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How to find your perfect Costa Rican dentist

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Excellent Report on Dr. Flikier and Dr. Grunhaus

Here's a story about the One that Got Away.

People sometimes contact me for help, and I try to steer them to dentists appropriate for their needs and pocketbook.  In the Summer of 2016, a lady from Boston contacted me asking me to recommend a dentist in CR for her full-mouth restoration.  We talked over the phone about the various dental clinics, and of course I recommended a fact-finding trip to CR, if practical.  This is the ideal approach, assuming sufficient time and money.  She seemed quite receptive to that suggestion, and we ended the conversation with me thinking that my next contact from her would be from Costa Rica.  So, lo and behold, a week later she contacted me again, saying that she had the most wonderful visit with Dr. Flikier and his periodontist, Dr. Grunhaus.  I thought this was a remarkable display of energy: to plan and execute a visit to Costa Rica within a few days of hatching the idea!

Well, it turns out that it was even better than that.  The word that comes to mind is "serendipity":  She had contacted a couple of dentists by email and discovered that one of her top choices would be visiting Boston later that week for a dental conference.  She made arrangements to meet him and his periodontist in Boston one day after the conference.  So instead of flying to San Jose, she just took a short trip in the city.  And had a great visit with them, in a coffee shop, I think.

Her dental work turns out to be very similar to my own:  A lot of gum lengthenings and crowns.  She had the gum work done in September 2016, and went back in November for the crowns.  She sent me this glowing report upon completing her dental work:

Dr. Flikier is wonderful and so thorough and professional.  His colleague who is the gum surgeon, Dr. Grunhaus did a fantastic job in September.  No need for any touch up on the gums at all.  They matched perfectly with the teeth.  Lorenzo is amazing also. [Lorenzo Favini heads the dental lab which also did my superb crowns. -dave]  A true artist at making the teeth.

I get my final teeth on Friday.  Everything has gone unbelievably smoothly.  Definitely recommend Dr. Flikier to people.  He is really top notch!!

My living situation has been great too.  Less than two blocks from his office.  In fact, he's coming over next week to see it so he can recommend it for future patients.

So, in short, a good time was had by all. 

Oh, yeah.  So what got away?  

Well, I'd love to post pics on my blog so I had asked her to provide before and after photos of the work.  Easier said than done.  There are a million things to do for major dental work, and sometimes helping some guy you met on Internet liven up his blog isn't one of them.  So that fell through, leaving me with no pics but with a funny story with a happy ending instead.  Almost as good.

By CometGlare → Monday, May 28, 2018
Update May 2018

It's been a while since I've posted, but don't worry.  That's mainly because not much has been happening.  So it won't take long to brief you.

My crowns are holding up well.  After local dentist retired, his replacement did notice a slight chip on one of the premolars.  It's visible only under clinical inspection, but the mere thought of it means that I'm aware of it.

I mentioned that my nightguard was bringing bacteria into my mouth, and that I had to change the way I was storing it.  I had been putting it into plain water, but this turns out to be bad, bad, bad.  The water became a breeding ground for bacteria, which wouldcome into my mouth every night when I put on the night guard.  Now I keep the water bug-free by adding some chlorhexadine, a prescription antiseptic and mouthwash, and changing the water every week.  I rinse off the nightguard before putting it in my mouth.  Who would think that this small a change could so improve the way my gums feel?  And they felt okay to begin with....

Here's an odd event that probably doesn't happen to everyone with dental work done in Costa Rica...My former, now-retired dentist called me out of the blue one day a few months back, asking for the name of my Costa Rica dentist.  One of his former patients or friends wanted to know.  That's a great testimonial to quality, from both the dentist and the dental lab.  My current dentist has also praised my dental work.

So that's about all the non-news that I have.

More later, or when there are new developments to report.

Bye.
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Update May 2018

By CometGlare →