Whether you are going to Costa Rica for dental procedures or if you live here and need to go to the dentist, here is what you need to know.
You can read our personal experiences and our recommendations for dentists in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica’s Dental Educational System
When Costa Rican students graduate high school, qualified students can go straight into professional school such as medical, dental, pharmacy or veterinary.
Dentists spend normally 5 years in dental school (Universidad de Costa Rica is 6 years) and another 2-3 if they specialize.
At the end of their schooling career from a registered university, dentists needs to register with the Colegio Cirujanos Dentistas in order to practice.
Medical and Dental Tourism in Costa Rica
Costa Rica is one of the top ten countries in the world for medical and dental tourism.
Get dental implants and recover on a beautiful beach. Replace your knee and rehabilitate in the mountains overlooking the valley.
Sounds nice right?
Due to the high quality of Costa Rica’s health professionals, lower cost of care and shorter wait times, medical tourism is booming.
Seeing the doctor in Costa Rica as a foreigner is not an uncommon thing.
In fact, this is one of the reasons why so many retired USA/Canadians move to Costa Rica. They take advantage of Costa Rica’s excellent health care system as the USA is too expensive and Canada takes too long.
Why Is Costa Rica a Top Country for Dental Tourism?
Yes, dental work in Costa Rica is cheaper than the United States or Canada. Remember, cheap doesn’t mean low quality.
Here are some more reasons why foreigners travel to Costa Rica for dental procedures.
Many dentists do their specialization in the United States, Canada or Europe. These dentists generally are the ones that speak fluent English.
Early training. Since students enter professional school out of high school when they are 17 or 18, they begin training much earlier.
High end dental clinics have the latest medical technology. Many dentists purchase their tools and equipment from Europe or North America.
If a dentist from another country wants to practice in Costa Rica, they must be reviewed for at least 2 years by a university supervisor. They also need to take and pass the “incorporation” exam.
Dental Work for Medical Tourism
The most popular dental procedures for foreigners are implants, crowns, bridges, dentures, teeth whitening and veneers.
How to Find a Dentist
With a plethora of dental professionals in Costa Rica, finding one as a foreigner can be daunting since you obviously want a good dentist that can speak English, do a high quality job and not rip you off.
A lot of people will find a recommendation from the Facebook groups like Living in Costa Rica or look up on forums such as Reddit so they can get real recommendations from people who have had personal experiences before.
Below are our recommendations from personal experiences.
My Experience Seeing a Dentist in Costa Rica as a Foreigner
Throughout the years I have lived in Costa Rica, I’ve had some dental work done: braces, teeth whitening, cleanings and composite bonding. I’ve had mixed experiences seeing a dentist in Costa Rica.
Something to note that in the more touristic areas with more American and Canadian immigrants and expats, such as Playas del Coco, Tamarindo and Samara, prices tend to be higher than if you were to go to San Jose or the Central Valley.
Cleanings
I used to go to a dentist near where I live outside of Tamarindo but I have stopped completely after my last recent visit.
First, the dentist was 20 minutes late from coming back from their lunch break. Then, the cleaning, (no fluoride, no checking for cavities) cost me $80 USD. It lasted 20 minutes and my teeth didn’t feel very clean afterwards.
Since my teeth are incredibly sensitive due to unfortunate receding gums, cleanings are terribly uncomfortable and painful for me. I get awful anxiety before my appointment. Sweaty palms, dizziness, shortness of breath, all of it, because I know it always hurts.
So I started looking for a more professional and highly respected dentist outside of the Tamarindo area. I also do not require an English speaking dentist so I wanted one that didn’t just cater to foreigners or tourists.
After a bit of researching, I found Clinica Dental Gil in Tempisque (15 minutes from Guanacaste Airport) that offers Air Flow GBT. It’s a way to clean teeth using air, water pressure and a high resolution cleaning powder.
We went to talk to them about it before the actual cleaning and I felt very comfortable and confident to do the Air Flow with them.
Yeison and I both did the cleanings with Air Flow GBT and honestly, I will NEVER go back to a normal dental cleaning again. They were very meticulous and the Air Flow didn’t hurt!
It was my first ever as an adult, having a pain free teeth cleaning. Also, my teeth never felt cleaner afterwards.
This type of cleaning with the Air Flow technology is more expensive. It costs $138 USD and for me, it was worth every single penny.
PS. NOT an ad at all. This really happened. NO paid promotion or advertisement. That’s how much I hate going to the dentist – I will drive more than an hour for a teeth cleaning from an excellent dental clinic.
