Getting Dental Work In Mexico Part II – Our Los Algodones Experience

Paul checks out a pharmacy advertizing prescription drugs in Los Algodones, Mexico

My last post dug up some great discussion, both good and bad, about experiences in Mexico. For those of you who are interested I highly recommend reading all the comments so you can get a feel of both sides. Dental work is not always black and white. There is a chance, even with a good dentist, that work will fail and there are people who have bad results with dentists that otherwise have good reviews. And then there are truly bad dentists and truly bad work. This is all part of the equation and one reason you always have to decide on what is the best care for YOU.

With that aside I figure it’s time to update you on our own personal experience in Los Algodones. Now I fully admit that this is going to be a somewhat limited review since there is no REAL way to know how good my dental work is until it stands the test of time, and that could mean a couple of years from now. So what I’ll try to do is give you an honest assessment of our impressions and go from there.

1/ Where/What Is Los Algodones?

General Location of Los Algodones

Los Algodones is a small 5-block square border town just south of Yuma, AZ (right next to CA/AZ split) that is pretty much dedicated to medical tourism. It has over 300 registered dentists, a slew of pharmacies (for cheap prescription drugs), multiple eyeglass doctors (cheap glasses), places to get inexpensive hearing aids…and probably a few more specialties I don’t know about. People come here mostly for dentistry and prescription drugs, and there are significant savings for both, compared to the US. Dentist work is ~1/3 of US prices, and prescription drugs are up to 50% off.

2/ How Do You Get To Los Algodones?

The parking lot right across the border

Take Interstate 8 just West of Yuma, AZ to the Andrade Mexico (Los Algodones or Rte 186 exit). Travel south on Route 186 for 7 miles to the Mexico border. At this point you could take your car into Mexico, but the vast majority of people just park on US side and walk over. There are large parking lots for both cars & RV’s run by the local Indian tribe right before the border on US side. It costs $5 to park for the day and takes ~5 mins to walk across to Los Algodones.

3/ What Should You Bring With You?

Two things you must bring are your passport and cash/checks. There are no customs checks going into Mexico (you simply walk in), but there are some limits to what you can bring with you (see HERE) and you will be required to pass customs coming back into the US. Most of the dentists in Mexico take either cash or check, so bring your money with you.

4/ How Did We Find Our Dentist?

Memberships don’t mean better care, but I like to see dentists who have them

When you enter Los Algodones you will be inundated by street “peddlers” asking you if you need a dentist or prescription drugs. Although they can be quite persuasive I recommend doing your research and making your choices beforehand. I spent alot of time asking around on forums, internet and doing searches. Some of the things I looked for were:

• Certified in Mexico with continuing education in Mexico or US
• Well-established (in-business for a long time)
• Universally good reviews
• Specialty training
• Modern equipment
• US memberships (American Dental Association, American Implant Association). These are not critical, but they’re nice to see.

A few resources you can use for your search:

There are *some* review websites online, although they’re not comprehensive

• Online reviews such as What Clinic and Dental Depatures. These are by no means comprehensive, but they can help narrow your search.
• RV forums such as Escapees, iRV2 , RV.net
• RV Now: Jim Twarmley’s 5 Part Series on Mexico
• RV buddies, friends, family, locals…

A few names popped up from this search. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just a few of the ones I found and why I liked them:

• Dr. Eva Urena – She is a one-woman show with 20 years experience and is a member of several US-based associations. Her reviews on WhatClinic were 100% as were any other reviews I could find on the forums.
• Bernal Dental Group – This is a bigger dental group that seem to have very modern equipment. Not many “official” reviews, but they get many, many mentions and good reviews on the RV forums. Their name almost always comes up as a choice.
• Sani Dental Group – Again a bigger group that looks like a modern outfit with good reviews. They often come up on the forums too.
• Others I’ve Seen Mentioned – Dr.Rubio (more expensive than others, with many positive reviews online, although commenter Tina did not have a good experience here), Dr Marquez (recommended by some other RVers), Circle Dental (again, a larger group but the name comes up often)

5/ What Was Our Experience Like?

Yesh…I’m missshing a toosth

We decided to go to Dr. Eva Urena for all our care. I’m going to tell you up-front that despite all my bravado I am a dentist WIMP, so I always look for the worst in any dental situation. Paul, on the other hand has sensitive, but otherwise perfect teeth (always has, the bastard) and is rather more blasé about everything. Here’s what we thought:

Paul’s Experience -> Great. Loved Dr. Urena and the cleaning. I have sensitive teeth and told her up-front. She was careful and did not hurt me at all. Fabulous experience! Cost for cleaning: $30

Nina’s Experience -> Good, but with some reservations. My experience was 2-part since I got my crown removed & teeth cleaned at Dr.Urena, but was sent to a root-canal specialist for the root canal re-do.

