Why Is Dental Care So Affordable in Venezuela?

It is an unquestionable fact that our dental treatments are much cheaper compared to clinics in Europe, North America, the Caribbean and other Latin American countries. For sure, patients can save a lot of money by seeking dental care in Venezuela.

However, most people may wonder why. Lower prices for dental care are often associated with decreased quality of care, but this is certainly, not our case. At DENTAL VIP we offer a widely recognized service and in accordance with the highest international standards in oral health.

We will explain below why dental care at our clinic in Caracas is so affordable for patients from other countries.

1- Professional Training Expenses

As a general rule, the cost of tuition for four years of study in Dentistry in the United States of America, ranges in price between $21,600 and $64,800 American dollars in public schools, and amounts to almost $300,000 in private institutions. Later, the costs of the Specialization or Masters courses can range from $120,000 to $250,000 dollars.

In Venezuela, Undergraduate and Postgraduate studies in Dentistry are completely free, offered by public Universities of the State; so that the expenses of academic and professional training do not have a significant impact on the final cost structure.

2- The Real Estate Value 

The economy of Venezuela, unfortunately, remains mired in its sixth consecutive year of recession, in the midst of a serious political and social crisis.

As a result, prices in the real estate market have fallen 75% in the last 20 years, locating among the lowest in all of Latin America. On average, the current price per square meter represents 25% with respect to the value it had 20 years ago. If the average price of the square meter in the main cities of the continent is around $1,500, in Caracas it is now below $400 dollars.

Therefore, the amount of investment necessary to buy or rent a business premises in Caracas can be up to 10 times less than in many North American cities. 

3- Special Deals for Latin American Dentists 

Many manufacturers and exporters of dental materials, seek to counter the impact of the economic contraction that affects many countries in Africa, Latin America and South Asia; offering their products below their usual costs.

Price marketing and permanent discounts are usually the business strategies that best work for these companies, allowing them to defend their market share, and at the same time, adopt a more competitive position against other new brands, especially of Asian origin.

4- Low Operating Costs 

Unlike in western first-world countries, it costs much less to manage a dental practice in Venezuela. Maintaining a dental clinic and paying the local staff, including most qualified and experienced dental professionals, is not nearly as expensive as it is in the United States or Canada, for example. 

As a result, dental clinics in Venezuelan cities such as Caracas are able to offer much lower prices. Therefore, even a modern and well-equipped dental facility, with the best professionals in action, will be able to operate on a much lower budget than a comparable one in Miami, Willemstad, Madrid or Port of Spain; just to name a few cities.

While a dental hygienist or an administrative assistant charges an average of about $3,800 a month in Canada, $3,000 in the United States or €1,200 euros in Spain; in Venezuela her salary barely reaches $300. Similarly, and due to the great competition that exists in the sector, the labor hand and wages of laboratory technicians are much lower than other countries and directly affect the final price of the service. 

The causes of wages in our country are so low are multiple, complex (reduction in the supply of goods and services, shortages, price controls, inorganic money issuance and hyperinflation; among others) and their exposure is beyond the intention of this post; but in the end, they play in favor of the foreign patient, and constitute one of the variables that allow us to be so competitive in the international dental market.

While in developed countries the average operating cost of a dental implant surgery, for example, ranges from $800 to $1,000 dollars; in Venezuela it is only $250.

5- Tax Exemption

In Venezuela, all health services are exempt from Value Added Tax (IVA by its acronym in Spanish), which translates into a direct reduction of between 15% and 20% in any dental treatment, in relation to the price that it could have in any other country of the region.

6- Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Cost of Living

Despite the political, social and economic crisis in Venezuela, and according to the British newspaper “The Economist”, Caracas has become the cheapest city in the world to live.

According to a study carried out by the weekly in 2019 and in which its experts compared 400 average prices of 160 types of products and services among 133 cities in 93 countries, Caracas displaced Damascus as the least expensive city on the entire planet, ranking at position 133.

Such circumstance allows us to drastically reduce the necessary profit margins, and consequently, the final price of the treatments. For example, while American Surgeons aspire on average to a minimum net profit of $1,000 dollars per dental implant, in Venezuela $200 or $250 are sufficient.

“The Macroeconomic or Aggregate Variables of a Country, Are the Ones that Ultimately Determine the Prices of Its Products and Services, Including of Course Health Care”.

DENTAL TIP

Now You Know Why Dental Care Cost So Much Less in Venezuela!

Undoubtedly, with the correct information, you can easily find reliable clinics in Caracas; and even, in other cities of our territory. 

And What About the Quality of Our Services?

Venezuelan Dentistry is recognized for its excellence, through its highly qualified professionals, technological vanguard and constant academic activity. In dental aesthetics, Venezuelan Dentists are recognized worldwide and have achieved international recognition for their outstanding work, as they are an example of dedication, perseverance and commitment to their profession.

Venezuela has always been known in the world for petroleum and for the beauty of its women. Beauty pageants, which have led our country to win 13 Miss Universe and Miss World crowns, exert an influence that encourages Venezuelan women to worry more and more about their physical appearance and to resort more frequently to Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Dentistry, to look and feel better.

This obsession with beauty has been for many years the main stimulus for the development and improvement of Dentistry in our country, to a point where the demands on quality standards far exceed those of developed countries.
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We Are Just One Step Away!

Globalization and dental tourism are two extraordinary tools for accessing world-class Dentistry. Currently millions of people travel to other countries in search of opportunities and prices that allow them to face their dental treatments and recover their smile.

Wherever you are, generally in just a few hours you will be able to get to Venezuela, move to a comfortable hotel and start your oral rehabilitation process with dental implants, porcelain veneers and 100% metal-free ceramic structures; at only a fraction of the cost you would have to pay in your home country.

Almost certainly traveling or not traveling will mean the difference between satisfaction and resignation, or at best, between just getting “something” or be able to reach “the best option”. At DENTAL VIP we are very good hosts and excellent professionals.

Contact us and ascertain how traveling to Venezuela can improve your self-esteem and quality of life!