Healthcare Elsewhere: Dental

  • 19th Oct 2019
    •  • 
  • 2 min read

To anyone in the US who is struggling with rising medical costs or is worried about them. Here’s one simple thing you can do: LEAVE THE USA for any of your predictable medical needs.

One easy way to try that is the dentist, and here’s what it looks like:

  1. Go to Yuma, Arizona (they have an int’l airport)
  2. Drive 15min to the Andrade Checkpoint at border of California, Arizona, & Mexico
  3. Pay $6 to park in a secure parking lot on one side of the fence
  4. Walk a quarter mile of sidewalk to the other side of the fence, which is Los Algodones, Mexico
  5. Get your glasses, dental work, prescriptions (and maybe a bottle of booze!) for 50-70% less than you’d pay on your side of the fence
  6. Walk back through customs to your car, then drive away

It is that easy, I’ve done it in as little as 2hrs. I’ve done it several times over the last few years. Every time the dental visit was $30-35, which is the monthly premium for the dental insurance that I used to carry (and no longer do, because duh!). Here’s where I go, but there are plenty of other reputable options as well.

Every experience at the place I go has been great, which is something I cannot say about California or Utah dentists. Yes, we need legislative and business changes here at home, and I believe in working toward them. I also believe in voting with my wallet in the meantime.

Your local dentist is convenient and familiar, and that’s worth something. But...how many dollars is that exactly?