The decision to get treated in Medellín rarely stalls on the dentistry: it stalls on the logistics. Which days you come, how long you stay, where you stay, who picks you up and what happens if something shifts. Here is who handles all of that, what it costs, and why in the end it costs you nothing.
The decision to get treated in Medellín almost never stalls on the dentistry. It stalls on the logistics.
In conversations with patients living in the United States, the treatment itself usually becomes clear fairly quickly. What keeps circling is something else, and it is always the same list:
- Which exact days do I need to be there?
- How long do I stay, and how many of those days do I request off work?
- Where do I stay, and is it near the practice?
- How do I get from the airport, right after surgery?
- And if the treatment needs one more day than planned?
None of those questions is dental, and every one of them stalls the decision just the same. Sorting them out from another country, in another language, without knowing the city, is real work. It is what makes many people who have already decided postpone it another six months.
Who handles that
There is a company dedicated to exactly this: Consultoria Dental CM LLC, registered in Florida, United States. It is a company separate from the practice, with its own service and its own invoice.
The split is simple and worth being clear about from the start:
- The practice in Medellín performs the treatment. You contract and pay for it here, in Colombia, directly, at Colombian rates.
- Consultoria Dental CM LLC organizes everything around your treatment and your trip. Nothing clinical: scheduling, timing, transfers, lodging, support and follow-up.
Two separate services, two separate companies, two separate documents. They do not mix.
Exactly what coordination includes
These are the nine points, exactly as published on the company's site. Not one more, not one less:
Before you travel
- A virtual assessment with me. A video call where I review your case, your photos and your imaging, and we work through your questions.
- A written treatment plan, with a closed price guaranteed for 90 days. What that document says is what you pay for the agreed treatment, and that price does not move for three months while you decide.
- Your dates reserved in the practice's schedule. You are no longer buying a ticket and hoping there is availability: the slot is yours before you buy it. There is no minimum lead time: if you want to and can travel in one or two days it gets organized, and if you would rather leave it for five or six months out, the date is held just the same.
- A day-by-day itinerary for your whole stay. When you arrive, what happens at each appointment, how long it takes, which days are rest days and when you can fly home. With that you request time off using real dates, not estimates.
While you are in Medellín
- Transport from the airport to your lodging on arrival, and back to the airport. Both transfers, not just the first one.
- Three lodging options filtered by proximity to the practice or by budget, depending on what you need. It is checked with you beforehand. The practice is in El Poblado, so the options are a few minutes' walk away, or nearby but adjusted to what you want to spend.
- A direct WhatsApp line while you are here. If your flight is delayed, if you cannot find the practice, or if a question comes up between appointments.
Once you are home
- Two video check-ups, at 15 and 30 days after you return. Which is exactly when most international patients are left on their own.
- A written summary for your local dentist, if you need one. So whoever follows up there knows exactly what was done and with which materials.
And if you want, your free days organized
There are free days between appointments. If you want to use them, they help you organize the classic trips: Guatapé, the Peñol Rock or Pueblito Paisa, fitted around your appointments rather than on top of them. The tours are run by local operators; coordination connects you and arranges the schedule.
What it does NOT include
This matters as much as the list above, and I would rather you read it here than once you have landed:
- It does not include travel between your lodging and your appointments. Transport covers airport arrival and departure. That is precisely why the lodging options are chosen within walking distance. If you still need daily transfers, you say so and they are quoted separately.
- The WhatsApp line is a channel, not a companion. It is answered Monday through Saturday. It is not a person who goes places with you.
- It does not include flights, lodging or meals. Those you pay for, and coordination helps you choose them.
- It does not include the treatment. Treatment is contracted and paid separately, here in Medellín, directly with the practice.
What it costs, and why in the end it does not cost you
Coordination costs from USD 550. It is a flat fee for defined services, not a percentage of your treatment.
And if you go ahead with treatment in Medellín, the practice credits that amount against the price of your treatment. The final figure is the same for you, with the trip organized instead of you organizing it.
