DENTAL TOURISM

A few months ago a piece of tooth filling in one of my front teeth broke off....leaving a jagged edge.  It had to be fixed.   We drove to the small, nearby town of Valentine, Texas to see a lady dentist who operates out of a single wide trailer.   I was in the chair less than an hour and the bill came to $340.00.   The fix involved only a small amount of drilling and a small amount of filling.   Outrageous dental prices have become the norm in this country.   I vowed right then that I would travel to nearby Mexico for future dental work...at a fraction of the price.

Bridge to Ciudad Juarez from EL Paso

More recently, one of Pam's molars broke off and had to be surgically removed.   After a thorough examination in EL Paso, it was noted she required a 3 part procedure to "fix the tooth".  First was the surgical removal and bone graft; a few months later would be an implant; and this would be followed a few months after that with a new crown.   Quotations from the dentist in EL Paso were in the $5000.00 range for the 3 part procedure.   So we looked into dentists in Mexico.....once again, the internet is invaluable.   We found two that had very high ratings, both in Ciudad Juarez; but only one did dental implants.   After further due diligence Pam decided to "take a chance" on having the work done in Mexico.  Here is how it worked out:

We drove from Fort Davis to EL Paso TX and booked a motel room, discounted given our affiliation with Rio Grande Dental.  The following morning at 8:30am Rio Grande's driver, Ozzie, picked us up at the motel and drove us directly to the dental office in Juarez.

                        The entrance to Rio Grande Dental.

The dental practice is co-managed by brother and sister, both fully licensed dentists.   Jessica Nunez and her brother Eduardo both graduated from the dental school in Juarez and then pursued additional, specialized training in the US.   He does general dental work as well as endodontics, while she specializes in dental implantation and mouth reconstruction.  Both receive excellent reviews from the many US and Canadian patients they have treated in the past several years.

The offices are rather "spartan" compared to those in the US...but they are clean and well equipped.

The waiting area is attractively and comfortably set up....and one of their signs says "a smile is the same in any language".

Here is Pam being examined by Fabiola, the receptionist / dental assistant / dental hygenist.   (talk about many hats!!)

Here Fabiola is cleaning my teeth.....a cleaning is $35.00.




The first part of Pam's 3 part procedure is complete....the broken tooth has been surgically removed and a bone graft stitched in.  Next step in February 2015 is to have the implant done....and then 4 months or so after that have a new crown installed on the implant.  And all for about 1/3 the estimated price we were quoted by the EL Paso dentist.   Needless to say, we will frequent Rio Grande Dental in the future whenever we need dental work.

After our procedures, Ozzie took us to the pharmacy to get Pam's prescriptions, and then back to the main bridge / border crossing, where we walked across back to the US while he took a special bridge with the car.   After going through US Customs (not the most pleasant of experiences) we once again joined up with Ozzie for the ride back to our motel.   Mission accomplished and without any qualms whatsoever.   

Here are photos of a Jeans shop and a burrito / clothes shop on the border....you are "mildly assaulted" by hawkers on the walk back over the bridge....but you simply say "no, gracias" and move on.

Some of the best burritos are found in non-descript places like this.

And what a way to advertise the Jeans.....this really made us chuckle.

The end of the story is that dental tourism is alive and well in Mexican border towns.  You simply do your due diligence and go from there.

NEW WHEELS

Wow......has it really been a month since the last post???
Well, we have been busy.   We departed Texas October 14 for New Hampshire....to pick up our new vehicle, have annual doctor visits and visit a few folks, including my 90 year old Mom....who is still going strong.

               Here is our new (2015) Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

It hasn't always been convenient to have just the Mini Cooper here in Far West Texas.   That plus the fact there are many off roading opportunities out here, led us to order this jazzy new Jeep so that we can travel the good roads and the not so good roads in relative comfort.   The Trail Hawk is the only Cherokee with the Trail Rated designation....complete with high clearances, skid plates and special incidence angles for serious off roading, this Jeep can literally take us almost anywhere.   It sits above in the lot at Crosstown Motors, awaiting our arrival from TX.

Here we are.....Pam and I with Steve Northrup, who sold and ordered the Jeep for us.   (Yes, shorts even on October 15 in northern NH).

This design of the new Cherokee and the Trail Hawk model first appeared in 2014 and represented quite a design departure from Jeep's historic round head lights and standard front end grill.  Critics mostly praised Jeep for the interior upgrades, but they split over the front end design in particular.....many thought it was too dramatic a departure for Jeep to make.   Pam and I are obviously in the group that loves the new design and praises the Jeep folks for being bold enough to think out of the box and do something dramatically different.

The new front end.....no typical round Jeep head lamps....and the eyebrow running lights on the top were disdained by many....and the Rubicon Jeep folks (top of the line Wrangler) were particularly upset that Jeep adorned the Trail Hawk with the red tow hooks, hitherto found only on the pricey Rubicon.

So, joined by Amy Remick (Pam's daughter) we drove the 2400 miles from NH back to West Texas and couldn't wait to get the Jeep off road in Big Bend National Park.   Here we are putting the Trail Hawk through its paces for the first time....with the Sierra del Carmen escarpment in Mexico in the background.   We look forward to all kinds of off road experiences....and will blog about same.   Great Stuff!