Dr. Adriana Castano is absolutely wonderful and I feel completely confident referring everyone to her. In fact, I have already given her contact info to my best friend who wants veneers.
Dr. Adriana is charming, beautiful, fun, and so caring. She did such a fabulous job on my gingival gum grafting surgery, I just can't thank her enough! I had a 3.5 hour, extremely complicated surgery on TWELVE TEETH! Amazing, considering that all the other periodontists that I contacted told me that I should not expect to have more than two teeth done at a time and that I would have to make multiple overseas trips to complete treatment for all of the teeth which had recession. But from the very beginning Dr. Adriana was confident in her technique and felt that we could do at least 6 gum grafts in one visit...and wow, she really exceeded my expectations! In addition to the gingival gum grafts, she also performed an upper and lower frenectomy, occlusial adjustments, and fabricated a nighttime bite guard for me (which was ready in a few minutes because the clinic has an in-house lab).
I will also add that I ended up paying even less than I expected! Dr. Adriana is so ethical that she made me a nighttime bite guard that also doubled as a protective stent to cover the tissue donor site on my palate, which saved me additional money! There was absolutely no "up selling" or hidden charges. Super honest from start to finish. And all the other periodontists who I reached out to had a long list of charges...it made me feel "nickel and dimed". I was so pleasantly surprised when I received the bill at International Smiles!
I should also mention that I wasn't billed anything extra even though my surgery lasted much longer than anticipated. Dr. Adriana was cheerful and diligent and took her time to give me the best possible results and the most comfortable and well-done sutures! And the whole thing was painless, even AFTER the surgery my mouth wasn't in pain because I followed all the extensive after-care instructions that I was given. Yes, there was sensitivity and discomfort, but not the horrific pain, swelling and bruising that I had read about on blogs while researching this procedure, so I got really lucky with my doctor! Also, 3 weeks after I returned to California, I went to my regular dentist for a "peace of mind" check up to make sure everything looked right and that I was healing well. I showed him photos taken during surgery too. He was so congratulatory and kept saying what a wonderful job my periodontist did and repeatedly remarked on how lucky I was to have such perfect work done! Huge relief!
I am writing such a long review because Dr. Adriana truly deserves it. She exceeded my expectations at EVERY phase of the process. I originally sent my photos and story to dozens of periodontists at clinics around the world. I asked a dizzying number of questions, because I am a savvy patient and also because I was extremely nervous about going overseas for such an intense procedure! Dr. Adriana answered all my questions in-depth and with confidence. Further, I felt reassured about selecting her instead of so many other choices because she used to practice dentistry in Florida! And she is still a member of the American Board of Periodontology (and yes, I took the time to verify all of the credentials instead of just believing what's written on a website). Given that she was licensed in the USA, used to work in the USA, speaks flawless English, had by far the best prices, AND works in a country that I have been eager to visit for years...well, that made it a no-brainer and I knew she was the right doctor for me! And after the wonderful care she gave me, I feel so pleased with my decision!
We are still in touch and she still checks on me via WhatsApp, even though it has been 7 weeks since surgery...awesome patient care! In fact she could have "gotten rid of me" after 1 follow up visit, but instead she encouraged me to return a couple of more times to the clinic for follow ups while I was still in Medellín recuperating (at no additional charge). She really went above and beyond the call of duty in so many ways. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
And speaking of the clinic, it is lovely. Extremely clean, modern art on the walls, and a relaxing garden in the back. Also, her clinic is in THE best area of Medellín! All the cool hotels, bars, restaurants and shopping are within walking distance. Very convenient! And I felt 100% safe in Colombia at all times!!!! I traveled around Colombia before and after my procedure and fell in love with the country during my 3 week stay...the landscapes, flora and fauna are breathtaking, I miss it so much! And I loved the experience even more because it was essentially "free" -- even with airfare and nice hotels and site seeing, etc I still managed to save many thousands of dollars compared to having the procedure done with one of the 3 periodontists that I had consultations with in California or the 30+ periodontists in several countries that I contacted with my photos and xrays so that I could get an online consultation/price quote. Yes, Dr. Adriana gave me such a good price that it was even thousands less than other periodontists in Costa Rica, Thailand, etc (not to mention that those others would have required me to come back for several trips just to complete the work that Dr. Adriana did on my first visit!!) Not only are her rates a bargain, but the Colombian Peso is really weak right now relative to the US Dollar, so the favorable currency conversion rates made an already great deal unimaginably fantastic!