Scores of people leave the U.S. each day and travel down to Mexico to receive competent, more affordable dental care. With the dental insurance enrollment dwindling, and many companies and pension plans stopping dental coverage altogether, many people are left with no alternatives to help them with one of their most important health issues. Many Americans who live in southern states on the Mexico border cross over to nearby Mexican towns to get dental work done, so the concept is not new to them. What is new to many is the idea of getting on a plane and spending a week or two in a colonial hotel just a few hours across the Gulf of Mexico…namely, the Yucatan peninsula.
The Yucatan peninsula is a wonderful place to visit, explore Mayan history, relax on a warm sunny beach or climb ancient ruins. Just 4 hours from Cancun, Mérida is the capital of the Yucatan, and is a city rich in history and warm in ambience. The people here are gracious and friendly and open to foreigners from all over the world. It has not turned into a tourist mecca, so the charm and “Mexico-ness” is still here. Mérida is a very safe city, with the lowest crime rate in all of developed Mexico
My husband and I live in Mérida, Yucatan, and have found that wonderful dental care is offered here, at a very affordable price! We were surprised. We had only been here a couple of months and my husband developed an infected tooth. He needed a dentist pronto. I looked in the local yellow pages, and started calling dental offices that advertised ‘English Spoken.’ The first office I called, I said ’se habla ingles?’ (do you speak English?) and the woman who answered the phone quickly said ‘No.’ I didn’t know how to ask her if anyone in the office spoke English, so I moved on to the next ad, and asked the same question…the young lady said “un momento,” ( just a minute) and went and got the dentist on the phone. He spoke English, and let us know that he could see my husband immediately. We scheduled the appointment for the next morning, since we didn’t have a car, did not know the city, and would have to take public transportation to get there.
We took a bus to a popular destination, then showed a taxi driver the address from the phone book. He took us right to the door of the office, where the kind dentist was waiting. We got through our first visit, with his little English and our little Spanish. He extracted the offending tooth and the bill was only $40 dollars or so. After my husband’s mouth healed, we both went back for more work. I had a removable 4-tooth bridge made for less than $500. That was 3 years ago, and the bridge is still working fine!
We have never hesitated to have our teeth cleaned, extracted or filled here, and have found top-notch dentists are plentiful. Many have been trained in the United States, as well, and speak wonderful English. They are also kind, patient, and efficient! We have never felt like a ‘number,’ and each dentist we have used has personally called us to see how we were feeling the day after our procedures.
Two years ago, we met a couple here on vacation, and the wife told us that her fixed 6-tooth bridge had broken. It was really a problem, because in order to eat, or even talk she had to continue to fill her mouth with dental adhesive to try to hold her teeth in place. The six teeth were all in the front of her mouth, so she was quite self-conscious. We called our dentist, and he fit her in early the next morning. She had a great experience, and came back a few months later and had the dentists here do extensive work on her mouth…saved her over sixteen thousand dollars from the quotes she had received in Florida. Plus, she had a couple weeks on the beach in a rental house!
Many foreigners come here every winter to get away from snow, ice and cold weather. While they are here they have their dental checkups, cleanings, repairs, gum work and even have dentures made. Gone are the days of the foot-cranked drill, a slug of whiskey for anesthesia and unsanitary conditions!
What About Other Medical Issues?
In addition to dental work, we have found people come to Mérida to get cosmetic work, laser eye surgery and hair transplants, all at a fraction of what they would pay in the U.S. Those of us who live here have our Mexican doctors whom we see on a regular basis for checkups, minor surgeries and prescriptions. We pay about $35-40 for an office visit. Usually the office visits last at least 30-40 minutes, not the customary 10 minutes in the U.S.! We have had x-rays done, MRIs read, and blood tests run. My husband even recently bought a hearing aid from a local audiologist and received excellent care and an excellent product.
If you have a little time on your hands, and the need to get good health and dental care, come down to the Yucatan!
Jan and her husband Fred, have lived in Mexico since 2003. They publish a website www.mexicoanswers.com with helpful articles and first-hand information to help people learn how to move to Mexico. To reach Jan, write her at janbek@mexicoanswers.com or janmorgan52@yahoo.com
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