Dr. Roberto Sosa is likely one of the most distinguished odontologists and maxillofacial surgeons within the Yucatan. His dental clinic, CODY, is provided with state-of-the-art know-how that rivals most dental labs and surgical procedures within the U.S., Canada or different international locations in Europe. Dr. Sosa’s clinic offers an integral service, going from diagnostics to implantology and prosthetics, all on the similar medical facility.
The Yucatan Instances reporter arrived at 7 am at CODY, and Dr. Sosa was already ready in a gathering room with a giant smile and providing a cup of espresso.
TYT: Thanks very a lot on your time Physician Sosa, it’s a pleasure to fulfill you and we’re right here right this moment to speak about Implantology and Dental Medical Tourism In Yucatan.
DR SOSA: I wish to begin by saying that on this clinic we now have gear that sufferers received’t discover in any different dental clinic in all of Latin America.
We design surgical guides and print them in a 3D printer. The accuracy we handle after we place an implant could be very excessive.
I’ve been working on this area for many years now. I’ve been to different Mexican cities akin to Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Juarez, Monterrey, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Pachuca and Mexico Metropolis amongst others, giving lectures and conferences on Implantology, and principally spreading the phrase in regard to this extraordinary system.
I additionally based the Faculty of Implantology of Yucatan, now often called Southeast Faculty of Implantology, and I preside on the regional affiliation of implantologists.
A few years again, I had a imaginative and prescient of the brilliant future that implantology was going to have in fashionable instances, and devoted a substantial amount of time finding out and updating myself in all elements of this self-discipline, and I’ve been a pioneer and a missionary in all of Mexico, making an attempt to make the usage of dental implants extra standard, and making an attempt to remove the usage of dental bridges, since that form of therapy damages different dental items which are in fine condition, and that’s counterproductive for the affected person’s well being.
So that’s the reason implantology has consolidated at a world stage, and never too way back we had the vist of Mr. Luis Cabezas, who’s consultant of the Canadian authorities, who’s answerable for the certification of medical clinics worldwide. He discovered about us, he was sort sufficient to pay us a go to, and now we’re in means of get licensed by the Canada’s Minister of Well being, and shortly we might be accepted by the Canadian authorities to obtain folks from that nation, and specifically now that we rely with a brand new direct flight from Toronto, which is a giant hub for all of Canada.
I might dare to say that we’re the clinic with the perfect infrastructure in all of Mexico to deal with dental implants, as a result of apart from the surgical guides, and the tomographs, we now have a novel digital dental laboratory, the place we will have the potential of attending a dental implant in a matter of 24 hours, and also you received’t discover that form of service wherever else in Mexico or Latin America; and possibly in just some locations within the U.S. and Canada. And naturally, that is one thing very enticing for Dental Medical Tourism vacationers.
What’s the actuality with Dental Medical Tourism? Individuals just isn’t going to journey all the best way from the U.S. or Canada if a tooth aches, however they’ll come for an integral implantology process, planning their journey in superior, and making reservations for his or her dental therapy and their trip as nicely.
There’s a rising group of Canadian “snowbirds” that often spend 5 or 6 months in Mérida yearly, which are our sufferers and schedule their appointment with us two instances a yr, every yr.
However I’ve to focus on that crucial factor about Dental Medical Tourism, just isn’t solely the good distinction in value, however the truth that we will present a top quality service that equals or exceeds the service suppliers of their residence international locations.
We not solely use the perfect and most renown implant manufacturers worlwide (such because the Swiss made Straumann implants), however we additionally characteristic first world state-of-the-art know-how gear, wonderful time of response and customized service.
Swiss firm Straumann is the most important implant manufacturing unit on the planet, with presence in additional than 85 international locations, and the one one that gives a lifetime guarantee for his or her implants. And simply to provide you an instance, we cost $1,500 USD to position a Straumann implant, and within the States, the minimal value you’ll get for precisely the identical process utilizing the identical product is $5,000 USD.
Why is that? Properly, the distinction is principally the hand labor value; within the U.S. all charges are considerably increased.
DR SOSA: I wish to add that, the Medical vocation in Yucatan goes all the best way again to our Maya ancestors. Yucatan is and has been for a whole bunch of years, the Medical hub for all Southeast Mexico.
Once I studied my specialty in Mexico Metropolis a few years in the past, I encountered Yucatecan medical doctors answerable for all kinds of specialties in all the principle hospitals of the capital metropolis.
And if Yucatan has such a complicated Medical infrastructure and historic background, how come the federal government had not promoted Dental Medical Tourism earlier than? Properly, I don’t have a solution to that query, however what I do know is that the State Authorities is now doing a rare unprecedented effort to spice up this sort of tourism as a supply of earnings for the state.
Via the Secretariat of Tourism Promotion presided by Mr. Saul Ancona Salazar, and clearly with assist from the governor and the Minister of Well being, Dental Medical Tourism is being promoted as by no means earlier than.
I consider that this adminstration is taking this business critically. In different international locations akin to Costa Rica or República Dominicana the federal government has been supporting this exercise for years now, and so they have been in a position to develop a giant a part of their financial system primarily based on this sector.
CODY was based 32 years in the past, and it has been an inspiration for generations of dentists, odonthologists and maxilofacial surgeons. And one thing that makes me very proud is that now we now have good native competitors, and that raises the extent of service in our area statewide.
This opponents don’t have the 3D printers and the tomographs we do, however they’ll make use of our gear , as a result of we additionally present that form of service to our colleagues.
TYT: At 8 am sharp, Dr. Sosa stated good bye, as a result of his first affected person of the day was within the ready room already; he kindly shook this reporter’s hand and left by way of the door of the assembly room.
Afterwards, Andrea Coronel, Dr. Sosa’s assistant and the particular person answerable for the clinic’s advertising and public relations, gave me a tour across the facility, the place I may witness the top quality work carried out by the totally different working groups.
3D imaging
The centerpiece of CODY’s technological gear is the Planmeca ProMax 3D Imaging system with the ProFace accent, an all-in-one CBCT (Cone Beam Computed Tomography) unit that features 3D imaging, 3D photograph, digital 2D panoramics and cephalometry.
With a single 14-second scan, Planmeca ProMax creates a full 3D laptop mannequin of the affected person’s head which could be stripped, layer by layer, to disclose the musculature, cranium, jawbone, and tooth.
The mannequin is correct to at least one millionth of a meter, permitting the technician to create a forged of the affected person’s dentition with out the usage of conventional plaster-like dental casts. The 3D data is just transferred to the lab’s 3D printer, which “prints” an correct mannequin of the affected person’s tooth and gums in about half-hour.
Implants in 24 hours
The usual process for implants largely includes ready, typically for weeks, earlier than the ultimate becoming. In most locations, a brief piece is fitted, whereas the lab works on the ultimate product. However with Dr. Sosa’s laser milling equipment, a full crown could be milled in six minutes, to an accuracy of 25 microns (a micron is a millionth of a meter).
Whereas the affected person relaxes on the dental chair (additionally state-of-the-art), the lab technician creates the crown, then makes use of the “printed” mannequin for becoming. When the match is ideal, the brand new implant is put into place within the affected person’s mouth.
Within the meantime, Dr. Sosa’s group is engaged on manufacturing the implant on their 3D printers. And 24 hours after strolling into CODY, the affected person walks out with a model new implant.
Interview by Alejandro Azcárate for TYT
