Getting medical treatment while living in an RV can be a major hassle. Our home base is still in Southern California, so we plan our travel around doctor visits, etc. Our insurance is great, and we manage to fit our appointments around times when we’ll be ‘home’.
However, dental work is a whole other ball game. We do have dental insurance, but the price of dental work has become ridiculously high. Sadly, Cat has degenerative bone issues and even though her teeth are healthy, she has major issues with bone loss. Approximately ten years ago, she had dental work, involving bridges and crowns. The cost back then, with insurance, was close to $15,000.00.
In October of 2023, Cat contracted COVID for the second time and one of the side effects was a severe mouth abscess under one of her bridges. Off to the dentist, we went. Our dental office in Southern California explained that the bridges couldn’t be saved, and bone loss was an issue once again and she would need to lose all six of her front teeth and have bone grafts and six implants or a plate.
They kept her in the chair for hours while they discussed the issues and then a young salesman came and gave her a quote of $38,000 for the work they said must be done. You read that correctly, thirty-eight thousand dollars. He went on to explain how we could put this on their credit and if we pay it off in two years, we wouldn’t pay any interest! That equates to $1,583 a month! We think he was smoking crack!
We left the dental office with Cat feeling distraught, believing she would lose those teeth and be fitted with a plate. We decided to think and pray about it, so we headed to our favorite spot during the winter – Holtville, CA. Holtville is a border town, close to Los Algodones in Mexico which we discovered is the world’s premier destination for dental tourism. We spoke with some friends who’d recently had dental work done in Los Algodones and decided to do our research.
The sheer number of dental offices in this tiny border town (over 600 in four city blocks) can feel overwhelming but we decided to speak with the staff at The Art of Dentistry who had great reviews on Google. As our Spanish is awful, we were delighted that they spoke fluent English and we were informed that we could go in that week for a consultation, which would cost nothing. They even offered to collect us from the border crossing. We later discovered this was to prevent the hawkers at the border from convincing us to go to a different office.
Be prepared to cross an international border. You must have a passport to get back into the United States or in Cat’s case her Green Card. Crossing into Mexico was a breeze; a quick bag check and you’re in. Having never been to Mexico before, Cat was excited to visit. The town is without a doubt a tourist trap and you have to constantly refuse street vendors, some of whom are small children. The roads are pretty bad and there are few sidewalks. Every inch of this tiny town caters to US tourists, and we loved it.
https://www.drjorgesanchez.com/
As promised, a staff member was there to collect us and drive us to the office. We were extremely thankful as we were unsure how we would have found it. Although, we did discover that it was a ten-minute walk once we returned to the US. Having no preconceived notions, we were pleasantly surprised to find a bright, clean, and modern waiting room with free amenities such as tea, coffee, and sodas. The staff were warm and welcoming. Once inside the exam room, everything was modern, clean, and welcoming.
Cat met with Dr Jorge Sanchez and had x-rays and a CT scan taken and disussed the options. Dr Sanchez clearly and concisely explained that she could keep two of her teeth as they were fine. He offered to detach the crown which formed part of the bridges to save those teeth and fit two cantilever implants (creating four front teeth) at a total cost of $5,000. This would include the following:
Saving two crowns by removing them from the original bridges
Tooth extraction x 2
Removal and cleaning of abscess
Bone Grafts for four front teeth
Temporary crowns
Two porcelain Cantilever crowns
$5,000 total!
We agreed to get the work done and were taken aback to discover that they could do it immediately. This was great as Cat is frightened of the dentist and this gave her no opportunity to raise her anxiety. Dr Sanchez was kind, caring, patient, and gentle. She was given a valium to help relax her nerves and the work took approximately two hours. All prescriptions were written up and Rahul, our driver, took us to the pharmacy to fill them. Painkillers, anti-inflammatory meds, and antibiotics cost only $60.
We were pleasantly surprised when the office called to check on Cat the following day to ensure she was recovering well. This has never happened in the USA or the UK!
The only obvious downside to this is Los Algodones is in the middle of nowhere on both sides of the border and each time we need to return for work or checkups, we’re crossing an international border. We’ll happily do this to save thousands of dollars for have high-quality dental work.
Since our first visit in December of 2023, we have been back for a checkup at the beginning of January, and everything is going great. Cat’s mouth is healing well, and her stitches should be taken out in early February. She will have temporary crowns for six months to give the implants time to settle and allow the bone grafts to do their work; then the porcelain crowns will be fitted.
We could not be happier with our experience in Los Algodones at the Art of Dentistry, and we can’t thank Dr. Sanchez and all his staff enough.
Our Tips:
Do your research in the USA and have an appointment already booked with a reputable office.
You must have a valid passport. A real ID will not work for your return to the USA.
We do not recommend driving your vehicle over the border.
There is a parking lot immediately on the right before the border crossing. Park here and walk over – you will need $6 cash.
The town is crowded and full of hawkers – which you should probably ignore unless you love to haggle, then have at it.
The wait time to cross back into the US can vary from 15 minutes to over two hours. The earlier you go and leave the better.
I agree, everything you said about the Art of Denitry is correct. I found the vibrating dentist chair to a real surprise and very relaxing…