentist because of their recommendations.  We trust this family and who they know.  That makes it very easy for us because we know they will only refer us to the best.

It was time for our cleanings.  We always went every 6 months back in the states when we had dental insurance through Bo's employment.  Without insurance, a cleaning and mandatory x-rays would cost each of us close to $200 a visit.  A friend back in Portland, Oregon told me that she recently paid $300 for her cleaning and x-rays - and she is NOT insured.  CRAZY!  So, when we made our appointments with Dr. Emerson in El Centro, we were happy to learn that our cleanings would cost us $30 each.  Who does the cleaning?  The dentist, of course.  Bo went first.   I watched.  Nothing fancy about Dr. Emerson's office.  It actually had a lot of that old-fashioned outdated dental equipment.  We had to spit into the bowl, and there weren't fancy TV's or sound systems going on in the office.  It was quiet, and Dr. Emerson talked to us and patiently worked on Bo's teeth while I asked him lots of questions about his practice and his education.  He was open and happy to share with us.  

Dr. Emerson does it all - from making the appointments to cleaning his patient's teeth.

Then came the news.  Bo needed a filling.  He could do it right there at this same appointment, and it would cost $20.  En Serio!  My question, "Do you give novocaine?"  He said no, it wasn't necessary.  But, if Bo wanted the novocaine, he would be happy to give it to him.  Only an extra $5.  Dr. Emerson reiterated it would not hurt, he would drill slowly, and if Bo decided he wanted the novocaine during the drilling, he would stop and inject him.  He said it wasn't necessary in several different ways.  Was Bo convinced?

Was that sweat I saw forming on Bo's brow??  Novacaine or no novacaine - that was the question?  What was his answer?

So Bo decided to trust Dr. Emerson and go for it - no local anesthetic.  Drill away........Yikes!

I stood close by and watched Dr. Emerson gently and slowly drill out the decay while Bo finally relaxed and trusted that it would not hurt.  And, apparently it didn't.  Bo said only at one point he felt a slight twinge of pain, but all in all, it was painless and went surprisingly well.  Dr. Emerson filled the cleaned out area, and in less than 15 minutes, Bo was out of the chair with a sparkling smile and a new composite porcelain filling.  

So, we saved $5 because of the "no novocaine" decision - and we left Dr. Emerson's office after paying $80 for two cleanings and one filling.  What's not to love about dental care in Cuenca??

There are many dentists who are well-trained and brilliant in Ecuador - and they have all the up-dated technology and resources, as well as speaking English.  Dr. Emerson's office was not fancy, and it had more of an older equipped appearance, but he knew what he was doing and he did it carefully and with expertise.  Bo and I don't need fancy.  What we do need it excellent care and from someone we trust.  We trusted Dr. Emerson 100%.  

Here are some prices I researched for dental services and procedures in Ecuador:

Cleaning - $30-45

Fillings - $20-35

Partial plates - $325

Complete set of dentures - $900 

For the plates and dentures, it includes all office visits, fittings, lab work and impressions.

Root canals - $125

Teeth bleaching - $25

Porcelain crowns - $250

USA Dentists are denying services to patients who do not want routine x-rays taken - which are now required by the American Dental Association.  In Ecuador, dentists allow patients their right to determine their own care and treatment, so they don't take set after set of x-rays on their patients.

Many come from the USA just to have their dental-doctor vacation because it costs 80-90% less to have dental work in Ecuador.  I spoke to a vacationing ex-pat who had extensive dental work done while she and her husband were here for a 6 week vacation - and she said not one time was novocaine used, and she sailed through several appointments painlessly.  The work she had done here would have cost her thousands of dollars back home, and she was able to have her Cuenca Ecuador vacation between her appointments.  

So, go ahead and make your dentist appointment - and when you are told "no novocaine" - don't be scared!!!