Marilyn M.'s Dental Restoration Story

For a long time, I didn't open my mouth in photos. My upper front teeth had gone dark over the years because of a root canal and a cracked tooth, and I didn't want people to see it. If you look at pictures of me from the last ten years, you'll notice I'm always smiling with my lips closed. Nobody ever asked me about it, but I knew, and it bothered me every time.

My lower teeth were even worse. I'd been wearing a flipper, which is a removable partial denture, because the dentists here quoted prices that were too much. At one point I was ready to get a root canal done locally, and was quoted $4,200 for just one tooth. The tooth broke before my appointment, so I canceled and just lived with it for years, telling myself I'd deal with it eventually.

I'd heard for a while that dental work was much cheaper in places like Costa Rica and Taiwan, but I never seriously thought about going anywhere by myself. My son had been telling me this for years. He'd gotten his own hair transplant and LASIK done abroad and had very good results, and he kept telling me I should look into getting my teeth done the same way. I would nod and tell him I'd think about it, and then never do anything. I don't fly by myself, and doing a procedure like this in a foreign country without help felt like too much for me.

My Friend Made It Possible

The thing that finally changed my mind was my neighbor. She and her husband had been going to the same doctor in Mexico for over 20 years, and when she mentioned she was going again with a small group of friends, I decided to go with them. She's very careful and selective about her medical decisions, so if she trusted this doctor for 20 years, I felt I could trust him too.

Five of us went together, all getting dental work done at the same time. We flew from San Francisco to Phoenix, then transferred to Yuma, where my friends rented a car. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and had a 9am appointment the next morning, so we drove from Yuma to Los Algodones, which is right on the border. The clinic sent a shuttle to pick us up once we crossed over.

Los Algodones is basically a small town built entirely around dental care. People call it Molar City because there are hundreds of clinics lining the streets. The clinic itself was a short distance from the border, air conditioned, very clean, and the whole team spoke perfect English. They made us feel comfortable right away.

What Surprised Me

Once they took my x-rays, they found more decay in my upper teeth than I expected, so the plan became bigger. In the end I had 5 root canals and 12 crowns on my upper teeth for a little over $6,000. On the lower teeth, I had one tooth pulled for $50, and 5 implants with a bridge and 12 crowns for $8,800. The entire procedure, including x-rays, came to $15,150.

In the US, I'd been quoted $24,000 per arch, so at least $48,000 total for both. And that's before considering that a US dentist would want me to come back at least five separate times to do everything step by step. In Mexico, my entire upper mouth was completed within two days.

What struck me most was how different it felt. In the US, everything is very business-like, in and out, one thing at a time. In Mexico, it felt communal. There was music playing, the doctor and nurses were singing while they worked, and everyone treated us like people, not just appointments. At one point I got nervous, and the doctor told me not to worry, that I was going to look great. Something about how he said it made me feel calm.

Recovery

After we finished, we crossed back over the border and went home. None of us could eat much that first day, so we mostly rested at the hotel on painkillers together, which was actually nice. There's something comforting about recovering with four friends who understand exactly what you're feeling.

The pain and swelling were gone within about a week. I'm still healing and have a little more work to finish. The crowns will come later, but I already feel so much more confident. Friends who saw me afterward immediately said how great my teeth looked, and when I told them what I did, a few admitted they'd had similar work done abroad too, in Thailand. It turns out more people I know have quietly done this than I ever realized.

Now

I catch myself smiling with my teeth in photos now, which I haven't done in years. I barely think about the procedure most days, and it's only been about a week. I used to limit what I ate because I was afraid of cracking my old teeth, and now I don't have to think about that at all. I used to take my dentures out constantly to clean them, and honestly, I worried about asking my friends or family to help me when I couldn't manage it myself. That's not something I need to worry about anymore either.

If you're on the fence about this, I would tell you not to be afraid. Get it done and you'll feel more confident than you have in years. I keep telling my kids I want to travel more now, maybe even go to Korea. I wasted so much time being self-conscious over something that turned out to be so manageable to fix.

If I could go back and change one thing, I would have done this much sooner.

One more thing I should mention. My son is the one who built JetWell. After years of watching me put this off, I think he finally built the thing that would have made it easier for me to say yes sooner. You can read about his hair transplant and his LASIK too, since apparently going abroad for medical care runs in the family now.

Marilyn M, 70s, San Rafael, CA. Retired, recently much more confident in photos, and finally listening to her son.