In this article I detail the costs of getting dental work in Brazil.
It will take some time getting used to having teeth I can feel good about instead of teeth that embarrass me. All my life I've had this big gap between my two upper front teeth. Now, even that's gone. I've literally inhibited myself from smiling with a toothy smile, even though, since 1980, I've taught smile muscle anatomy and the power of smiling. I should have done this decades ago.
My wife and I went to Brazil for three reasons-- visit her family for the first time in over two years, get dental implant work done and write about Brazil.
I justified the cost of the travel expenses because of what we'd save on the dental work. My wife also wanted to take advantage of Brazil's reputation as the world capitol for Cosmetic surgery (just Botox.)
We had our first appointment with the Dental surgeon the day after we arrived, and our trip took 26 hours.
He looked, took photos, wiggled some teeth and sent us for radiological workups. My complete set of X-rays cost $40. My wife Leontina's (for short, Leo, pronounced lay-oh) including CT scans, cost $90, just to give you an idea of how insanely predatory and outrageous fees are in the US. Antibiotics and pain meds, cost, between us, about $50 total.
The next visit, I was offered options. It took another week to get the CT scan results for Leo. My teeth were much worse and I needed veneers on 17 plus three implants and two bone grafts, as well as extractions of two molars. The reason my teeth are broken is because in spite of having orthodontic braces when I was a teenager, I have a bad overbite. Combine that with thinning teeth with age, the overbite caused the top and bottom teeth to break each other. The veneers are not just cosmetic. They totally correct the overbite and strengthen my teeth profoundly. This is a photo the dentist took.
Here's a tally of all expenses, including airfares, renting an apartment and renting a car for five weeks, and buying food and gas.
Airfare cost about $450 each way to Sao Paulo, leaving from Philly. If I left from Newark or Laguardia or JFK I could have probably saved $100-$200 round trip. But I felt 26 hours was enough. My wife has family in and near Goiania, so it cost about another $190 round trip each to get there.
The two bedroom apartment we rented cost about $670. We wanted a two bedroom because Leo's grandkids were going to stay with us at times. The apartment included two in-room floor air conditioners, gated entry and gated parking. Most places have gated entry and parking here.
The car rental, including 3000 free kilometers, was, with savings paying in $Reais, about $580 for an air conditioned, four door manual transmission Fiat. The first new car I bought was a Fiat. I picked it up in Geneva, drove it around 5000 miles in Europe and then shipped it back from Rome.It cost in 1972, $2100 including shipping.
I'm estimating we'll have spent at most, $200 a week for food, gas, and phone service, etc.
travel costs
$2150 roundtrip Airfare from Philly to Goiania, but I think next time we could probably do it for $1700 or less.
$670 2 BR Apartment for 5 weeks and next time we'll probably spend a little more to get added extras, maybe $750-$800
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