BajaNomad

Trip to the TJ dentist

bajaric - 11-5-2016 at 08:03 AM

OK, so I am in my mid 50's, and have not been to a dentist more than five times in my adult life. I always had perfect teeth until the last decade or so, now everything is going downhill fast. I was poking my teeth with a toothpick and experienced a sharp pain in the back molar on the inside. A few days later I was sitting on the sofa and the tooth sent out a shocking jolt of excruciating pain that lasted about a minute. Time to go to the dentist, and with no dental insurance.

So I entered "Tijuana Dentist" using the helpful search feature on this forum and came up with several posts recommending "Washington Dental" in Tijuana. (I live in San Diego) The web site had a map and said it was a walk up clinic with 8 dentists on staff located on Avenida Revolucion. I know where that is! We drove. Left at 8am, picked up a friend for moral support, cross the border, round the "centro" ramp, oops what's this, road construction, right turn, left turn, was that it? Why are there no street signs? That WAS it, OK left turn, five blocks, left turn, ha, here is Revolucion, should be right here, found it!

About 9:30 am enter secure parking lot, inside was greeted by a half a dozen staff in white lab coats waiting for patients. Filled out form, was seating in large waiting area, and five minutes later was escorted to room with dentist, assistant, and English-speaking greeter. I said I know I have a lot of problems but today just want to address the pain in the back tooth. So they had a look, and I gleaned from their quick conversation in Spanish that they were somewhat aghast at the sight of my yellowed worn down fangs, the word "extracion" was hard to miss.. They stuck a foil behind the tooth, shot an xray, and left me sitting there. A few minutes later the dentist came back and said "let me check something" and jabbed at the cavity. Left alone again. Then the greeter came back and said, good news, you only need a ROOT CANAL for today. That and a cap will be $420 US. OK, I said, can we just do a filling and skip the cap? Sure, its going to be $340. OK. You also need caps on all 22 of your other teeth. Oh. Lets just do the one today. Right. The dentist's name was Benjamin. "Washington, Benjamin", I said. They all chuckled at my little reference to large denomination US currency.

Commence with a couple of numbing shots, followed by grinding, jabbing, and an endless procession of little metal toothpicks with a blob of liquid on the end, then more scraping, jabbing, etc. some kind of hot poker, a UV lamp, and finally it was over. Everything seemed sanitary, exam gloves, face shields, masks, just like NOB. At the end the dentist said "Your teeth are worn down but they are very strong" A little good news.

Walked out of there an hour later with a numb mouth and three little packets of antibiotics, painkillers, antiflam. and a printed paper for access to the medical lane. By then a stream of patients was entering the place after being dropped off by taxi and I heard they say the wait was 40 minutes. Total cost was $370 on a credit card including the meds. OK back to the border, should be a Right Aid, there it is, OOPS missed the lane to San Diego, circle back around, OK got it, OOPS missed the medical lane, tiny little exit on the right, easy to miss, and then there we were in the main line with the vendors. Ceramic pumpkins seemed to be the hot seller. Fortunately at around 11am on a Tuesday the wait was only 40 minutes. Nice. Home by noon. Very little pain, did not need the painkillers. The antibiotics messed up my digestive tract but other than that was very happy, five days later as I write this have to say it was a great deal. As far as going to the dentist an excellent experience. Oh, and the estimate for metal / porcelain crowns on all 22 teeth was seven grand. end of story.

KurtG - 11-5-2016 at 09:00 AM

My kids and I have a 25 year history with Washington Dental and have seen the same dentist all these years. Their work and prices have always been good. We've had root canals, crowns, bridgework, all at about 1/3 US prices.

BajaBlanca - 11-5-2016 at 10:35 AM

boy, not too many places in the world where you can just walk in and be seen. We really are lucky.

tjsue - 11-5-2016 at 10:26 PM

I just had mine done at Odontología Integral de México (bajadentistry) and it was well worth it. My teeth have never looked so good, andthe $1,180 that I paid, sure beat the quote of almost $5,000 that I got in San Diego.

[Edited on 11-6-2016 by tjsue]

[Edited on 11-8-2016 by tjsue]

Pescador - 11-7-2016 at 09:20 AM

Glad to hear that your experience was good. I have used them exclusively for the last 10 years and have given a lot of referrals as well. They have a very good staff, all of the new equipment. I needed some really serious work done this year and for grins checked with a good dentist in San Diego where the estimate was for 19,523 US and that was for porcelain but I got it all done for $4,730 and upgraded to Zirconium for the works. Great place.

Udo - 11-7-2016 at 09:30 AM

Had a very similar experience here in the Ensenada area.

itchin 2 go - 11-8-2016 at 12:39 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajaric  
cross the border, round the "centro" ramp, oops what's this, road construction, right turn, left turn, was that it? Why are there no street signs? That WAS it, OK left turn, five blocks, left turn, ha, here is Revolucion, should be right here, found it!

Yeah, that construction was a surprise and congestion was pretty bad on a Saturday.

We have also had good dental experiences based on family recommendations, starting with basic dental visits (Dental Spana is our spot) and now orthodontics for our son.

Best part is when we take him for appts, he gets the work done, then we get to explore TJ and partake in our favorite pastime... EATING!

Also, his regular visits prompted us to get our SENTRI / GE process started, our interview is in 2 days!! SENTRI is a great value for a family with kids.

bajaric - 11-10-2018 at 12:46 PM

2 years later, after cracking the tooth on a pecan shell in a cookie, it was extracted here in the US. This is not to say that Wash Dental was at fault, the tooth was so far gone. The moral of the story, start going to the dentist in your 40's if you want to avoid trouble in your 50's. A public service announcement of BAJARIC

AKgringo - 11-10-2018 at 01:31 PM

My first Mexican dental experience was in Puerto Penasco, where I had five porcelain crowns installed! That was in 1999, and four of them are still good, but one of the crowns came off this summer in Anchorage, and the tooth underneath it was beyond saving.


The VA would not do anything for me (they will for disabled vets) so I was referred to a new clinic in town that had fixed rates based on income, with payment in full at the time of service.

With my pension, and SS combined, I was eligible for their plan at the upper level of payment, which was still only $80 per visit. The first visit was an exam, with X-rays that showed the need for extraction. After a period of antibiotics ($6.50 at Costco) I had the tooth extracted for another $80!


I am headed to La Paz for an implant and crown, which is beyond the level of treatment provided by the clinic, but I am thankful that such a service is so affordable at home!

thebajarunner - 11-10-2018 at 06:12 PM

My retired parents lived six months a year in Thousand Palms.
Dad would drive down to Algodones to visit his favorite dentist. Then stop at the pharmacy and top off on his diabetes meds, plus any other that they needed.
I told him Mexicali was lots closer, but he liked the easy border crossing and was very comfortable with his own contacts there.
(and this from a guy who was scared to death to go to Mexico back when we were kids- when I started racing he saw the light and found out that Mexico was very safe and pretty fun place to go)

BajaBlanca - 11-11-2018 at 09:56 AM

great having a 2018 update!