Before I became a nomad, one of my concerns was how I would get regular dental cleanings and checkups. I knew that would be tricky while traveling around the US and then the world, given how the US healthcare system is set up.
I was also concerned because according to a few dentists I have visited, I have bad teeth genes 🙂 . No matter what I do, I will get cavities and then need to be taken care of. Yay for me 🙂 . So I had to decide how I would deal with this moving forward. Enter: Medical Tourism!
Medical tourism is when you go to another country for medical care. Americans do this because most countries have cheaper healthcare and better outcomes. Another reason is that some countries that fit this bill, such as México, are not far away.
So I looked into what countries are known for great and affordable medical care and saw people raving about México. My plan was to get cleanings when I was in other countries and re-assess if that wasn’t working for me. Booking this dental appointment in México was my first time dipping my toe into medical tourism. So let’s see what happened 🙂 .
The Booking
My dental adventure began with one of my favorite things: a recommendation 🙂 . An expat on Twitter who currently lives in Mérida, recommended their dentist to me. She said that the dentist is amazing and (bonus) speaks English. Here’s her info in case you’re interested:
Dr. Alpha
Confort Dental
C. 24 97g-interior 6, Itzimná, 97100 Mérida, Yuc.
When I looked up the dental office, I was surprised to see that their only contact was messenger on a Facebook page. I guess it’s a good thing I hadn’t deleted my Facebook yet like I’d intended to 🙂 .
Anyway, I wrote to someone on their page and they responded immediately. Their English was way better than my Spanish at the time (which was basically nonexistent 🙂 ), but eventually, we got on the same page and I made an appointment a few months out.
I did that because dentists in the US had been telling my partner that they were booked months in advance with pandemic backlog patients, so I thought the advance notice was necessary. I’ll soon learn that is not the case 🙂 .
The Preparation
In advance of my trip to México, I contacted my last dentist by email and asked them to send me my latest x-rays. For some reason, it had never occurred to me that I could do this previously. In retrospect, that would have saved me some cheddar – oh well 🙂 . The dental office responded promptly and sent me my x-rays over email. Later, I would email them directly to Dr. Alpha.
The Visit (Attempt #1)
So the day of my dental appointment arrived! We had gotten to Mérida recently and took our first ($2!) Uber in México to the dental office. We stepped out and walked into a two story office park looking place. A kind bystander must have thought we looked confused 🙂 and directed us up the stairs when we asked for “Confort Dental.” Thank you stranger!
We went upstairs and saw the sign for the correct dental office (there were several in the office park). I went inside and tried to explain in Spanish that I had an appointment. The person at the front desk responded in perfect English and turned out to be Dr. Alpha herself! She looked me up in the system and didn’t see me. Uh oh!
She asked when I had made the appointment and I explained it had been months ago. She said that she had a different receptionist then and it looks like my appointment was lost and that unfortunately she couldn’t take me that afternoon because she had a root canal to perform. She was very apologetic and asked if I could come back in a few days. I could, so we set up another appointment. Then I headed home. Well, I guess I know where to go next time 🙂 .
The Real Visit (Attempt #2)
A few days later, I headed back to the dental office with my partner in tow. He would be getting a cleaning and check up too. We walked in and they confirmed they had our appointments 🙂 . We were then given those standard sign-in forms that list any allergies etc.
Except the forms were (of course) in Spanish 🙂 so we had some fun during my 1 week of Spanish class to read most of it and use Google Translate through my phone camera for the rest. We learned all kinds of fun medical terms 🙂 . At my appointment time, I was promptly taken back to the cleaning area.
The Cleaning
I settled into the chair and started getting a podcast ready to listen to while the cleaning happened. The office looked just like one in the US. I asked the technician in Spanish if I could listen to it and she responded in perfect English – alrighty then. Podcast time! I relaxed while the cleaning happened and before I knew it, it was over with absolutely no pain.
I only noticed two differences compared to cleanings I’ve had in the US. One is that the technician asked if I wanted a pillow (fancyyyy!). The other was that when she was flossing my teeth, instead of forcing the floss back out of tight spaces between teeth, she threaded it through them. It hadn’t happened to me before, but I told my partner about it and he said his dentists have done that in the States. Cool technique!
I put away my podcast and Dr. Alpha came in to discuss my teeth and x-rays. Luckily everything looked good! I was led back to the waiting room, and my partner went in for his cleaning. When he was done less than an hour later, we went up to the receptionist to pay.
The Cost
I obviously can’t bury the lede since the answer is in the title 🙂 . We paid $650 pesos each or $32.44 USD for the cleaning and check up. The office does take credit cards (tarjeta de crédito 😉 ) and they will text, email or print your receipt based on your preference.
We were also given a recommendation for a local dental specialist for some more specialized work, which we appreciated! No one tried to upsell or trick us into paying more for things like I’ve often experienced in the US. Though hopefully that’s just me 🙂 .
Conclusion
So that was my first time getting dental care outside the US and I would say that despite the scheduling mishap, it was a smashing success! I was extremely happy with the level of care I received and am excited to return to that dentist when I’m in Mérida again. My next 6 month cleaning falls during the month I’m in Argentina, so I’m now looking into dentists there. If you have any recommendations let me know 😉 !
Have you ever used dental care outside your home country?
Seems like we’re on the same dental schedule! 😆 We just did our first non-US dental cleanings last week in Croatia. We also had a great experience!
Awesome! I love Croatia – if I’m in the area for a cleaning I might hit you up for a recommendation 🙂 .
No joke, I have gotten more useful, interesting, and helpful life/travel information from your blog than any other “literature” (blogs, books, social media accounts, etc) I have ever read. I’m jazzed about this great post and realized I’m literally happy to have read about someone going to the dentist! 😂 Hello, middle age.
Well, this comment made my entire year 🙂 . Thank you SO much!!! I’m extremely happy my ramblings have been helpful.
Oh man… I just tried to schedule a dental appt here in AZ and they couldn’t get me in until September 🥴. Maybe I need a little vacay/medical tourism trip to Mexico.
I’m glad you had such a good experience!
That sounds like a great plan to me 🙂 .
I seriously pay so much for dental cleanings (even with insurance) that it would be worth having a cleaning performed while on vacation.
Yes indeed 🙂 .
The picture on the wall of the dentist’s room reminded me of our visit to Celestun to see the wild flamingos from our base in Merida during our vacation in Mexico way back in 2007. That was quite an experience. I had never seen flamingos in flight before, nor had I ever heard them. They make the weirdest sound!
That’s so cool!!