Clinica Dental Gil
As mentioned, this is not a paid ad, paid promotion or advertisement whatsoever. I simply want to pass on my recommendation because a good dentist is difficult to find!
And if you are like me who gets crazy anxiety before going to the dentist, finding a good one is like finding gold. Or a perfect fitting pair of jeans – you never let those go and you sew up every single hole!
Clinica Dental Gil has locations in San Pedro and Escazu in San Jose and they opened their Guanacaste location in 2024. It’s actually only 15 minutes from Guanacaste Airport and we did our cleaning the day we flew to New York.
Not only do they offer cleanings, but they have specialists for crowns, bridges, implants, pediatric dentistry, and all types of dental procedures.
They do not classify or think of themselves as dental tourism specialists, they just strive to do the best quality job for their patients.
All of their equipment is high quality, they have extremely strict cleaning protocols and everyone is very professional and passionate.
Most of their specialists speak fluent English, went to the best universities in Costa Rica and had higher level training abroad in countries such as the United States, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.
I haven’t had any procedures like crowns, implants or bridges at their clinic, but I spoke with one of their long time patients who left the clinic the same time as me.
He is from the Cañas area and at the clinic, he got a crown. He said that Dr. Lucas Gil is an extreme perfectionist and incredibly professional and he doesn’t see any other dentist other than Dr. Gil.
Everyone was so nice and made us feel incredibly welcome, which helped calm my nerves when I was sitting in the waiting room!
Braces
Unfortunately, I stopped wearing my retainer in college. My teeth started moving again very badly to the point where I had to get braces again. I did a 2 year braces treatment from 2017-2019 in Costa Rica.
Even though having adult braces sucked, I was super happy with my orthodontist, Dr Esteban Cubero Fernandez and how my teeth ended up.
He was very gentle and kind to someone who doesn’t enjoy getting their mouth and teeth poked at. Having to get checked once a month was not fun but he made it bearable.
He did the entire work (cleaning, changing rubber bands, tightening wires) during the appointments and was very attentive to my requests. It was a thousand times better than the orthodontist I had in the US.
He is based out of San Jose and goes to Liberia once a month. I drove from Tamarindo to Liberia, ~ 1.5 hour drive every month to see him for 2 years.
He speaks some English but it will be better if you speak Spanish to see him. This is not a paid ad or promotion either. I paid for everything on my own. Just passing on some my personal recommendations so you can also have a good experience.
Costs of Dental Work in Costa Rica
For the costs of dental procedures in Costa Rica, all the starting rates are posted on the El Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica website (College of Dental Surgeons of Costa Rica).
Dentists can then charge whatever they want on top of the starting rate.
When I had just top braces, it cost 25,000 CRC per appointment for a check up. When I had top and bottom braces, it was 32,000 CRC for a check up. I had the porcelain braces which are more expensive than metal. Prices from 2017-2019, please check for the latest rates.
In San Jose, my last cleaning cost 30,000 CRC in 2023.
Should You Come to Costa Rica for Dental Work?
It really is up to you. Many people come to Costa Rica for dental work because the wait time is too long (Canada) or it’s too expensive (United States).
Also, many people come to Costa Rica for dental work if they already own a house in Costa Rica or have friends and family there. A lot of them don’t just blindly show up to get dental work done without any support.
They see it as a two in one: fix what needs to be fixed, recover in a beautiful country and make a vacation out of it.
With everything, there are pros and cons, risks and things to think about. Take these into consideration when coming to Costa Rica for dental care.
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
- First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
- Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
- Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
- Check our Costa Rica destinations map and Costa Rica restaurant map
- Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
- Stay connected by purchasing a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica.
- Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels and our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.
Victoria Riggle says
I’ve personally had dental work done in Costa Rica; both implants with bridges and a whole bunch of crowns. I was completely happy with the work and extremely thankful to have found a friend in Bob Reardon out of Atlanta, dba as Costa Rican Dental. He’s a gem! I saved at least 50% of what all this work would’ve cost in the states, and that includes the cost of air travel and hotel. I’m about to go back for some more work without any qualms.
