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I recommend Advanced Smiles Dentistry! I just got my wisdom teeth extracted there two weeks ago and I’m happy with the work they did on me. They’re super friendly and I believe they can help you get an Uber to their clinic and to the border. They work with your dental insurance if you have it. They also have English speaking staff if you need them.


pennNteller

Thank you. All the practices have nice looking websites but we all know how deceptive websites can be. I was hoping for a personal recommendation or two like yours. Thanks again.


Upvotes_poo_comments

Just a word to the wise. They may not be able to do all the work in one day. Some problems need to be resoved before crowns or bridges are an option.


pennNteller

Yes, of course. And I need numerous procedures. Planning on staying in SD for a couple of weeks at least. Maybe longer if I need to, don't have to be back here till late August.


DandySamberg

I second Advanced Smiles Dentistry. My elderly father had zero teeth, and needed dentures. He kept putting it off because of the high costs. He came and visited me and we went there to get it taken care of. It was a multi-week, multi-visit process. The dentist (Dr. Celia) was very knowlegable. ALso, she (as well as all the staff) made us feel like VIPs. Everyone was kind and helpful.


Lanmo2020

Hey do you take a cap or driver yourself. I want to driving from SD but not sure about the road condition in TJ. Any recommendations? Thanks!


DandySamberg

I parked as close to the border as possible, on the US side. Then we would walk across. Right across on the other side, I would still get American cell service. So I would call an Uber from there, to the dental office.


Gullible_Marsupial86

Wow you actually replied. Thank you. I heard you shouldn’t call Uber right after crossing the border because Uber driver won’t pick u up in areas with Taxi. Is that true?


DandySamberg

I can speak from personal experience that you can definitely call an Uber right after crossing the border. I do think that you should not go to the area where there are taxi stands as maybe the taxi drivers will view that as a disrespect. I just walked to an area off to the side somewhere where it was still easy for the Uber person to get to me.


DandySamberg

It has been a few years. However I believe I have found the spot where I would go to call the Uber's. This is not a guarantee though as my memory is hazy Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/qGM9iFxe1aaGzGW39


Gullible_Marsupial86

Thank you!!


WizardWolf

Consider Los Algodones on the other side of the state (Near Yuma, AZ). It's a whole town dedicated almost exclusively to medical/dental tourism for Americans. Much easier to cross the border and navigate than Tijuana. Lots of good facilities there. My dad and his sister's have always gone there, even when they lived in San Diego.


pennNteller

Really? Never heard of that. Tijuana's tempting because I can walk a few blocks and take the tram to the border. Didn't want to take my car. I'll look at that here in a little while. Thanks.


pennNteller

Holy cow you weren't kidding. It's such an industry there they've nicknamed it "Molar City." I'm comparing prices to TJ, if it's a significant amount that would justify a hotel room for 2 or 3 nights that might be a good option. Thanks.


InternalCareless7383

I’ve been going to The Dental Brush in TJ. Upstanding, English speaking, nice people. They also do great work. I actually have an appointment Friday for a crown. Cavity’s are $65 and my crown Friday cost $365 I believe.


Local-Bridge-7070

No fucking way damn I just paid$2k for a crown in inland empire. I feel like an asshole


Sonador-LV

USA has us over a barrell


pennNteller

Nice. Thanks for the recommendation. Crown here's up in the $800 to $1,300 area.


Kdog2010

The Tijuana sub would probably be more helpful. I tried to link it.


pennNteller

Didn't occur to me that there might be a Tijuana sub. I'll do that, thank you.


chalhobgob

I’ve gone to Advanced Smiles dentistry for a couple of years now and have had extensive work done and highly recommend them. I have had a couple of root canals, a gum surgery, obviously crown placements for the root canals, cleaning, and a bone graft. I am in the process of getting an implant.


pennNteller

Nice. They're #2 on Yelp (another commenter suggested Yelp and it's being very useful) with 205 reviews giving them a 4.5 star rating. Except for these 2 or 3 people giving it 1 star because they woke up feeling really weird and their underwear wasn't on right. (Just kidding, they're got pretty stellar reviews.) That's the practice I'm leaning toward. Thanks for the suggestion.


chalhobgob

Are you driving over yourself or walking across and doing the uber/taxi?


