Americans go to Mexico for a cheaper perfect smile

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Americans go to Mexico for a cheaper perfect smile

By Robin Emmott 2 hours, 27 minutes ago

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - It was fear of the hefty bill as

much as fear of the drill that kept American musician Don Clay away

from U.S. dental clinics for 30 years.

When a sorely infected tooth eventually drove him to the dentist last

month, it was to a clinic in a Mexican border city better known for

violent crime and drug cartels.

Shrugging off concerns about hygiene and Mexico's brutal drug war,

thousands of Americans are heading to Ciudad Juarez and other Mexican

border cities for cheap dental treatment.

" I had to get my teeth fixed. I need a perfect smile to make a

successful career in music. Treatment in the United States is so

pricey, " said Clay, a Texan trying to get a record deal as a hip-hop

artist.

U.S. dental treatment costs up to four times as much as in Mexico,

making it tough for uninsured Americans to treat common problems such

as abscessed teeth or pay for dentures.

A dental crown in the United States costs upward of $600 per tooth,

compared to $190 or less in Mexico.

Aspiring Mexican dentists are moving to border cities in droves and

are luring American patients away from farther flung discount

destinations such as Hungary and Thailand.

Americans have long crossed the border for cheap medicines, flu

vaccines, eye surgery or specialist doctors, but dentists are now in

highest demand.

Dental clinics are on almost every block in central Ciudad Juarez,

ranging from dingy dives to clinics that look more like posh hair

salons. Getting there involves dodging prostitutes, drug pushers and

cowboy-boot sellers.

BARGAIN-HUNTING

" We've gone from a handful of patients when we started 2-1/2 years ago

to 150 new patients a month, " said Joe Andel, an American who owns the

Rio Dental clinic in Ciudad Juarez with his Mexican dentist wife, .

Rio Dental, which uses U.S. labs to make its crowns, picks patients up

at the airport in El Paso, Texas, across the border and has treated

people from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii.

" The Internet makes this possible. It allows patients to find us and

research us and shows we can do dental work of equal or superior

quality to the United States, " Andel said.

Internet bloggers swap stories and compare notes about Mexican

dentists, but it always comes down to money.

Dentistry in the United States has become prohibitively expensive for

some patients, with bills that can run to tens of thousands of

dollars. Malpractice insurance premiums, operating costs that are much

higher than in Mexico and dentists seeking to claw back the rising

cost of their tuition all weigh.

Even among Americans who have medical insurance, many find they are

not covered for treatment other than the basics, and paying on credit

means high interest payments.

" I did $4,000 of dental work in the United States and put it on my

credit card. Because of the interest, I only paid off $400 in three

years, " said a U.S. teacher from New Mexico getting treatment in

Ciudad Juarez who gave his name as Bill.

Cosmetic dentistry, which insurers do not cover and which can be paid

in dollars in many Mexican border clinics, is also popular, Ciudad

Juarez dentist Garza said.

" If you want a perfect smile, you have to pay for it, and we can do it

cheaper, that's all, " he grinned.

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