When Daren Frick, an assistant warden at the Edmonton Max, found he needed a $5,000 dental implant, he went looking for alternatives to what was offered in Alberta. That search culminated in what he describes as a business that is the first of its kind in North America.
Frick has since launched holidaydental.ca, a service that specializes in finding cheaper dentistry work. But he has further narrowed his focus to find those dentists situated in resort locations, predominately in Mexico.
“If you do it blindly, the dentists might not perform to expected standards. If you just try to research it online, the dentists’ websites are slick, but you don’t know what you’re dealing with,” Frick said.
Instead of paying out the full price here in Canada, Frick started asking around for alternatives outside of Canada. A family member’s referral eventually led him to a dentist in Puerto Vallarta where the same work cost him $2,000. It was not without its problems — Frick had serious concerns about infection control and the dentist insisting there was $10,000 in other work that needed to be performed first.
“What I said is there are probably good dentists that people would actually like to go to,” Frick said. “I networked through the dental industry and regulatory and educational bodies and asked for good holiday-location dentists.”
In his travels, Frick developed his own tools to ensure the dentists with whom he affiliates meet certain standards, from fluent English to proper certification, which in Mexico can be difficult to ascertain, he says. He focused predominately on dental specialists, who go through more education and professional development than the average general dentist.
He now has a list of dentists in resort locations that meet his standards so individuals looking for less expensive alternatives to dental work can also spend a week or two relaxing in a resort. Frick doesn’t charge for his service; he openly states he is paid by the dentists in his service. But he says that doesn’t compromise his objectivity.
“I only assess dentists by invitation,” he said. “Even though I do get paid by them, I maintain my objectivity because I’m not exclusively aligned with any one market.”
Other services in the United States offer referrals for cheap dentistry, but Frick says they simply have a roster of dentists on file about whom the company might know very little.
“You can go and take your chances and hope for a good outcome but you don’t know what the chances are. You can go to Mexico and take a chance or you can come to me. I don’t charge and you’ll get great service.
Interested individuals can visit www.holidaydental.ca for more information.