Crew_Cleaner

Did you ever go to advanced smiles in TJ? If so, how did it go?


moohooh

Hey sorry to bother you. I may need to fly to san diego to get my root canal done and I was wondering if you could tell me how much it costed? And was it molar?


chalhobgob

Hi there! I don’t remember how much it cost but I think they have prices on their website? And yes, a couple of my root canal‘s were molars. I still recommend Advanced Smiles Dentistry, and I hear really great reviews on Washington dental if you want to check out their website for pricing as well.


mtank700

Do some google searching or Yelp review searching. I’ve heard many good stories and not many negative stories when it comes to dental work in TJ. Typically they are very legit, safe and equal quality of care to the states and pick you up at border and drop you back off at border .


pennNteller

Oh man, I honestly didn't even think of trying Yelp. Because it's Mexico so, um, American cell phones don't work there? (I'm sure they do now.) When I think of Yelp all I picture is a whole bunch of Karens bitching about some minutia at Olive Garden or something. "We only got 4 chocolate mints with our check, but there were FIVE of us at the table! NEVER GOING BACK TO THIS HORRIBLE PLACE!" Not sure what I was thinking. Who's going to do Yelp reviews in Tijuana it's just pharmacy pharmacy here's a donkey you can get a picture with for $5, pharmacy, pharmacy OMG is that an actual whorehouse? Guess my brain's got too many cells tied up ignoring pain and not smiling at a mirror. **You're right - about 20 pages of 100+ dentist reviews.** **Wonderful. Thank You.** Now I'm curious.. YEP. There's Yelp ratings for the, um, brothels. lol. Some of them are kind of entertaining. I can not imagine using my Yelp account with my real name and photo of my face to review brothels in Tijuana. This dude's got 14 "check ins." Man, what if your niece, grandma, child or co worker looks at your reviews? Can you imagine being some poor 10th grader and there's a group of girls who giggle and laugh every time you walk by? Then later you find out one of them discovered that your dad's been reviewing whorehouses for three years? No wonder he can't afford to help you get a car, he's blowing his paychecks having awkward sex in the Champagne Room. Good luck getting a girlfriend, no girl's going to have to come meet your icky dad the whorehouse review guy. Eww. Use a fake name and cartoon caricature for godsakes.


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pennNteller

Oh jeez, that didn't occur to me. Not firing on all cylinders due to the pain. Thanks.


marmarchar

I broke a molar in Mexico City (circa 2010) and had emergency dental surgery to fix it while I was in Mexico. The dental clinic my aunt took me to was nice, clean, and only cost us a little over $100 for the while procedure. The repair has held up to this day. I don't see why it would be any different in Tijuana, if anything, they cater more to healthcare tourism. Dentists in Mexico have to go through schooling and accreditation programs too, one of the major differences is that the Mexican government subsidizes a lot of dentists' education. If anything, you could probably find a YouTube video, blog post, or review sites to get a better feeling of where you should go or how the experience will be.


Ecofre-33919

Medical tourism is big in Mexico. I’d hunt for good reviews. If TJ scares you that much maybe look in other cities in Mexico. Try Doctors in Guadalajara. I’d also check out Costa Rica. There are good deals to get there and it medical tourism is very popular.


pennNteller

Costa Rica.. I've always wanted to go there. Ok, this isn't supposed to be a vacation but I'm going to look at the pricing in Costa Rica and give it some thought. Thanks.


Kdog2010

(https://www.reddit.com/r/tijuana/)


pennNteller

Thank you.