Jeff says
Hi Victoria, As a result of your post I’ve emailed Costa Rica Dental. There are just too many choices for quality dental work in Costa Rica and I needed to pick one. Your comments were good enough for me. Thanks, Jeff
Sammi says
Hi Porscha, you can ask around the locals since you’re fluent in Spanish but there are a ton of dentists and orthodontists in San Jose. I am actually doing braces and my orthodontist is based in San Jose so you can contact them to see if they can make you retainers. He rotates throughout several dentists office in Alajuela, Heredia and San Jose so you can also talk to the office he works out of to get a cleaning with the dentist there. His name is Dr Esteban Cubero Fernandez and his FB page is Clinica Ortodoncia Dr. Esteban Cubero Fernandez. He is excellent, I love him as my orthodontist.
Porscha says
Hi Sammi,
Thank you so much for your kind response!
I’ve mostly been out on the Pacific coast and only recently moved to San Jose, so I am still getting to know people here in the city.
I appreciate your recommendation and will definitely try reaching out to Dr. Esteban tomorrow. You are truly lovely and I wish you all the best.
~ Porscha
Sammi says
Hi Haliegh, I am actually doing orthodontic work right now. Prices will depend on which dentist you go to. I am going to a local Costa Rican dentist (not catered for dental tourism) and I paid 200,000 colones for the work, 100,000 colones for porcelain braces and I pay 25,000 colones (now 32,000 for top and bottom braces) for each visit. Dentists who are more foreigners/dental tourism located in touristic areas and speak English will be more expensive.
Porscha says
Hi Sammi,
Thank you so much for this thoughtful post.
I am currently based in San Jose. Would you have any recommendations for a ‘local Costa Rican dentist’? I am fluent in Spanish and have quite some time in the country.
I am interested in teeth cleaning and maybe getting new retainers. ..I am also the last person on Earth who doesn’t have Facebook.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Best Wishes,
Porscha
Haliegh says
how much is orthodontic work, roughly? for braces?
John says
Is there any dentist around Tamarindo area or Flamingo Beach?
Sammi says
There is one in the plaza across from Auto Mercado in Tamarindo and there is one in Tamarindo town above the little supermarket in Iguana Surf. They are English speaking too.
John says
I am looking for a implant specialist with US training is there such a thing in Costa Rica
Sammi says
Hi John, I recommend looking on websites like Medigo to see if there is someone like that in Costa Rica.
Franci Lacayo Torres says
You mention an incorporation test in Costa Rica. What kind of test? Like the US?
Sammi says
I’m not familiar with the US incorporation test but I’d imagine it’s similar (test to make sure you are competent in Spanish and dentistry/specialization).
bridgett says
hello, do you know of any implant dentists in the san isidro area. i have a peg already but do not want to travel 4 hours to san jose when san isidro is 30 min. away. thanx.
Sammi says
I recommend checking out Medigo or ask in the Costa Rica Fb groups for recommendations.
Mark says
I just got two quotes from my local dentist for a crown and an implant since at the time, both were an option to me. The crown is priced at $2,480 and the implant is priced at $5,240. My quoted implant price is way over the average US cost you quote above. Either your average cost is low, or my dentist is high. I suspect that latter. Since my tooth’s condition isn’t urgent, I’m holding off until I find more options. Thanks for your article above.
Sammi says
I got my numbers from a dental implant guide website which gives an average of $2450 for the implant only but there seems to be a lot of other factors such as grafts, extractions and xrays that will add onto the cost which makes it more expensive. If you are considering coming to CR for implants, we have a couple friends that came down to do it and can ask them for recommendations. They were very happy with their results and said it was much cheaper for them.
Haley says
My dentist quoted $6000 w/o insurance and $5000 w/ insurance. This is in WA state.
John says
Its been my experience that you find equal quality for a much lower price say in a Town Like San Isidro Del General then Playa Co Co or Liberia… the latter having grown accustomed to higher fees… to pay for New Sports Cars.
Michael says
My wife and I will in Coco for 6 months starting ! nov 3. I would like to see a dentist while there, nothing serious a cleaning and a check up. Who would you recommend?
Sammi says
Hi Michael, there is a Coco Dental Care you can check out in town.
Alex of Wanderlust Marriage says
Wonderful post! This is really helpful for people looking into and weighing the pros and cons of traveling to Costa Rica for dental work.
It’s something I’d consider in the future and may accompany my good friend if she decides to go for dental procedures as I’ve still never visited beautiful Costa Rica! It’s a great excuse to go while supporting a very good friend 🙂
Esteban says
My dad often travels to Costa Rica as his wife’s parents live and come from there.
He always tells me how white peoples teeth are and how good the dentists work over there.
When I get to join him on his travels one day I will definitely get my teeth checked and whitened as well 🙂
Nice read!
Esteban