Another Mexico pharmacy and dentist question

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where are you trying to go to dentist in mexico.. las algodones ?? we went to Smile Design Studios and HIGHLY recommend the Dr. Valenzuela, DDS.. 2nd st and ave B, Corner of Alamo Walkway.. She has state of the art equipment. very professional and friendly. She was recommended by a dentist we meet in line to cross back over border last year. retired dentist was from phoenix..

AS for pharmacia go toward the back of town away from the border.. most of the neds are legit as they dont want the bad publicity that can spread on internet. I got blood pressure pills and had good results.. they were back over by the dentist i mentioned above.



I'm in the same boat right now. I've been taking antibiotics for an infection caused by a broken molar and have been debating whether to go to MX or bite the bullet and load up my credit cards with the costs of going to an American dentist. I go in next Tuesday for an evaluation so don't yet know how much it might cost.

The research I've done says you'd probably be okay with a Mexican dentist as long as it's something 'minor' but for something more serious you'd best stay stateside. Anti-COVID measures weigh in heavily for me since I'm at risk for a couple of comorbidities.

Good luck. I feel your pain.
 
where are you trying to go to dentist in mexico.. las algodones ?? we went to Smile Design Studios and HIGHLY recommend the Dr. Valenzuela, DDS.. 2nd st and ave B, Corner of Alamo Walkway..
No, I'm near Sierra Vista so Algodones is a bit far. Thanks anyway.
 
Morgana, just an idea....call/email one of the recommended dentists and ask them which pharmacy they recommend for THEIR patients (?)
Wouldn't necessarily be the cheapest, it might be one that delivers to the dental office (e.g. Phoenix Pharmacy).

Everything is close by, checking the different pharmacies in Algodones wouldn't take much time or distance.

Tip: when purchasing something like Ibuprofen, make sure to mention the desired size of the pill. I asked for a bottle of Ibuprofen, expecting the usual 200mg, and was handed 1,000mg. It may be what most Americans in Mexico want, but can't get w/o a scrip in the States.
 
What are they charging you?And I never heard of zelle
Zelle is a service from your bank allowing you to send money from your checking or savings. As someone mentioned, in Mexico you will be charged a surcharge if you use a credit card. The cost ran 1400 per implant. X-rays were another 150.
 
Does anyone have any first-hand experience with a doctor/pharmacy near the Tijuana crossing? I'll be in San Diego in a few weeks, and that would be way closer than Algodones for me.

Thank you
 
A couple more random discoveries, fwiw ...

pharmacies: Benavides is a national pharmacy chain which, according to Wikipedia, is owned by the same international conglomerate that owns Walgreens. So I'm guessing they may be easy to find + reliable. So if you just don't know which pharmacy to pick, that might be a good one to try.

dentists: I finally picked one and got started this morning. They prescribed a pain pill that I'd never heard of (Ketorolac), which worked like a charm ... and then I came home and read up on it on MedLine Plus and yikes! on this side of the border it comes with some heavy-duty warnings, including never to take it with ibuprofen which, yikes again, is also on my prescription list, and to think twice if, yikes again, you're over 65.

I'm finding the dentist thing really complicated and challenging to work through. Sometimes it seems hard to know which things to shrug off as "hey, another country, other rules" and which ones to actually worry about. They were late getting started, the receptionist did her makeup at the front desk, they do extra xrays at the drop of a hat, people weren't all wearing masks... does it matter? nah, it's probably OK. am I sure? ?? I think I'm going to get a second opinion before I get any of the irrevocable stuff done.

To be clear: "Complicated" is NOT a euphemism for "bad" -- just, you really have to do your homework and keep your wits about you. (Which you have to do with dentists on the US side, too, maybe for a different set of reasons.) No free lunch.
 
And one more ...

Pay close attention to who you actually see when you get there vs. who the website implies you will see.

(This is a long post; feel free to skip the rest unless you want details on why/how this could be an issue.)

In my experience (not sure how universal this is), sometimes a dentist who, per the website, has qualifications and certifications up the yazoo will be supervising a large team of dentists, and you might get a team member who you know nothing about. Or the website may list a specialist, with credentials, and you may end up being seen by a generalist (whose credentials may or may not be listed). Or the specialist may not even be in-house, and their name and credentials may not even be on the website, even though the clinic advertises that it offers that specialty ("we have someone who comes in once a month, he's really good, he works at the hospital").

Today (my third attempt), in spite of being really assertive about this, I never saw a dentist at all, just someone who I assume was a dental assistant, plus the $%^&¡ receptionist ("trust me, I've been doing this for 13 years"), who wore jeans and a t-shirt and carried a slightly grotty belly-pack. They talked me into a relatively expensive x-ray, saying I could see the dentist after that, and then supposedly showed it to him, and he supposedly said I have to have even more expensive x-rays before he can bother to see me in person. My carefully thought through list of questions never saw the light of day. So much for "free consultation, specialist in-house!"

This was the second time I had to listen to medical advice from a receptionist. (The other time, for telephone advice on a post-procedure problem, they told me "we're having our Winter Texan Appreciation party today and the dentists have all gone home." Soooo confidence inspiring.)

I'm fine -- I'm at a safe place in the process to put it on hold for a few months while I rethink. Just wanted to mention this b/c I know others have been curious about this topic.