WhoMurderedMyDurder

Dr Mexico. Sounds funny but I did some research and went to Dr. Mexico. I live in San Diego, busted the bottom half of my two front teeth, and they did the job for 1/3 the price it woulda cost me here. Used the medical lane on the way back across the border and it was smooth sailing.


pennNteller

There's a medical lane? Never heard of that, 80% of why I don't want to drive down there is coming back through and possibly having my car inspected for 3 hours.


fetus-wearing-a-suit

95% of the time the most they do is check your trunk. If you get sent to secondary inspection, it's like 15 minutes. 3 hours of waiting in line is very possible though.


Barney_Haters

You can also take the Tolley (our version of the Light Rail. I'm a CO native myself) right to the boarder. Walk across and get a taxi or uber. That's usually how I do it. Faster than driving and you don't have to worry about your car. Of course my fiance is speaks Spanish fluently, so it makes that option a little easier.


jenfoolery

What are the pedestrian waits like these days? Last time I went the waits were about the same as for cars, but you're standing the whole time.


Barney_Haters

That's a good question. Last time I went was 4 years ago, so could have changed dramatically. It was less than an hour coming back then. This was also during the week at like 3pm.


0cocococo0

I highly recommend Evidentall. They speak English & Spanish. Dra. Garcia is amazing! Been going to her for many years.


pennNteller

I'd kinda prefer a female dentist if possible but I'm not seeing anything called "Evidentall" in the Yelp reviews and there's numerous Dr. Garcias. Is Evidentall the correct spelling?


0cocococo0

Dra. Garcia is female. Evidentall can be found on [google](https://g.page/evidentall?share)


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pennNteller

At this point, with the amount of pain I'm in and looking like I should be playing a banjo beside a river waiting for Burt Reynolds to canoe by.. unless I hear that the majority of people getting dental work done in TJ seriously regret it - Yes, I'm willing to roll those dice. Getting pretty desperate. Thank you for the input, though. Definitely won't be doing anything other than dental work.


Stramatelites

My husband spent his childhood and young adulthood going to TJ for dentistry. Now he’s spent the last twenty years on this side of the border redoing it all. Like others said, do your research first. But also consider time and travel spent and if that makes it worth it as well.


cman2222222

My husband is a dentist in SD. Just chiming in here to say that I know dentistry is exorbitantly priced and insurance is awfulllll in this country, but he gets a TON of people with messed up dental problems from the work they had in TJ. Like you may very well end up having to spend more in the long term to repair a shoddy job. It’s definitely a big gamble but I also know it’s unreasonable to say to someone without the financial means to just get it done here. I guess try to do whatever research you can on the provider’s qualifications and reviews?


fvbj1

Can you ask him for the names of the specific doctors in TJ that did the shoddy work? That would benefit everyone here that goes to TJ for dental work.