Two things worth stating plainly, because in dental tourism they often are not:
- The practice pays no commission on your treatment to anyone, and the coordination company charges none. Its fee is flat and tied to defined services.
- Coordination does not decide your plan or your clinical price. That comes out of the assessment with me. It organizes the trip around the plan, not the other way around.
What it is not
It is not a travel agency. It does not sell you flights or tour packages. It handles what surrounds your treatment.
It is not a requirement. You can write to me directly and organize your trip yourself. Plenty of people do, especially those who already know Medellín or have family here.
It does not provide clinical services. None. Diagnosis, plan and treatment are mine, here, under Colombian regulations.
Who it genuinely makes sense for
From experience, there are three situations where it makes the difference:
- Multi-stage treatments, where two trips and the healing time between them have to be coordinated
- When you travel with someone, because two people's schedules do not organize themselves
- When you cannot afford to lose workdays, because that is where a written itinerary stops being a convenience and becomes what makes the trip possible
If you are coming for something small, on a single short trip, and you already know your way around the city, you probably do not need it. And that is worth saying too.
Where to start
With the assessment. Write to me, we review your case and define what you need and in how many stages. Only once the plan is clear does it make sense to talk about dates, days and travel, because until then there is nothing concrete to organize.
If you want the detail of what coordination includes, it is laid out on the company's site: International patient coordination.
Frequently asked questions
▸Who organizes the trip when I come to Medellín for treatment from the United States?
Consultoria Dental CM LLC, a company registered in Florida and separate from the practice. It handles scheduling, the written plan and price, the day-by-day itinerary, airport pickup, lodging options by proximity or by budget, and follow-up once you are home. The treatment itself is performed by Dr. Carolina Macareno in Medellín, at Colombian rates, and is contracted and paid separately, directly with the practice.
▸What does coordinating a dental trip to Medellín cost?
From USD 550, a flat fee for defined services, not a percentage of the treatment. If you go ahead with treatment in Medellín, the practice credits that amount against the price of your treatment, so it is not an added cost to you.
▸What does international patient coordination include?
Nine things: a virtual assessment with the specialist, a written treatment plan with a closed price guaranteed for 90 days, your dates reserved in the schedule, a day-by-day itinerary, airport transport on arrival and departure, three lodging options filtered by proximity or by budget, a direct WhatsApp line while you are in the city, two video check-ups at 15 and 30 days after you return, and a written summary for your local dentist.
▸Can I come without hiring the coordination?
Yes. You can write to the practice directly and organize the trip yourself. The coordination exists because most international patients would rather not handle scheduling, lodging, transfers and stage timing on their own from another country.
▸Who decides my treatment plan and its price?
Dr. Carolina Macareno, during the assessment. The coordination company does not diagnose, does not propose treatments and does not set the clinical price: it organizes the trip around the plan the specialist defined with you.
▸Do you pick me up at the airport?
Yes, coordination includes transport from the airport to your lodging on arrival and back to the airport at the end. Daily travel between your lodging and appointments is not included, because lodging options are chosen within a few minutes walk of the practice, but if you need it, it is quoted separately.
▸Can I travel with someone, and is their trip organized too?
Yes, and it is more common than it seems: a good share of international patients travel with a partner or a family member. The itinerary is built accounting for that person, and lodging options are filtered for two.
▸Who answers me if I have a problem once I am back home?
Coordination includes two video check-ups, at 15 and 30 days after you return, plus a written summary for your local dentist if you need one. Most post-operative questions are resolved with a photo and a conversation.
▸How far in advance do I need to schedule the trip?
There is no minimum. The trip can be scheduled right away: if you want to and can travel in one or two days, it gets organized, and it can equally be booked for five or six months out. Paying the USD 550 reserves your slot in the schedule, so the date is yours from that moment.
Dra. Carolina Macareno
Rehabilitadora Oral · Especialista en Implantes
Oral Rehabilitation specialist from Universidad CES. Over 17 years transforming smiles in Medellín, Colombia.
Ready to travel to Medellín?
Save up to 65% vs USA. Full USD quote before booking flights.