What to ask a clinic before you book

Each clinic page on this site shows what the clinic publishes and, under "Not on the clinic's site", what it does not. Those gaps are the first questions. The rest below are the ones that decide whether a trip makes sense, and every answer should arrive in writing, by email, before you buy a ticket. A clinic that treats visitors every week has answered all of them many times.

Who will treat me?

• The name of the dentist or surgeon who will do the work, not the clinic's founder or the person who answers email.
• That person's license number: a cédula profesional in Mexico, a colegiado code in Costa Rica. Then check it: Mexico, Costa Rica.
• For anything called specialist work (implants, root canals, orthodontics, surgery): whether that person holds a registered specialty, and its number, or whether the title comes from courses.
• Who does the follow-up visits on a multi-trip plan, and whether it will be the same person.

What exactly is the quote?

• An itemized written quote after the clinic has seen your X-rays or scan, with a line per tooth or per procedure. A single package number hides what is and is not included.
• What is excluded: exam and imaging, sedation, bone grafts and sinus lifts discovered during surgery, temporaries, the final restoration on an implant, medication, follow-up visits.
• Whether the price is per tooth, per arch, per implant or per package. The posted-price tables on this site show the unit beside every figure for this reason.
• What changes the price on the day, and whether the clinic will hold the quoted figure if the plan changes after the exam.
• How payment works: deposit, currency, card surcharges, and whether a cash price differs from a card price.

What is going in my mouth?

• The implant brand and model, in writing, and whether you will receive the implant passport or sticker sheet with lot numbers. A dentist at home needs the exact system to work on it later.
• The crown or bridge material: zirconia, lithium disilicate (e.max), porcelain fused to metal, acrylic. Prices on the same list can differ by hundreds of dollars between them.
• Where the lab work is made: the clinic's own lab, a local lab, or elsewhere. In-house labs can remake a crown the same day; outside labs can mean an extra trip.
• For full-arch work: whether the quoted price covers the provisional only or the final bridge, and how many months and trips sit between the two.

How long does this take?

• Number of trips and days per trip. Implants usually need healing time between placement and the final crown; a clinic that promises everything in one short visit should explain how.
• How soon you can fly after surgery, and how soon you can swim or sit in the sun if the trip includes a resort stay.
• What a realistic recovery looks like the first week, so you can plan where you sleep and who is with you.

What if something goes wrong?

• The warranty terms in writing: what it covers, for how long, and what voids it. Several clinic pages here quote a warranty line; the full terms are what matter.
• Whether the warranty requires returning to the clinic, at your own travel cost, or whether the clinic will pay a dentist at home to fix a failure.
• Which hospital the clinic uses if a complication needs one, and how far away it is.
• Whether your dentist at home will see you for follow-up on work done abroad. Ask before you go; some will not.

What will I take home?

• Your records: X-rays, the CT scan, the treatment plan, and the materials list. Ask for digital copies on the last day.
• An itemized receipt in a form a US insurer or a flexible spending account administrator will accept, if you plan to claim.
• Prescriptions written so they can be filled at home if needed, and a note of what you were given in the chair.

None of this tells you whether to go. It tells you whether a clinic is willing to put its answers in writing, which is the one test every clinic on this site can be given from your kitchen table.