Veneers, bridges, crowns, implants, and full mouth restorations are among the most popular procedures sought by dental tourists in Costa Rica. Depending on the treatment plan formulated by dentists, patients may be expected to return to the clinic for one or more follow-up visits in the days immediately after the procedure; but what happens when they fly back to their countries?

A tenet of dentistry is that all patients should perform daily oral hygiene that should be complemented with one or two annual visits to the clinic. This is a lifelong process for natural teeth, and a recent article published in the Journal of Prosthodontics suggests that dental restorations also require a certain degree of lifelong care.

According to a recent report by Lauren Woods of UConn Today, a news website of the University of Connecticut:

For patients with tooth restorations such as crowns, bridges, veneers, and implants, UConn Health dentist Dr. Avinash Bidra recommends regular six-month dental examinations and a daily regimen of individual at-home care to help these restorations last longer.

Dr. Bidra recommends that patients that undergo dental restoration work should at least attend clinical visits every six months to:

clean, adjust, repair, and/or replace restorations supported by teeth or implants.

In addition to the clinical visits, Dr. Bidra also recommends at-home care that should be followed by patients.

Should dental tourists return to Costa Rica six months after their restoration procedures? The dental professionals at the New Smile Dental Group, a specialty dental tourism clinic in San Jose, explain that the new prosthodontic guidelines do not specifically state that patients should return to the same clinics where they received the restoration treatment.

It would certainly be nice for a dental tourist to return to Costa Rica six months later to enjoy a vacation and visit the New Smile Dental Group, but it is not mandatory. A patient from Milwaukee who underwent implantation in Costa Rica can visit clinics in Glendale, Wauwatosa or even Madison.