Medical Tourism: Safe, Simple, and Shockingly Cheap

My first experience with overseas treatment was A+

Julio Vincent Gambuto
Elemental

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Photo: Michael Browning/Unsplash

I love my dentist. He’s a family friend, and a visit to his office on Staten Island, where I am from, is an easy and pleasant experience. I’m not one of those people who hates the drilling and the poking and the scraping. It’s not my favorite activity in the world, but a dental cleaning is just one of those things you’ve got to do, like paying your taxes or replacing the odd broken pipe — not always fun, but always necessary. Or else. In matters of the mouth, dare you not and you’ll risk an unpleasant smile, halitosis, and future gum disease. Now in my forties, I realize how much maintenance the human body actually requires.

My semiannual cleaning is usually quick and painless. The price tag, however, is never fun. My last cleaning cost nearly $300. Getting your smile sparkling and pretty can also cost a pretty penny. Yes, I have insurance, but I have yet to meet a dentist who actually takes it. I have gotten too used to paying for dental work as part of my grooming routine. And it’s expensive. It is no wonder that, when I was a kid, my mom’s go-to reason for why we seldom took a family vacation was “I have three kids with braces.”

A few weeks ago, I was prepping for my first trip since “The Before Times,” and after a year

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Julio Vincent Gambuto
Elemental

Author + Moviemaker // Happiness in a fucked-up modern world // New book from Avid Reader Press (Simon & Schuster) // Audie Finalist // SXSW // juliovincent.com