• At Dr. Urena: I felt Dr.Urena was careful and explained things well. She speaks decent English and was open about the risks I might have replacing my crown and what could happen once it was removed. Her office is sterile, all her equipment is sterile and her assistants were good. Another positive point is she has no street “peddlers” and does not overbook her office as many other Mexican dentists often do. Our appointment was on-time and ran smoothly. My cleaning was faster than I would like, but she did get all the stains off and my teeth looked good afterwards. My new crown will be installed on Monday so we’ll see how that goes. Overall I liked her and am happy with her so far. Cost for porcelain crown: $300
• At Dr. Ivan Gaspar Cuevas: My root canal specialist was obviously in high demand and the entire experience felt a bit too rushed for my taste. He had a somewhat heavy reliance on X-rays (took 4 to re-do my root canal) and worked fast. My mouth is now free of metal (great! he installed fiberglass posts), seems fine and is healing well, but personally I prefer a slower approach so I know exactly what is going on. Probably all will be fine, but I should have researched this side of the procedure before I went (I did not, shame on me) and if I were to do this over I would probably go somewhere else for this portion. Cost for root canal: $160

Alex & Ellen’s Experience -> Alex & Ellen went to Dr.Urena the day after us and had a good experience (cleaning only). They met folks in the waiting room that had been going to her for many years with good results. Cost for cleaning: $30

5/ Other things to think about Before You Go

Although I researched my dentist thoroughly before our trip, one thing I did not look at properly was the root canal side of my procedure, even though I knew (beforehand) that I probably needed to have it re-done. The lesson learned here is to know exactly what procedures you’re planning to get, whether your chosen dentist offers all of them and to read up on the newest technology before you go. As an example one of our commenters in the last post, Tina mentioned the need for a torque test on any implants you get done -> an important step in the implant procedure that you want to make sure your dentist follows. Read, research and know what you’re getting into.

6/ Coming Back Into The US

Waiting in the line to re-enter the US from Los Algodones

You will be required to pass customs as you cross the border back into the US. This means a passport check plus a declaration of what you bought in Mexico. There are no hidden charges for purchases (legal prescription drugs, eyeglasses, tourist buys etc.) under a total of $800 , but if you buy alcohol or tobacco, or you exceed these $$ there may be taxes or duty at the border depending on how much you bring back (which often negates any savings). Certain items such as narcotics, food, plants, animals, and products made from endangered species are prohibited. Know the rules before you go. We left Los Algodones at ~1PM and it took ~20 mins to get through the border line.

Hope that gives everyone a good overview of our own experience. Feel free to comment or add questions I did not cover. We are by no means experts so this is continuing education for all of us

My great new smile!

Update On My Los Algondones Dentist Appt Jan 22nd, 2013: I got my new crown installed yesterday morning and I am over the moon. This crown is 100% better fit than my old one (which always felt too big & awkward in my mouth), feels perfect and looks great. Dr. Urena did an outstanding job making sure the fit and look was just right. She even sent out the crown for some re-work in the AM to re-file the inner side and improve the fit. No-one can tell which tooth is the crown unless I point it out. We’ll see how this holds up, but for the moment I am very, very happy with the results!

Update On My Los Algondones Dentist Appt March 7th, 2013: It’s been several months since my new crown was installed and I’m still very happy with the results. The fit and look are great and my mouth & gums had no issues with recovery. I’ll update again next year, but for now I’m extremely happy w/ the entire experience.

RV Park Review – Hi Valley RV Park, Boise, ID

Hanging out in the dog-run at Hi Valley RV Park

A clean, convenient stop-over location for Boise with a huge dog-run.

Link to park here: Hi Valley RV Resort, Boise
Link to map location here: Hi Valley RV Resort, Boise