Not ready to give up on the idea of a Mexican dentist, yet. If you're seeing a generalist for basic care -- or if you have a solid recommendation from someone you trust -- it might be a whole other ball game, too. And three dentists in one city are not enough to generalize from (though I did a s-ton of research and really thought these were top of list, arrgh).

But I would definitely say, once you've done your shopping around, make sure you see who you think you're gonna see. Or if they pull a switch, make sure you evaluate the new person as carefully as you did the old, and don't let yourself be rushed.

And nothing would make me happier than to see a chorus of posts here saying "I've had dental work done in Mexico for 20 years and never saw anything like this." Not saying it's a bad scene. Just saying, pay attention to this issue. Getting clear info on who your doc will be is not a lot to ask.
 
Oh heck, correction needed, sorry. The "supervising a large team of dentists" part was not from my personal experience, it was from reading reviews.

Hope it's clear that the point is NOT "steer clear, this is a ripoff" -- too many people have described positive experiences; I'm sure it can be good -- it's just "do your homework and be an alert consumer." And you have to do that with US-side dentists too.
 
where are you trying to go to dentist in mexico.. las algodones ?? we went to Smile Design Studios and HIGHLY recommend the Dr. Valenzuela, DDS.. 2nd st and ave B, Corner of Alamo Walkway.. She has state of the art equipment. very professional and friendly. She was recommended by a dentist we meet in line to cross back over border last year. retired dentist was from phoenix..

AS for pharmacia go toward the back of town away from the border.. most of the neds are legit as they dont want the bad publicity that can spread on internet. I got blood pressure pills and had good results.. they were back over by the dentist i mentioned above.
Thanks for the post. For those having a hard time vetting, this group is reliable out of Phoenix, they offer a van to the border and back, or you can drive to border yourself and park, and go to appointment made through this group: DAY O DENTAL, DayODental.com/ For those living remotely, a reliable mail order legitimate pharmacy is farmaciasdelnino.mx/eng The 'eng' is for English translation. Another great dentist is Carlos D. Rubio. I know someone that had all of his teeth replaced by Dr. Rubio. The last I check, he is listed by DOD. The wonderful part of DOD is they can arrange for overnight if a patient requires stayover for serious procedures. I know a fellow that flies over, gets all of his prescriptions, has his dental work done, and his wife gets her eyes examined and glasses made in Algodones.
 
I thought about glasses in Los Algodones, but all of the frames were expensive designer frames.

I stuck with Walmart's ten dollar, plain black frames, until I was eligible for cataract surgery.

Military refers to those glasses as RPG.
 
I went to Sani Dental last December or January. It was 65 for an exray, and 40 or 50 dollars to clean my teeth. I was also seen by a ‘technician or analyst’ to tell me what work I needed to have done.
The exray was state of the art machines. Lead apron. I asked for a copy of this to take away and could not get one. So money down the drain there.
The teeth cleaning - they run you through students who use cleaning vibrating machines on your teeth to get the plaque off. Then you see a person with training and credentials who actually polishes your teeth. This was hair raising and they are pushing people through like cattle at a stock yards.
Then you are examined by a analyst who tells you all the items that need to be fixed and the cost. This guy was talking so fast and you get no written list or written estimate. He blows through all the items and I know 2 of them were nonexistant because a US dentist trying to squeeze every dollar out of me didn’t mention them.
So it was OK for an exray that I don’t get to keep and teeth cleaning. I did not walk away with any info I beleived or could use to get a comparison quote. Overall, was not happy at all. From now on I will use a specific dentist that comes with a good reference instead of the ‘dental super structures’.
I went to the purple pharmacy. All I can say is do your research on exactly what drug you want, how many miligrams, and know the color and size of pill. Because the Purple pharmacy is a pro at selling you very low doses for cheap (but if you have to take 3 or 4 of the pills to equal the US dose, not cheap at all).
 
Best to take along a copy of your original prescription. As to uneeded dental work I have had them try that on me as well.

Copies of x-rays. Nowadays they are digital images on a computer. You would not be able to open the image they took without the appropriate dental x-ray software on your computer. Getting it sent to you in email as a jpg might be something you could arrange, for a fee of course. But they would need to get staff to do that for you at a later time. Knowing what to ask for when you make an appointment is half way to solving these issues.
 
I thought about glasses in Los Algodones, but all of the frames were expensive designer frames.
For affordable glasses, I love zenni.com. I used to pay $400 for glasses, what with frame, high index lenses, astigmatism, etc. And that was $400 in the 1980’s and 90’s. Tried cheap stores and got headaches. Now I pay apx $55 to Zenni and get good quality glasses in the mail after a couple of weeks wait.
 
I had no issues with Walmart Optical in both New Jersey and Nevada.

I didn't skimp on the lenses, just on the frames.
 
I've used America's Best Eyeglasses for years. You can get a basic eye exam, and two pairs of frames with corrective lenses for $69. I was skeptical at first, but it's legit. They will gently suggest you upgrade frames/lenses/extra eye tests, but I've gone 3 years in a row and always only spent $69. For that money, you get basic lenses and have a selection of something like 20-30 different frames. They have 700 locations nationwide. You can check'em out at americasbest dot com. I don't work for them, have no affilation with them, just throwing this out there as info for people looking for inexpensive eyewear.
 
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