Dental Work

[PRDATR]

Last evening I broke a bridge, upper three front teeth. Real bummer as it was put in 40 years ago and now that I am on Medicare I don't have dental so this will be out of my pocket. A co-worker had the same thing happen last year and went to Algodones which from Mesa is probably close to four hours. Realistically I am now most likely looking at a five or six tooth new bridge. Looking for options but this needs to get taken care of pretty quick and mt guess is it is probably going to be north of $5K.

[Flatlander]

I have a buddy who is a dentist. I go to him because he’s straight up and doesn’t try to sell me a bunch of extra work that I don’t really need. I hate dentists that are always telling me I need every filling replaced or some special cleaning or other treatment.

His name is Karl Baker and his practice is Ujique Dental. You can tell Him Andrew sent you. He will at least give you an idea of what you are looking at. If it’s an emergency he’ll get you in right away.

[cjl2010]

My mom gets quite a bit of work done at dental school down there. Significant discounts.

[CatfishKev]

We go to Mexico. There's a reputable guy in Naco.

[yotebuster]

Be careful in Mexico.  I went to dental school in Glendale and saw some really bad stuff come out of Mexico.  Their cost per procedure is going to be lower but they are gonna make it up in volume.  I can’t count how many times I saw someone who needed one crown and a couple fillings and they came back with 4-5 crowns.  Yes they probably spent the same or less for those 4-5 crowns but the thing about dental work is that if you do 4-5 crowns poorly you’re setting yourself up for a really really expensive future.  Everything dental goes up exponentially each time you mess with it.  A sealant is $30 (sealing a crack before a cavity) a filling is $200 (cutting the cavity out and filling it back up) a crown is $1000 (cutting the tooth into a top hat shape and recovering it with a new ceramic top) a root canal and crown is $2500.  Taking the tooth out and replacing with an implant is $3500.  All of these prices will be lower in MX, but I can promise you they don’t stay in business at the prices they charge without doing volume.  If someone comes into my office for a $1000 crown my overhead eats up pretty quick.  If I do two the second one has much much higher profit and so on.  That’s how they make money on a $300 crown.  The other thing to keep in mind is the dental lab work from down there is atrocious.  I saw stuff in dental school that I know I could have done better on when I was 8 yrs old.  Just for reference, my dental lab charges me $250 to build me a crown.   That’s what it costs for quality work.   If I charged $300 for crowns I would go out of business in a hurry.  Im betting they get their crowns from Mexican labs for $15-30.  Scary thought if you ask me.  When you think about the stuff a tooth has to go through, acid, hot coffee to cold ice cream in the same bite, hundreds of PSI of pressure.   The thought that a $15 piece of lab ceramic made by an underage worker in a lab mill in Mexico is gonna make it more then a few years is not happening.  That’s my two cents on it.  Get a dentist you trust.  Spend the money.  You won’t regret it.  I wish I were closer I could get you set up.  

[Roosevelt Mark]

Very interesting, great reply. You made it very clear.

[Ringer]

If you want to make sure I would see Dr. Kieth Kennedy at Power Ranch Dental. He is a bass fisherman and helped me and the wife out on some work. If nothing else he can give you an estimate to compare. He is honest and a great dentist. We have had some hard times since the crash and I still pay for dental work here. My employees have done the Mexico thing and seem pretty happy with it so if you do it ask about dentists there that people here have used and trust. Good luck.

[Couzer]

I agree with Ringer, Kieth at Power Ranch Dental is the guy to go to. He is also a member on here. 

Another person to consider is Houston up in Showlow area, he’s a good dude as well. He’s also a member in here

[firstcoueswas80]

I wouldnt drink the water in Mexico, let alone let someone drill on my teeth.

[longshooter]

Another Vote for Keith at power ranch dental

he is also a member here 

[Dpduckhunter13]

Cade Smith of All Smiles Dental Care. Great dude and owner/inventor of the triclawps. Great guy and good prices. 

[AZLance]

Go to mexico... at least you dont have to worry about them screwing up your good looks

[yotebuster]

6 hours ago, Dpduckhunter13 said:

Cade Smith of All Smiles Dental Care. Great dude and owner/inventor of the triclawps. Great guy and good prices. 

I’ve seen Cade’s work and it is exceptional.  

[maximus]

i have gum disease and had a implant put a month ago and i went back 3 times in a week, i was thinking about doing it in mexico but if you have problems like i did you have a long way to drive also, you need to think that if something goes wrong is a long ways, hope it helps, i'm just sharing my experience.

[PRDATR]

1 hour ago, AZLance said:

Go to mexico... at least you dont have to worry about them screwing up your good looks

Those went downhill years ago. LOL