1. Site quality = 3.5/5
   Basic but decent site quality for a private park. There are long, flat gravel pull-throughs and back-ins (most back-ins occupied by semi-permanents). Like most private parks sites are fairly tight, but each site is separated by a “slice” of concrete and green grass (a nice bonus) plus a picnic table. A few, sparse shade trees around. Full selection of hookups with cable TV.
2. Facilities = 3/5
   There’s a full set of facilities here, but they’re all a bit dated. Older showers and restrooms, but kept spotlessly clean and with a few little, cute touches (free bath-mats).
3. Amenities = 4/5
   A decent set of amenities here. On-site laundry, free Tengo WiFi (works decently), and selection of movie rentals and book-swap at the main store. Small, grassy play-area for the kids. Also propane available. Biggest bonus is the HUGE dog-run.
4. Location = 4/5
   This is a good location to explore Boise. The park is in the West of town in a quieter residential neighbourhood, but close enough to be short drive from downtown. Also Walmart, Home Depot and other shopping just a few miles away. Only ding is not alot of green around here.
5. Pet friendliness = 5/5
   Dog facilities are the biggest bonus here. The park has a huge dog run along the back (next to the river) which you can extend into a longer walk along the river-bank. Very spacious.  You are also only ~15 mins drive from the big off-leash dog park downtown.

 Overall rating = 3.9
BONUS ALERT: Huge dog run on-site!

Summary: We were looking for a convenient pet-friendly stop over in Boise and this place fit the bill. It’s a fairly standard private park with “parking-lot” type sites, but is kept meticulously clean and has some nice extra touches. Sites are mostly pull-through with full selection of hookups and slice of green. Good set of amenities and facilities (no pool however). Owners are super-friendly and location is fairly quiet, yet still convenient to everything in downtown Boise. The biggest bonus (for us) was the enormous dog-run all along the back of the park giving us a nice area to walk and hang out w/ pooch by the river. Given the choice of parks around Boise this is one of the nicer options and we’d probably chose to come again if we needed to stop in town.

Extra Info: Verizon aircard and smartphone had full signal. Free WiFi on-site (Tengo). Sites $ 34/night (regular full-hookup). They do offer a nicely discounted weekly & monthly rate, plus a Good Sam’s and AAA discount. 

Typical site view

View of our site at Hi Valley (all sites are very similar)

Typical view down one of the pull-though rows

Another view down the rows

View of main office and facilities in middle of park

View of playground

RV Park Rating – American RV Park (Murdo, SD)

A quick review of our 2-night stay in Murdo, South Dakota

No dedicated website, but you can link to phone info here: American RV Park

1. Site quality = 4/5
   This park has an upper and lower level. The upper levels are very nice pull-through concrete pads with full hook-ups (50 Amp/water/sewer), bench and slice of green but not a lot of shade. The lower level has dirt sites on a grassy area with some trees, but only partial hook-ups.
2. Facilities = 3/5
   The bathrooms here are decent, but a bit dated. The interior is basic concrete with smaller showers. The grasshoppers and humidity do tend to find their way in here.
3. Amenities = 2.5/5
   The main amenity here, if you would call it that, is a huge grassy area on the lower level where kids & dogs can play. The pool is empty and there’s nothing else in the way of “frills”. The park does have laundry and free WiFi which works perfectly so that’s a bonus. There’s also an attached bar/restaurant although the food is very average.
4. Location = 3/5
   The main attraction in Murdo is the Auto museum so as far as location goes you’re within a block of walking distance from that which is great. Other than that there’s not much going on in Murdo. The town is only ~6 blocks all around and surrounding area is farmland.
5. Pet friendliness = 4/5
   These guys are very pet friendly and the grassy area on the lower area is a great place for doggie to run around. There’s no hiking of any type close-by so that’s the only negative.

 Overall rating = 3.3
BONUS ALERT: Within walking distance of awesome Pioneer Auto Museum

Summary: Murdo is a small transit town on Interstate 90 that gets mostly through-traffic and people staying a single night. The park caters to that and is very simple. Sites are nice, there’s full hook-ups and the park grounds are well maintained but there’s not much in the way of extra’s. Apparently they used to have a Good Sam’s rating but lost it because the pool is unusable. The main bonus is a large grassy field on the lower level of the park where doggie, kids & adults can run wild. Also there is good WiFi. This is an attached bar/restaurant but I wouldn’t recommend the food. The stop is worth it mainly for the Auto museum next-door, but otherwise this is not a destination vacation. Fine for a one-nighter, but not much more.

View of full hookup site in upper level...concrete and level, but not much shade

Side-view of upper sites

View of lower-level sites

Another view of lower-level sites. These are not full hook-up

View of green field in lower level. Lots of space for doggie to play.

