(Naplesnews) When thinking of must-see stops on your tour of Latin America, perhaps the dentist’s office isn’t the first thing that springs to mind.
But Michael Hardenbrook, president and co-founder of Dental Destinations, wants to change that. His company is built on two basic facts. One is that dental care is much less expensive in other countries, particularly in Latin America, and two, that many Americans have inadequate or no dental insurance.
“For example, three implants in Florida cost about $12,900, whereas in Costa Rica, the cost is $4,800,’’ Hardenbrook said. “That equals $8,100 in savings and that is significant.”
Often, he said, insurance companies in this country will participate in the program, saving them money and further cutting the costs for patients.
By using his company’s services to set up dental treatments, Hardenbrook said, a patient can visit another country, take care of his or her dental work, and return with the entire trip paid for — or even spend less than the dental procedures alone if done in this country. It’s called “dental tourism.”
The key to their success, Hardenbrook said, is the rigorous vetting the company does of offshore dentists.
He has two business partners in Dental Destinations.
Point
“Our selling point is quality assurance – safe dentistry,” said Michael Hardenbrook, president and co-founder of Dental Destinations. “The best dentists in Central America are as good as the dentists here, and we work with the best. Our inspections are the key.”
Counterpoint
“The best advice I can give is: Buyer beware – do your homework. What will you do for follow-up care? What recourse do you have if something goes wrong?” said Dr. Edmond Hewlett, Consumer Adviser for the American Dental Association. “In this country, we have strict legal standards for sterilization and disinfection procedures, and the materials we use, and our labs use, are all regulated by the FDA.”
One, Priscilla Melendez, the company’s director of patient care, is also his life partner, and the two work out of the home they share in North Naples. Both she and Hardenbrook speak fluent Spanish. A Southwest Florida native, her family is from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Her father is the pastor at Calvary Temple in San Carlos Park.
The other business partner is Dr. Ronald Peterson, a dentist who served as president of the State Evaluations Board for dentists in Arizona and oversaw American Dental Association (ADA) education criteria for 10 states.
Peterson coordinates inspections of the dental facilities that Dental Destinations contracts with in Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico, using ADA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards for sterilization and treatment.
Typically, a patient arrives in his or her destination on a weekend, and has a dental appointment scheduled for Monday, Melendez said.
Fitting and lab work are all done speedily, with labs in-house or close by. Patients can turn into tourists, see the sights and have a follow-up visit before leaving the country, typically the following weekend. For implants, patients return approximately six months later.
“The only area of dentistry we don’t get involved in is orthodontics, because of the need for continual visits,” Melendez said.
Dentistry experts in Southwest Florida and nationally acknowledge it is an alternative for patients.
“Dental tourism can be a viable option,” said Dr. Edmond Hewlett, vice chairman of the UCLA School of Dentistry and Consumer Adviser for the ADA. “The best advice I can give is: Buyer beware – do your homework. What will you do for follow-up care? What recourse do you have if something goes wrong?
“In this country, we have strict legal standards for sterilization and disinfection procedures, and the materials we use, and our labs use, are all regulated by the FDA,” Hewlett said.
Hewlett said the ADA realizes that dental tourism is growing rapidly and just urges patients to go into it with eyes open.
As for having someone in a dental tourism company with Peterson’s credentials, Hewlett said, “I would count that as a plus. Obviously, people are motivated to save money.”
Dr. Philip LoGrippo, president of the Collier County Dental Association, echoed Hewlett’s thoughts.
“There is no way of knowing what you’re getting into,’’ he said. “We have very strict guidelines in this country, and once you go overseas, you lose that protection. Is there a recourse – for warranty work, so to speak?”
Many of the participating dentists are trained in the U.S., Hardenbrook said, adding that Peterson holds them to the same standards as practitioners in this country.
“Our selling point is quality assurance – safe dentistry,” Hardenbrook said. “The best dentists in Central America are as good as the dentists here, and we work with the best. Our inspections are the key.”
Hardenbrook said he began the business when he needed expensive dental work done. He and Melendez were both Americorps volunteers, and the stipend they were paid wouldn’t cover the costs. Hardenbrook spent a year coordinating home construction for Habitat for Humanity in Naples, and sees this business venture as another way to help people, while also making a profit.
“There are basically two types of patients we deal with. People either want to travel anyway and get the work done overseas to save money, or they need the work and can’t afford it here,” he said.
Cancun is a favorite destination, he said, although Costa Rica has the best prices.
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Priscilla Menendez, director of patient care for Dental Destinations, saved over two thirds on dental work that would have cost her $4,000 in Florida, she said.
Quotable
“I needed some work done, and it was going to cost over $4,000 here,” said Priscilla Melendez, the company’s director of patient care “In Nicaragua, it cost close to $1,000.”
“I did a ton of research on the Internet, and I got lucky,” Hardenbrook said. “It worked for me, even though the dentist I went to that time was one who Dr. Peterson didn’t admit into our program once we started.”
Melendez also saved money.
“I needed some work done, and it was going to cost over $4,000 here,” Melendez said. “In Nicaragua, it cost close to $1,000.”
Dental Destinations’ services don’t cost patients any extra, Hardenbrook said. The company makes its money from a commission paid by the contracting dentists, who don’t raise the prices they normally would charge an individual patient. Dental Destinations also can arrange travel, accommodations, and transfers, making the entire process painless – if that’s the right word to use when talking about getting one’s teeth pulled.
“We negotiate discounts with hotels and transport, and have patients met at the airport,” Melendez said.
Working out of their house keeps expenses down, and gives them the freedom to travel, which they do extensively in the course of business, Hardenbrook and Melendez said.
So far, their marketing has depended on their website and “word of mouth,” but they plan to begin offering seminars this year in Southwest Florida, bringing the dentists from their countries to meet prospective patients.
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To learn more about Dental Destinations, call the company at 1-888-536-2605 or go online to www.dentaldestinationsdds.com.