After detailed research about cosmetic dentist’s in Costa Rica, my choice ended up being Dr. Telma Rubinstein and her husband, Dr. Josef Cordero. My initial contact with their dental office was by email, and a good few years before I actually took the plunge and made an appointment. My first email to Prisma Dental explained what I wanted to have done with my teeth. I immediately got a response with pricing based on my request. Prisma Dental’s reply email was in perfect English and explained that they could not accurately prescribe a procedure without x-rays and photographs of my teeth. The best part was that the email they sent me was from Dr. Telma Rubinstein herself, not an office assistant. Our correspondence went back and forth for a couple of weeks…me explaining that I did not have X-Rays, as I had not been to a dentist in many, many years. During our correspondence, I learned of their dental qualifications. It has been a while, but I understand that they started their dental education in San Jose, Costa Rica, and furthered their cosmetic dentistry education in Florida. I also voiced my reservations about traveling to a foreign country to have dental procedures preformed. Their reply sounded like I was not alone in my concern. So, they provided me with a long list of email addreesses of people from the U.S. who had traveled to their dental offices in San Jose, Costa Rica to have dental work done. 99% of those people replied to me email with only positive things to say about Dr. Telma Rubenstain and Dr. Josef Cordero and their cosmetic dental procedures. As time past, and money was still an issue (even at their unheard of low prices) having my teeth ‘hooked up’ seemed more and more like it would never happen. Nonetheless, I continued my research.
In my research, I came across an article by Jeff Schult called “A new Smile for Half the Price.” The article was featured in The Hartford Courant’s weekend magazine called Northeast. What better reference could I have, I thought. Not only was this article about Jeff’s experience featured in a U.S. newspaper, but it was one of the biggest papers in my home state of CT. Mr. Schult’s article is absolutely fantastic and goes into great detail about his cosmetic dental procedure in Costa Rica, and his experience with Dr. Telma Rubenstain and Dr. Josef Cordero. In addition to Mr. Schult’s article, I stumbled upon and article written by Jon Herring. Jon’s article also told of a great experience of traveling to San Jose, Costa Rica to have cosmetic dental work preformed.
So, what does it boil down to? After reading these articles I was convinced that my dental work would be preformed at Prisma Dental by Dr. Rubinstain and Dr. Cordero.
It was sort of by surprise that I found myself booking a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica with the intent of having cosmetic dental work preformed. Initially I was supposed to go to Puerto Rico for a week in February. Being the procrastinator that I am, I put off booking the flight until the last minute. When I finally got around to visiting travelocity.com, the prices had gone sky high. I decided to check out other places for a winter get-away. San Jose came to be an option and my mind started racing about the possibilities. Sure enough, flights to Costa Rica were affordable. I immediately emailed Dr. Telma Rubinstein to see if they would be able to preform the work I wanted done on my teeth in a one week period. Later that day I got a call from Tiffany from Prisma Dental’s office. Unfortunately, I missed her call, but she left a message. I emailed her directly and she assured me that there would be no problem preforming the dental work within a week. So, with the help of Tiffany, I made appointments at Prisma Dental, and booked my flights. After all of this, Tiffany (an American woman living in Costa Rica) was very helpful in making arrangements for accommodation in San Jose, pick-up and drop off from the airport, and anything else that I needed. It was such a reassuring and pleaseant experience hashing out the details with Tiffany.
Upon arrival in San Jose’s international airport, Prisma Dental’s own driver was there to meet us as promised by Tiffany. A sign that read “Kevin Gleeson - Prisma Dental” was held high above the crowd so that I could not miss it. The dental clinics driver, whos name escapes me, was an extremely pleasant man, who took us for something to eat before dropping us off at our hotel, Aparthotel Christina. We arrived late on Friday night, so I had to wait until Monday morning for my first appointment with the Prisma Dental crew. There was plenty to do in San Jose and the lovely people at Aparthotel Christina were more than happy to help us arrange day tours to volcanoes, the jungle, and the likes.
When Monday morning arrived, The driver was at the hotel on time and ready to take me to Prisma Dental, which was only about a five minute drive. I went into the modern building and up the elevator to the Dental offices. When the doors of the elevator opened, I was in shock. The places was absolutely beautiful. To the right was what looked like the lab. Straight ahead was an inviting waiting room with a huge glass partition. Behind the glass was a young woman who immediately greeted me with “you must be Kevin.” She introduced herself as Tiffany, and made small talk for a few minutes; asking about my flight and what I had done for the last few days. I waited only a few minutes before I was brought to an examination room. Tiffany took some digital pictures of my teeth and then invited me into Dr. Rubinstein’s office. Just as I was sitting down, Dr. Rubinstein came in with a friendly smile to greet me. She seemed like she was busy and said “So, Kevin let me see.” I opened wide and she looked in deep thought for a few minutes. She looked a bit worried, so I asked her what was the matter. She told me that the pictures I had sent were not very reflective of my situation. She said they would be able to perform the work, but that time was an issue. She said we must begin right away if we want to get finished. Dr. Rubinstein could see that I was nervous and asked would I like something for my anxiety…I gladly accepted. My nerves were on edge because I was just told I would need four root canals, and six crowns…I agreed to the dental procedure and was immediately whisked into the chair and the work began…a brand new smile was on the way, thanks to the advancements in cosmetic dentistry and a team of fantastic cosmetic dentists.
The road to a new smile bean with a “good cleaning.” The girls who did the cleaning were very gentle and careful. I think they may have been dental students, as they looked young and seemed reluctant to speak English. I felt no need for them to talk to me during the procedure as their mere presence was calming and comforting. After cleaning, I went into another exam room, to have the root canals performed. I was very nervous about this. I had heard horror stories about root canals, but t was actually one of the easiest parts of the whole procedure. The doctor who performed the root canals was also very pleasant. He had no problem chatting away for the entire time…More to come, I’m tired…LOL