A tooth that my dentist said to "keep an eye on" suddenly reacted painfully to hot food. That was on the 16th. I called my dentist who happened to have an opening, and I rushed over. A quick x-ray confirmed more decay under the old filling and she said that the heat-triggered pain meant that a root canal was probably necessary. Her first availability for her part of the process was in 19 days! I called the endodontist I'd used once before for a root canal and his desk person said that they made availability "within a week," and that the cost would be $2100 to $3000. Damn... my dentist, doing the prep and crown, was probably another $1500, maybe more... This sucked. AND she wasn't available for 19 days. I've had one root canal before, 6 years ago, and the good news is the treatment was pain-free. The bad news is the pain radiating from the tooth beforehand was memorable, and not in a good way. I'm not in the mood for THAT again. This writeup is shaping-up to be long. I guess what I'm saying is that root canal pain builds pretty quickly, and root canals are expensive, especially if you live in an expensive area. If you're even thinking about 'dental tourism,' do some research BEFORE pain limits your options. I put AI to work, and learned about the small town of Los Algodones, across from Yuma. I then searched for the practices that had the most reviews - Sani Dental was one of them. Finally I researched how to get there, affordably. Driving was the answer. I sent Sani Dental my AI-generated script - clarifying how they would determine if I actually needed a root canal, what type of crown I wanted, etc. They emailed back, then I followed-up with a phone call. I learned that my treatment would likely take three days, and all businesses are closed on Sunday, so best to start the process on a Monday or a Tuesday. The rep said something about blocking-out days a week and a half from now, but--thinking about the pain I went through six years earlier--I interjected, asking if sooner was a possibility. It was Tuesday 4:45pm. The rep asked if I could be at Sani Dental's office Thursday 9am. I said sure! Early the next morning I started driving; 662 miles later I was parked across the street from the Yuma border crossing. Walked across the border and a few blocks later was checking in at a hotel that partners with Sani Dental. Next morning I walked a block to Sani's office, and the process began. I need to be more succinct; I'll switch to bullets: *Sani Dental’s facility was clean and everyone was professional. *English-speaking staff everywhere. *Equipment seemed more modern than my local dentist's. *Process was thoughtful. The Sani team told me to keep an eye on two other teeth, asked me to approve the tint of the crown, etc. *I was there late July. Holy crow - it was hot! Los Algodones is apparently dead during the summers because of the heat; probably a good time of year to save a few bucks on procedures and hotels. *I'll guess that my SF Bay Area cost would have been ~$4500. My Sani cost was about $1000, plus $200 hotel + $45 long-term parking on the Yuma side + $145 gas + 'wear and tear' on my vehicle (1336 miles, RT). *My iPhone didn't work, even though America was a quarter-mile away. Thinking it was because of my discount carrier I asked the border guards, but they said that the signal was lousy, even on the American side. I need to write something negative, or else this will read like an ad. *There's nothing to do in Los Algodones. AND you'll likely have no signal. AND it's punishingly hot in the middle of summer. Bring stuff to read or download some audiobooks. If you would like to save thousands of dollars, dental tourism is the way to go. I like Los Algodones because it's less-expensive to get to than some Mexican resort, and most of us will be purchasing dental services multiple times in our life, so convenience matters. The dental practices in Los Algodones are all walking distance from America and some of them--including Sani Dental--will even pick you up and drop you back at the Yuma Airport. Good luck!
