Medellin Dental Solutions | Medellin Colombia Dentists | Medellin English Speaking Dentists

TRAVELING PATIENT

There a variety of reasons why people travel long distances for dental treatments. Some travel to find cheaper dental care while they travel and are able to find quality services. Still others travel to seek the most experienced specialists for a given treatment. In some islands in the Caribbean for example, sometimes is difficult to find a well trained dentist with postgraduate studies and good experiences in advanced dental treatments. Regardless of the reason, today in a more globalized world, traveling for health services appears to be a growing trend. Health tourism or also call medical tourism to recognize locations it is an option to be consider for the patient.
As part of the preliminary screening process, it may be possible to complete an online dental and medical history form prior to speaking with a given dentist and staff over the phone. Digital X-rays and intraoral pictures can pretty much give the professional an idea of the need, time needed and approximate cost.
You may be able to scan photos of your smile and send them for esthetic recommendations. After the initial contact and communication, your procedure is scheduled.   Depending on your needs suggestions for your accommodations can be made.
With some procedure, you may need to remain in the area for a set period of time, or return at a later date to complete the procedure. The traveling patient as the local patient needs time to heal to go to a second stage of oral rehabilitation so in advanced cases two and sometimes three visits are needed to successfully complete a complex scenario. The visits can be arranged for mutual convenience time within a range period.

TRAVELING FOR IMPLANT DENTISTRY TREATMENT

If there is enough bone available to contain the implant, the implant is placed in to the bone and at least 3-4 months later the final crown can be placed over the implant. For patients that do not live in Medellin, it is recommend to plan a second trip for the final restoration after a 4 to 12 month period. A temporary restoration is placed to resolve aesthetic and functional needs during the healing period.

If a bone regeneration procedure is required, the treatment is extended. First the bone regeneration procedure is done; then, a period of 5-8 months must pass before placing the implant and then 4-12 months later the final crown is placed. This means a healing period at least 4 months is suggested and for logistics of foreign patients this time can be extended up to 12 moths.

Biological principals are the same for local and foreign patients. There are establised protocols that must be followed in order to have long term success. Some dentists tend to violate some basic principles so the patient “does not go away”.   A pushy patient can always find a dentist which will “speed up the process” but it will dramatically increase the risk of failure later. The healing process can not be rushed and the patient needs to be aware of this.

For a full mouth reconstruction, if the patient is all ready edentulous (with no teeth) implants and fixed prosthesis may be installed in only one trip. The final decision to immediately install the fixed prosthesis is actually taken at the time of the surgery. The planning is the most important part of the process.   So, if you want everything to be done in only one trip, the time recommended for this is 3-4 weeks. Again there is no guarantee that the fixed restoration can be installed immediately after the surgery.

If this is not technically possible, a removable prosthesis is installed and a second visit, 4-12 months later, is programmed to install the fixed prosthesis.
For implant treatment 2-3 trips need to be planned. In some cases where immediate loading is performed, extended periods of time may occur between each visit making it easier to schedule the logistics for the patient.