RV Park Rating – BJ’s (Lusk, WY)

Before we move onto South Dakota a quick review of the stop-over site we stayed at in Lusk, WY 

This park doesn’t have a dedicated site, but location is here : BJ’s Lusk, WY 

1. Site Quality = 4/5
   The sites here are all excellent. Large, gravel (very level) pull-throughs with full hook-ups, and a well-trimmed green slice with a bench between campers. Only ding is few sites have shade and it can get very hot in the summer day here.
2. Facilities = 5/5
   Very nice facilities here. They’re small, but very quaint. The owner did a nice job of putting colorful paint and cutsie touches in each restroom (pictures, decor) and it’s kept spotlessly clean.
3. Amenities = 2.5/5
   There’s very basic amenities here, but they all work as they should. Laundry and Wi-Fi (free) cover what’s available.
4. Location = 3/5
   Lusk is an odd location. It’s a town located about half-way between Cheyenne and the Black Hills so it gets a lot of through-traffic, but it’s not much of a destination in itself. A 10-block radius covers everything including a grocer, a few bars, a hardware store and other basics. The surrounding area is farmland.
5. Pet Friendliness = 4/5
   The owner is pet-friendly (no breed restrictions), but the campground is located in the middle of the city so not a lot of hiking opportunities. There’s a fairgrounds ~4 blocks from the site which has open space for doggie to run around, plus there’s a few side-roads with not a lot of traffic.

Overall rating = 3.7 

 Summary: This was a stop-over location for us on the road between Cheyenne, WY and the Black Hills in SD. The town is small enough to spit across (only ~10 blocks) and so is the campground covering 2 blocks and housing ~20 RV’s. As a stop-over it worked perfectly. The sites are large and kept very nice, the bathrooms are spotless, the hookups, laundromat and Wi-Fi work as they should and the owner has made an extra effort to put little cute touches to the place. Just don’t expect extra amenities or a hopping town. Not a destination vacation, but perfectly fine as a one-night stop. 

Typical site...large, gravel pull-through with bench

View across one-half (one block) of BJ's

The main office, restroom and laundromat all-in-one

One of the many little cute touch's on the site

RV Park Rating – Dakota Ridge RV Park (Golden, CO)

A quick review of the RV Park we stayed at in Golden, CO before we get back to travel tales and frivolities.

The park doesn’t have a dedicated website, but you can see general info in this link: Dakota Ridge RV Park

1. Site Quality = 3.5/5
   Overall decent site quality here. Long, paved, flat surfaces with 30/50-amp hookups (although you pay extra for the 50-amp), decent water pressure and sewer. Sites near the entrance are shaded whereas the ones in the East-side are not. There’s a slice of green between each campground with the one negative that you share it with your neighbor which is why we gave them a ding. No cable.
2. Facilities = 4/5
   Good facilities here. Large showers (with separate bench) and clean toilets in a modern environment. The only negative is that water-pressure (in the shower) gets affected every time someone flushes the loo, but otherwise no issues.
3. Amenities = 3.5/5
   Good selection of amenities here. Pool, hot-tub, fitness room, playground, lounge-room (with billiards, book-swap and movies), and a good-sized laundry-room. Only two dings were no cable and the WiFi, albeit free, was very, very inconsistent (in fact it didn’t work half the time we were there). Thus the ding in ratings…
4. Location = 4/5
   This is a fairly convenient location in Golden. It’s close to hiking trails, but only a few miles from town, and there’s a mere ~10 miles into Denver. You’re on the outskirts of town, but still within town. I’d give ‘em a higher score if there were more hiking trails right off the site and it was a tad quieter, but otherwise this is a good base to explore the area.
5. Pet Friendliness = 4/5
   They’re open to pets (no breed restrictions) and offer poo-bags and a dog-run on-site.

Overall rating = 3.8

 Summary: Overall this is one of the better campgrounds in the area. They keep it pretty, offer good service and work on greenery and amenities. I would have liked to see a little more space between sites with a private area for each RV, but when I compared to the park across the street (where RV”s were literally packed like sardines) this is a much nicer set-up. Being one of the fancier parks also means it’s jam packed. In our 10 days there we never saw a site sit empty for more than ½ a day, so if you’re coming in the summer, book ahead. Being busy also means it a bit on the noisy side and you do hear traffic on Hwy 6 which runs right in front. Location is decent as far as exploring the area. You’re close to town, Denver and the parks. There’s only one hike on-site which requires bush-whacking across the field behind the storage facility (gets you to Hogsback), but otherwise you’re close to many hikes in nearby William F Hayden Park and other areas in Golden. Overall a very decent “city” RV park, but if we come back we’ll probably try to find something quieter and closer to nature.

Typical site view...paved area with slice of green shared w/ your neighbour

View of sites near entrance

View along the right side of the park where there are more shade-trees

Pet Walk area. You can bush-whack up the hill trail in the back.

Pool area

Playground and main lounge/lobby in background