{"id":2726,"date":"2019-11-23T03:33:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T11:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cyndicombs.com\/coaching\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2022-08-10T13:32:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T20:32:35","slug":"my-trip-to-molar-city-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyndicombs.com\/coaching\/2019\/11\/23\/my-trip-to-molar-city-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"My Trip to Molar City, Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Hello Beautiful Readers!<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Today I bring you a DIFFERENT type of post. The purpose of my blog is to energize lives and empower readers to seek their own answers, access their true dreams, and overcome anything that gets in the way of making those dreams a reality. Well, if part of your dream is a gorgeous smile through state of the art dental work, the high cost of that dental work might be what\u2019s standing in your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enter Los Algodones, Mexico.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve known about medical tourism for years. The first time I heard about dental tourism was from my massage therapist who went to Los Algodones and had a GREAT experience while saving thousands of dollars last year. I asked him all kinds of questions and he had nothing but praise for his dentists and the entire experience. After several months research, and coordinating air travel, drive time, and arrangements for a CT scan and two separate consultations at different offices, my friend and I headed to Mexico on a simple fact finding mission to see if traveling to Los Algodones could save him some money too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our trip fell on November 13 & 14. Coincidentally, on the 14th, this article appeared in the Huffington Post<\/a> about the Dental Mecca that America\u2019s health care costs built<\/em>. The subtitle reads, \u201cA tiny border town is home to hundreds of dentists and is a major destination for Americans seeking big savings on dental care.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I am impressed!<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

From Oakland we flew to San Diego and got a rental car.
Los Algodones is a very easy 2.5 hour drive east on Interstate 8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We parked in the giant parking lot and made our way through the unmanned turnstile that let us into Mexico. No passport stamp, no guards, no border wall to cross, just a turnstile letting hundreds and thousands of Americans escape the high cost of dental care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walking into Los Algodones is akin to walking into Disneyland, but instead of souvenir shops lining Main Street, it\u2019s dentists, opticians and pharmacies. Oh my!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Los Algodones is brightly colored with purple, yellow and green buildings. Color makes me happy and I was enchanted the moment we entered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If we didn\u2019t have an appointment to make our way toward, it would have been easy to get lost in the sights of Los Algodones, or diverted by the incessant barkers luring pedestrians with promises of low prices and high skill to whichever dentist or pharmacy they were hawking. All of them promise the lowest prices. All of them are quite insistent, and most of them are very convincing as I expect they are paid only if they draw in clientele. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can walk into Los Algodones without an appointment and get one quite easily, but I have NO idea how you would choose a dentist once you arrive and I was delighted those decisions didn\u2019t need to be made on the spot. We found our first appointment easily and arrived slightly ahead of schedule despite the near impossibility of walking down the street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was 87 degrees on the November day we visited Los Algodones, and to walk in the shade, you must pass through the territories of the souvenir traders who are fiercely competing for the attention of the passerby. I say territories because they are not indoor shops. They have racks for clothes right on the walkways in front of and between the medical offices, and hang tarps to minimize the sun. The makeshift shops are full of striking colors and the smell of leather and sweat. T-shirts, hats, belts, dresses, jackets, statuary, jewelry, blankets, pipes and purses all get loaded into a van at the end of the day and carted away. The streets of Molar City pretty much roll up at 5 pm when the dental offices close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cinthia greeted us at the reception desk of Reny Dental, and across the course of the next two hours I discovered that Cinthia is highly knowledgeable about dentistry, understands complex surgical practices, and converses flawlessly in her second language of English. The first thing she did was ask a lanky young man in the waiting room to \u201ctake us down,\u201d referring to where we needed to go for my friend\u2019s CT scan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankie stood without looking at us, opened the door, and motioned us through without ever looking up from the screen in his palm. We followed lanky Frankie about a block and a half, and into Baja Medical Imaging where he spoke a few words of Spanish to the man at the desk. We sat for two minutes, they called my friend in. He returned two minutes later. Five minutes after that and about five more words of Spanish between the two men as the imaging guy handed Frankie a CT image on a CD, and we were back on the busy street following Frankie back to the dental office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SIDE NOTE <\/strong>– In 2015 I had a CT scan at Kaiser. My portion with medical insurance cost $2,300. The one in Los Algodones cost $80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cinthia translated for the doctor and my friend. He had a very thorough exam and got a detailed plan for each tooth! They talked about options, explained how long the procedures would take and time needed for healing. They work with tourists all the time, so they were able to let us know how many days he would have to be in the area for each step of the process. They explained the types of materials he could choose, and called an oral surgeon to consult on the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My friend has been dealing with his dental issues for years now and was satisfied that the consult hit all of the markers he was looking for. There was zero charge for the time they spent with us. The office was clean. The staff was professional & friendly. The exam was thorough. The doctor did not speak English well, but communication was clear and concise. Cinthia is a consummate professional and a great asset to her office. We left with an estimate for his full mouth that was less than they want for his bottom teeth in California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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passport check at border crossing<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Getting back into the U.S. took a little over 5 minutes, though the guy who checked my passport looked at me sideways when I reported I had purchased nothing. \u201cWhat was the purpose of your visit?\u201d he asked rather suspiciously. Dentistry. He handed back my passport and waved me through. We walked back to the parking lot and made the super easy 15 minute drive across the Arizona line into Yuma. I highly recommend La Fuente Inn & Suites<\/a> if you plan to be in the Yuma area!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day Two in Mexico – Second Dentist and some Shopping<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In the morning we had a 9am appointment at a second dental office for consultation. It was fun and a little confusing to leave Yuma at 9:30 and arrive in Mexico before 9am, but since they are in neighboring time zones, that\u2019s just what happened. As you cross the Arizona line into California, an orderly row of billboards springs up and marches off to the horizon alerting you to the fact that if you need dental, optical, or pharmacy, Los Algodones awaits!<\/p>\n\n\n\n