I expect that will be the initial reaction when family and friends back home learn that one of the first things I did upon leaving the U.S. was to book an appointment to go to the dentist. While some may think it seems like a risky endeavor, for whatever reasons, I had already heard about positive experiences from other friends who had received dental care in Mexico and Costa Rica.
The most impressive part of the experience for me was the ease of getting an appointment. Trevis and I noticed a dental office not far from our apartment while out walking around and the sign advertised English and Spanish spoken, so Trevis snapped a photo of their contact info and sent it to me. I was due for a six-month visit and had planned to do this during our time in Mexico City. I contacted “M. Dental Clinic” via WhatsApp and they directed me to their website where I could view the prices for the various services they offered and then make an appointment for what I chose. Get this, I made an appointment for the next day! In St. Louis I would have needed to book at least a couple of months out.
On the day of the appointment, Trevis and I walked the 15 minutes or so to the clinic. The previous appointment was just leaving and after asking what language we preferred, we were told to take a seat while they prepared the exam room. I was shown to the room a couple of minutes later while Trevis waited in the front. There were two dentists in the exam room, or perhaps a dentist and a hygienist. One performed the exam and cleaning and the other, whose English seemed to be stronger, looked on and explained what was going to happen. He first took a brief medical and dental history, then they put a napkin and safety glasses on me, then tipped back the chair and began. Everything was exactly the same as I would have experienced during a dental visit in the US – first looking at my teeth, then removing plaque, then polish and floss. They advised me, due to my tight teeth, to be more diligent about flossing but otherwise gave me a clean bill of health. They did not try to upsell me on anything – whitening, bite guards, invisalign, etc. the way my dentists in the US have done.
The bill was as indicated on their website, 1200 Mexican pesos (about 60 US dollars), which I paid for and have submitted to our international health insurance for reimbursement.
