Run for the border

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I need a crown replacement. My dentist at home wants $1k to replace it. I read (and saw a 60 minutes episode) on Americans going to Mexico to get dental work. Virtually everything I saw was positive. I found a dentist online in the town of Sonora/Nogales. His name is Hector Alcazar and he is right over the border. After several email correspondences with him, I found that a crown and exam and cleaning would be $380. Not bad at all. He specializes in cosmetic dentistry. Even better. I made an appointment for the 2nd at 1000. It took a little longer than I expected to park, walk and get over the border so when I finally found his office it was about 1015 and the door was locked, although the sign read open??? I waited about 5 minutes and then decided to walk around and see if I could find another dentist and maybe an optometrist (I heard you can get really good deals on glasses too). This place was pure chaos. If you have ever been to a developing nation, in a border or tourist area, you know what I am talking about. It is crowded and people are constantly approaching you or trying to lure you into their stores. There are hundreds of pharmacies offing to sell you narcotics (which they offer to rebottle in a vitamin bottle so you can sneak it through customs) without a prescription. I saw a sign for another dentist and went in to check it out. This was a one guy operation. The dentist did not really speak English and his office was about 8 x 6, consisting of very dirty walls, a dirty chair, an autoclave that was all rusted (who knew if it even worked) and instruments lying on a tray. No way. There was a sign that read “crowns $250”. I was thoroughly disheartened. I drove all this way and now I will leave with no new crown. I decided to go by the original dental office before I went back across the border. When I got there, his door was open!! It was now about 1040. What a difference between this office and the one I just left. This one was clean and smelled nice. A receptionist/assistant greeted me (in English) and asked me to wait and wait and wait…. After waiting almost and hour, I was led into the dental chambers to see the dentist. Everything was very new and sterilized looking. It looked even better than my dentist’s office at home. The autoclave was in plain sight and was new looking. The dentist washed his hands and put on gloves in the open and he was also wearing a mask and eye protection. Nice. He took a look at my crown and said he was so busy that I would have to make 3 trips. I told him I could not so he agreed to remove my old crown, give me a temporary and order my new one to be ready when I return on 1/10. He numbed me up (very well), did the work (nothing unusual except that he wouldn’t spray water in my mouth. Instead, he poured water from a Dixie cup into my mouth when he wanted me to rinse). I’m guessing the tap water would have made me sick had I swallowed it. The one time he did spray, he held a paper towel in my mouth to “catch” all the water. He took several top and bottom impressions (more than I have ever had before) until he was satisfied and put my temporary in, collected my $250, I paid with a MC, (leaving $100 balance when the permanent comes in) and sent me on my way. We will have to see how the permanent crown looks when I come back on the 10th. They also do Zoom whitening there, in their office (1 hour), for $145!! I left the office a joined the long line to go back across the border. That was my trip to Mexico. I went back to my sister’s in Tucson, spent the night and left the next morning for Vegas to see my friend, Sandy, and work the Death Cab For Cutie show for MFA (Music For America) registering concert goers to vote and sign up for MFA (musicforamerica.org).

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Photos

The Fence
..separating Nogales, AZ from Sonora, Mexico

Mexico
My dentist

Mexico
Queue to get back into US