Text and Photos by Rod Anderson.
I must be spoiled by super fast internet back home. I did the tour and interview at NOVA DENTAL yesterday, but it took all night for the video to upload.
I finally went to bed around midnight last night and it was still only 70% done at that time. Woke up this morning and it had finished, but I had to get out the door for a day of exploring. I just returned from walking all over downtown San Jose so now I can finally get this done.
Dr. Obando specialist
As I said in the previous post, Dr. Anglada’s interview, Dr. Obando was on my final list of 3 when I was trying to decide on what dentist to go to.
So I was really looking forward to meeting him and checking out his clinic. It was less than 2 km to his clinic from where I’m staying so I just walked it. I arrived about 40 minutes early so I walked around the Plaza Center that the clinic is located at. There are all kinds of restaurants and shops just feet from the clinic.
Including some famous American eateries such as Hooters & Outback Steakhouse…I’ll take Outback out of those 2 any day (love you my Wife). Right across from the front door of NOVA Dental is the Marriott Courtyard hotel. It’s literally a stones throw from the clinic.
Super convenient for someone wanting to get work done by Dr. Obando. Though I can’t remember if the clinic offers a discount for that hotel. You can see here how close the hotel and clinic are to each other. NOVA has two signs, the green one and the white one to the left of it…
Also within walking distance (10 minutes) is a couple more nice hotels, the CIMA Hospital and a huge, HUGE shopping mall. 3 levels, goes on forever, every store you can imagine…and not a single person working there speaks english.
Well that was my experience. But hey…we are in THEIR country. How dare us even get on a flight bound for CR without first learning the lingo.
So as I walked up to the clinic and could see into the huge windows, I said to myself, “WOW!”. I mean it was a really, really nice clinic.
About as modern as I have seen and almost matches Dr. Prada’s new wing that opened up this last January and that is a challenge my friends. As I approached the entrance I took some photos and a few more when I entered the lobby…
After waiting for a short while, I was still early by 20 minutes, I met Dr. Obando. It seems he had set some time aside for me as there was a break in visits by patients. It was just me, the doctor and his staff.
He stated that patients would be showing up soon for their appointments so it was probably best to get the photos of the different rooms out of the way now so that is exactly what I did…
Oh I forgot to mention that after I took the lobby photos and while I was waiting for Dr. Obando to come out, I talked a short bit to a patient who was just leaving. I have a photo of her but I forgot to get her permission to use it on this blog so I better not post it.
Anyway I asked how she liked her treatment so far. With a huge grin on her face and a look of complete satisfaction she told me it was, “FANTASTIC!”.
She went on to tell me that this was her 4th trip down to CR for dental work. She had originally came down for crowns over implants but it went so well that she now returns to Dr. Obando for routine dental work and that she wont go anywhere else not even up in California where she is from. Then her taxi showed up and she was off. By the way her teeth looked fabulous.
So after taking the photos of the numerous rooms, the doctor and I sat down across from each other and started the interview. I realize the question I asked were pretty tame and generic.
But at least it does give you some insight into how Dr. Obando operates his clinic and personality. I could have asked both Anglada & Obando questions of a more serious matter but I wasn’t there for that. I just wanted to give everyone a brief look into the clinics and at the doctors who run them.
Nova Dental Clinic
I was highly impressed with the looks, feel and yes even the very nice flowery smell of the NOVA DENTAL Clinic. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever walked into a U.S. clinic that looked as modern as NOVA and for the life of me I can not.
Now don’t get me wrong…I have a FANTASTIC dentist back home, Dr. Galloway and Dr. Paxton, and they have a fabulous clinic. But I love clinics that look like they belong on the USS Enterprise out in space and NOVA is one of those places. You won’t be disappointed by the clinic and that’s fo’ shizzle (for sure).
The doc: I wish I could have spent more time with Dr. Obando as he seemed like one hell of a good guy. Smart, almost as good looking as me and obviously committed to his work.
All you have to do is look at his clinic and you know that he puts cleanliness and sterilization at a priority. He seemed a bit uncomfortable in front of the camera at first, who wouldn’t be, but quickly found his groove and answered the questions well I thought.
If you are Researching Dental tourism!
I think it would be silly of anyone not to have Dr. Obando and his NOVA Dental team on their short list as he was on mine.
From the patient I talked to when I arrived at the clinic to other NOVA patients I chatted with online when I was doing my initial research, I have found nothing but great reviews and experiences.
If I had it to do all over again, would I choose Dr. Obando over Dr. Prada? No because I have had the best dental experience of my life with Dr. Prada and I practically love the guy like a brother.
So why would I go back and change that? Do I believe that if I would have picked Dr. Obando in the first place that I would have received excellent care and a fantastic experience as I have with Prada? Yes!
I honestly believe that no matter who I would have chose on my list of final 3, I would have been in great hands.
Thanks and gratitude goes out to Dr. Obando for allowing me to come into his clinic in order to make this happen.
An original interview by Rod Anderson and originally published in The Dental Tourist.com
If you want to read the original interview, please visit this link.
