bajaric
Senior Nomad
Posts: 634
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Trip to the TJ dentist
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.
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KurtG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1205
Registered: 1-27-2004
Location: California Central Coast
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Mood: Press On Regardless!!
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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.
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13196
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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boy, not too many places in the world where you can just walk in and be seen. We really are lucky.
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tjsue
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: San Diego
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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]
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Pescador
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3587
Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
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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.
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6346
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
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Mood: TEQUILA!
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Had a very similar experience here in the Ensenada area.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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itchin 2 go
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 10-18-2016
Location: North San Diego County
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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!
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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.
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bajaric
Senior Nomad
Posts: 634
Registered: 2-2-2015
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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
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6027
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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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!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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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)
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13196
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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great having a 2018 update!
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