I’ve spent the last month watching a single data point reshape conversations with patients, insurance brokers, and clinic partners across three countries. CareQuest Institute for Oral Health released a report in June 2026 showing that roughly 4% of U.S. adults, nearly 9.6 million people, have pursued dental care abroad. That’s not a fringe behavior. It’s a pattern with real structural causes.
I want to walk through what the data actually says, what it doesn’t say, and what it means for anyone weighing whether to get dental work outside the United States.
What the CareQuest report found
When asked to identify the primary reason they sought dental care outside the U.S., more than half (58%) of respondents cited costs.
In the U.S., approximately 69 million adults (about 26%) do not have dental insurance, and cost remains a major barrier to accessing dental care.
About 4% of adults in a nationally representative survey of 9,450 people conducted last year said they’d traveled outside of the country for dental work.
CareQuest’s survey didn’t find any significant differences among education status, employment status, or income level. That last point surprised me. This isn’t a low-income-only phenomenon. People across income brackets are making this calculation.
According to the CDC, dental tourism is the most prevalent form of medical tourism among U.S. residents.
In 2023, experts estimated the global market for dental tourism at $10.9 billion, and they expect this market to continue growing.
Why dental care costs so much more in the U.S.
Why the price gap is so wide
Data collected in seven major industrialized countries revealed that the U.S. is the most expensive place to undergo common dental procedures, such as cleanings, extractions, fillings, crowns, and root canals.
A comparative study among seven industrialized countries found that the average root canal costs $838 in the U.S., compared to $542 in Canada and $436 in France.
But the gap with Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama is far wider than the gap with other industrialized nations. A root canal that could cost up to $1,500 out-of-pocket in the U.S. is under $350 in Mexico, according to one estimate.
Consider dental implants. A single dental implant in the United States typically costs $3,000 to $5,500 in 2025-2026, including the implant post, abutment, and crown.
A single implant costs $650 to $1,000 in Mexico, and a full-arch All-on-4 costs $6,000 to $10,000, versus $20,000 to $35,000 in the U.S.
In Costa Rica, the numbers are similar. A single tooth implant in Costa Rica costs $800 to $1,600 total in 2026.
All-on-4 implants cost $8,500 to $12,750 per arch in Costa Rica versus $24,000 to $30,000 in the USA.
That’s a savings of $15,000 or more per arch for the same procedure using the same implant brands.
Prices across other treatment categories
Beyond dental: pricing across treatment categories
I run MedEscape across four treatment areas. Here’s what the price landscape looks like in mid-2026.
Fertility (IVF): A single IVF cycle that can cost $15,000 to $25,000 in the United States often starts at $3,000 to $4,000 USD in Mexico before medication. That’s before you factor in the families who need two or three cycles. The savings can reach $30,000 to $40,000 over a full course of treatment.
Hair restoration: Hair transplant in Mexico typically costs from $3,000 to $4,100. Patients save around 72% compared to the US, where the average cost is $12,500. Panama is comparable. FUE procedures at board-certified clinics run $3,000 to $4,500 across our partner clinics.
Aesthetic medicine: Cosmetic dental work like porcelain veneers runs about $1,200 per tooth in the U.S. ( Veneers average $1,200 per tooth per RealDentalCosts, 2026). In Mexico and Costa Rica, the same veneers cost $350 to $500 per tooth at screened clinics.
How the U.S. insurance gap drives dental travel
The insurance gap feeding this trend
The dental insurance system in the U.S. was designed decades ago and hasn’t kept up. According to CareQuest Institute’s 2024 State of Oral Health Equity in America (SOHEA) survey, an alarming 27% of U.S. adults, roughly 72 million people, do not have dental insurance.
Even those with dental coverage face sharp limits. Dental insurance typically covers 50% of implant costs up to annual maximums of $1,500 to $2,500. If you need a full-arch restoration quoted at $25,000, your insurance will cover a small fraction. The rest is out of pocket.
Meanwhile, the average annual premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2025 hit $9,325 for single coverage and $26,993 for family coverage (KFF, 2025). That premium buys you medical coverage. Dental is usually a separate plan with its own limits. Employers are already under cost pressure from GLP-1 drugs, hospital prices, and rising utilization. Adding better dental benefits isn’t high on most companies’ priority lists.
Adults who reached their maximum dental benefit in the past year report traveling for dental care at a higher rate (7.6%) than adults who did not (2.7%). When your insurance runs out mid-treatment, the math changes fast.
Risks of dental tourism and how to manage them
What the CareQuest report warns about
I don’t want to gloss over this. Although dental tourism may offer financial benefits and convenience, it also carries potential risks such as differences in safety standards, challenges in follow-up care, and limited legal recourse if complications occur.
Those are real concerns. That’s exactly why I built MedEscape. Every provider in our network is board-certified in their home country. We screen clinics for accreditation, lab standards, and patient outcomes. We coordinate follow-up care with your dentist at home. This isn’t a directory where you pick a name and hope for the best.
We work in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama because those countries have strong regulatory frameworks for dental and medical care, established track records with North American patients, and short travel times from most U.S. cities.
How to decide if dental travel is right for you
What to do with this information
If you’re one of the 69 million adults without dental insurance, or if you have coverage that maxes out before your treatment is finished, you have a real decision to make. The CareQuest data confirms what I’ve seen on the ground for years: millions of people are already making that decision.
Here’s how I’d think about it. Get a diagnosis and treatment plan from your U.S. dentist first. Ask for an itemized quote. Then request a quote through MedEscape at gomedescape.com/select-your-category/ and compare the two side by side. Look at the credentials. Look at the materials. Look at the follow-up plan. Make the decision with all the information in front of you.
For a destination-by-destination breakdown, our guide to dental implants abroad: cost, safety, and the best countries compares Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama.
I’m at info@gomedescape.com if you want to talk through it.