INTRODUCTION
In November 2014 Robert (I) went to Oaxaca, México to have dental work done.  I made an earlier blog post about the trip, which gave some details and included some photos. In this post I will make some conclusions and try to give some advice to those who may be interested in making a similar trip.

THE FACTS
I grind my teeth.  This weakens them and causes them to break, and to lose fillings and crowns.  For the last five years these missing fillings and crowns have been an accumulating problem. In late October I broke a tooth while eating a cracker sprinkled with what I am told are “chia seeds.”  All I know is that those little seeds are hard as rocks and broke a pre-molar in two.  I had a very nice local dentist do an initial inspection and give me an idea of the work that needed to be done. The work to be done was as follows:  2 tooth extractions, 1 root canal, 2 enamel-metal crown replacements, 1 bridge/implant to replace one extracted tooth, drill and fill 3 cavities.  I knew that all of this was going to be expensive in the US, so I asked a friend who has been living and raising a family in Oaxaca, Mexico for 12 years to refer me to a dentist in Oaxaca.

THE DENTISTS
Mexican people have teeth.  There are plenty of dentists in Oaxaca.  Just look at the Internet or walk the streets in the center of Oaxaca and you will see many in evidence.  My friend in Oaxaca had two recommendations.

1.  The Tenorio Dental Group.  Dr. Daniel Tenorio and his extended family are a group of dentists in Oaxaca that are well known in the expat community there. They reportedly do very good work, and they speak English.  They reportedly provide good service at very good prices, but they are not the least expensive option.  Here is the contact information.  Dr. Daniel Tenorio (general dentistry) tel. 516.2613, Calle Abasolo 213, [email protected]; Dr. Eduard Javier Flores Corzo (root canals) tel. 516-7357 or 514-6220, Calle Armenta y Lopez 619, email: [email protected]; Dr. Alba Tenorio (periodontist and implants), Calle Reforma 400, tel 516-0834.  I did not use the Tenorio Group.
2.  DuoDent. The second referral I got was to Dr. Tania Martinez Alavez of DuoDent Consultoria Dental, Calle Manuel Doblado No. 622, Suite F, cel. 951-243-45-23, tel. 20-5-44-41, email: [email protected]. Dr. Tania, and her partner, Dr. Leticia Alvarado, are young women (early 30s?) who perform general dentistry, root canals, braces, etc.  Of the two referrals I got, DuoDent is the lower cost option.  Importantly, they do not speak English well.  They can arrange an interpreter during your visits.  I chose DuoDent.

THE COST
The reason US citizens go all the way to Mexico to visit the dentist is to save money.  So let’s get this out of the way.  Here is the work I had done and the total cost.

2 teeth pulled: 1000 pesos
1 root canal: 2500 pesos
2 crowns measured, manufactured, and installed: 4000 pesos
1 bridge measured, manufactured, and installed: 3000 pesos
3 cavities drilled and filled: 1200 pesos
DENTAL TOTAL: 11,700 pesos (US$ 859.95)

Hotel (11 nights): 5500 pesos (US$ 404.56)
RT Airfare:  US$ 650

GRAND TOTAL: US$ 1,914.51

Only cash accepted.

I’m not sure, but I suspect that if I had gone to a US dentist in Marin County and gotten all this work done it would have cost $6,000-$8,000.  Perhaps more.  So, the financial aspects of the Mexican dental experience are obvious, and they are good.

THE QUALITY AND THE INTANGIBLES
I am not a dentist and there is no way for me to know whether all the work I had done in Mexico was of equal quality to the quality I would have gotten in the US.  That said, I have no complaints and everything appears to have gone well.  The tools were clean (the dentist took them out of sanitized bags every visit), the fillings seem to be of high quality (they are white and invisible) and the dentist spent a lot of time making them fit right in my teeth.  During the root canal, I got the impression that Dr. Leticia is very competent. It is obvious that Dr. Tania cares very much about her work.

But there are a few “intangible” elements of all of this that are worthy of discussion.

First, the general facilities like the building where the offices are located, and the DuoDent offices themselves.  Let us just put it this way, Mexico is not a rich country.  They do without lots of the cosmetic indulgences that we find very common.  When you visit the DuoDent offices, you will note that they are in sort of a dusty building in a far corner of the city center.  Not bad, but not elegant.  You will note the rather unkempt common areas of the building.  Very typical in Mexico, but perhaps you will be used to more in a dental office.  You will note the sort of cheapo made-in-China dentist chair that you sit in.  You will note the custom of the dentist and her staff to take (and make) cell phone calls during your visit. You will note the lighting fixture in the dentist’s consulting room which consists of a light bulb hanging from a wire.  You will note the traffic noise and car alarms in the background. You will note all of these things and perhaps you will be uncomfortable.  At a minimum, you will understand a little bit why the bill for your work is so remarkably low. The DuoDent offices include all of the above shortcomings.  I’m told that the offices of the higher priced Tenorio group are only a tiny bit better

Second, the language issue.  Do you want your dentist, as he or she is pulling on a pair of pliers attached to your tooth and you hear the breaking of bone and tooth, to be able to communicate with you in English?  Think about this carefully.  I am a person who has traveled the world very extensively.  I’ve lived in three countries in which I did not speak the language. I do not speak Spanish.  I consider myself very flexible and able to handle situations well even though I don’t communicate in the local language.  But even I had some doubt when the Dr. was pulling my teeth.  I am sure the stress level (and there is unavoidable stress at the dentist) would have been lower if the dentist would have been fluent in English.  This is just human nature.

Third. The time element.  Dental work in Mexico takes time, just as it does in the US.  Obviously, most people cannot just take two weeks off work and fly to Mexico to get major work done.  I myself wanted the work to be done as quickly as possible, and DuoDent was very accommodating.  I was in the chair for perhaps 20 hours during 7 days.  Dr. Tania placed rush-orders for the crowns and other outside work that needed to be done.  The process could not have gone more swiftly, but it still took 10 days.

Fourth, and finally, the adventure.  For me, going to the dentist in México was partly an adventure.  Aside from the cost savings, I wanted to do it because I wanted to see what it was all about.  I wanted to have an adventure.  I wanted to have something to talk about back at home. It is probably important that everyone who goes down there for dental work to be doing so, at least in part, because you find value in the adventure and are willing and desire to try new things.  Not only to save money, but to learn about life.

CONCLUSIONS.
If someone asks me whether they should go to the dentist in Oaxaca, my answer will depend upon who is asking.  People are different and some just may not be suited for a trip down south. That said, it seems to me that most people can and should go if they want to save serious money. Most people will get a little personal growth out of the adventure as well. I can certainly recommend DuoDent in Oaxaca, with the understanding that they do not practice will all the bells and whistles we find here and they don’t speak English very well.