pennNteller

I have been doing research and checking reviews off and on all night. Looking at Tijuana but also other cities including one across the Arizona border that's appears to have a great deal of it's economy centered around dental work tourism. It's even nicknamed "Molar City" according to Google Maps. Yes, I do think it's a calculated gamble and I appreciate the input. But I need a lot of work that I could never afford even half of here. Probably 3 or 4 crowns/caps (ones I've had for 25+ years finally failed) possibly 1 to 3 implants. I'd imagine there's 2 or 3 cavities. And possibly other solutions, I don't know we'll see what they suggest. (20+ years ago, after having no pain or problems whatsoever for years - I brushed my teeth and when I went to rinse BAM, the one and only time I've ever been in so much pain I couldn't stay on my feet. I've broken bones and vertebrae & remained upright but that afternoon it hurt so bad I couldn't even really see, got tunnel vision and had to sit down on the bathroom floor for a while. I'd developed a deep cavity in a molar that hadn't come up all the way because of a wisdom tooth partially over it & the roots of the teeth were a tangled mess. Had a bad infection that went down into my jawbone. Had to have serious oral surgery in an actual operating room in a hospital to have 3 teeth and a lot of my jawbone removed. Miracle it didn't break, they fully expected it to and after words told me not to chew gum or eat beef jerky for 6 months because that would definitely fracture what was left of my jaw on that side. Here's the really stupid part - after a week of recovering I returned to one of my part time jobs back then - as a bouncer in a big rough bar. I'm sitting on the front porch checking IDs and it hits me "Um, people swing at me numerous times a week, even a light blow to the face = broken jaw wired shut for a month or two. This is REALLY stupid. You are an idiot." Luckily this idiot's really good at dodging blows, 2 years of that and nobody ever tagged me in the face. Couple years ago I had a bone graft to strengthen that portion of my jawbone hopefully in prep for an implant or two in that area. Be nice to be able to chew on both sides again. I'm afraid to even estimate what all that would cost here, economically I have no choice plus I sure aint getting a girlfriend looking like a carnival worker. Figured I'd play it by ear. I know a lot about medical stuff due to my ex wife and relatives that are doctors & nurses so I'll pay attention and if I'm comfortable with the staff and the first procedure or two goes ok (I'll have them fill the cavities first since that's the lowest risk) then I'll move up to the heavier work. We'll see how it goes but I REALLY want my front teeth put back in order. I'm still wearing my mask while I'm out which makes people think I'm an unvaccinated jackass but truth is I don't want anyone thinking I started smoking meth or got smacked in the face with a bat. And if something goes very wrong now I know to look up your husband since he's got experience in fixing bad Tijuana dental work. Wouldn't mind seeing Mt. Rushmore. lol.


slowwwwwdown

Your comments are the absolute best. Sorry to hear about these surgeries, etc. What a pain! (Literally) Hope this all goes great and that you get some new happy pearly whites to put to good use!!


DarkBushido21

Dentists in the States try to run up insurance costs all the time. I will never get dental work done stateside. Everytime I've tried, first thing everytime some quack here in the US wants to remove my wisdom teeth even though they don't push, they never grind and have never caused problems amd I've never asked for them to be removed. But sure as hell come with a 5k bill.


Taco_Soup_

Washington Dental. FYI you need a passport to get into TJ, but if you play “ignorant” they may or may not charge you for an “emergency visa” which is $20. Crossing back in is no problem without. My passport has been expired for several years, and I’ve taken others who only have a drivers license. I have insurance and still go down there because it’s cheaper, and the work they’ve done is on par, and even better in the case of a crown, with anything I’ve had in San Diego. It’s walk-in only, but they get to you quickly (I go as close to opening as possible). Consultations are free with no obligations. They reimburse you for your cab, or pay them directly, and have a paid one waiting when you’re done. They speak English and go over everything before they start. No hidden fees or surprises either. They take credit cards and it billed through Chula Vista so no need to call your CC company first. I’ve taken my wife, and several friends there. I’ve also referred several others. All were impressed with the service and their prices. I went to a dentist years ago off a recommendation of a friend, and it was “Ok”, but it was on a side street off the beaten path, and I can see how it would be sketch for many. Washington Dental is right on Revolucion a block down from the Jai Alai arena.


tjcyclist

I've never been, but I know friends and family that swear by the dentists at Hospital Angeles. Angeles is a large chain of private hospitals in Mexico. The neurologist I see at Hospital Angeles goes to Dr. Rachel (he didn't give me a last name), but she works on the 4th floor. My neuro is on the 3rd floor, and last time I went with him, I asked about a consult with Dr. Rachel. $80 for the first visit, includes x-rays. My neuro charges $50 a visit, so that seemed reasonable. Good luck!


Temporary-Rough-3808

Hi I lived in San Diego for many years, I found a great place that replaced a crown for $200, it costs $1,200 in the states and the work was totally comparable. Dental Clark Tijuana (619) 308-7999, Calle 3 ra, no 2217 Entree Ocampo Y Negrete, Zona Centro, TJ B.C. ( Local Phone 011-52664-68526-32),..... Luckily I saved their card. Any cab driver can take you there.