A few months ago, an International Living article got our attention. Entitled “I’ve found Jesus…and he’s fixing my teeth,” it was written by Suzan Haskins about Dr. Jesus Sanchez, her dentist in Merida, Mexico.
My wife Françoise and I were in need of extensive dental care and we knew we could not afford it in Texas, where we live. Françoise corresponded with Suzan and got Dr. Sanchez’s telephone number.
The first thing Dr. Sanchez wanted to know was what type of care we required. Françoise and I went to our respective local dentists for an evaluation.
Françoise needed a cleaning, an implant, and a crown. Her Texas dentist would have charged $175 for a cleaning, and told her that the cost of her implant would be between $4,000 and $4,500. The crown would add an additional $1,000, bringing the total to $5,675.
Where to lay your head in Merida for $28 a night
When we travel, Françoise and I prefer local, non-ostentatious accommodations.
We stayed at the Flamingo Hotel for $28 per night, continental breakfast included. The room was not luxurious, but it was clean and had air-conditioning. This hotel is located three blocks from the Plaza Grande—the main square—which is surrounded by the Cathedral of San Ildefonso, the governor’s palace, the city hall, and other historical buildings. The square was closed to traffic from Friday night through Sunday night during our stay to celebrate the festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe. There were a number of artisan salesmen, restaurants with outdoor seating, and dancing and music late into the night.
As for me, since it was my first visit with this particular dentist, his assistant took two X-rays of my teeth, one of each side. The dentist then told me I needed four sessions of deep scaling and root planing, as well as the extractions of a broken tooth, a wisdom tooth, and a molar tooth. The cost estimate for these procedures came to $910, plus the cost of my visit—$134—for two X-rays and five minutes with the dentist. My total came to $1,044.
For both of us to get the work done in Texas, we would have paid $6,719.
The estimate given to us by Dr. Sanchez was far less. Françoise would pay $50 for a cleaning, $1,600 for the implant, and $230 for the crown. I would be charged $320 for a deep scaling and $200 for the extractions. That’s a total of $2,400.
So last December we went to Merida and met Dr. Sanchez and two other dentists—one to take care of my extractions and one to administer Françoise’s implant. Before doing anything, Dr. Sanchez asked us to get some X-rays at the X-ray office just around the corner. The cost for both of us was $23.
Altogether, the grand total for both of us came to $2,423…saving us $4,296.
My dental work is now complete. Françoise had part of the work done in December and has paid $850 so far. The rest will be completed during our next trip this month. We found Dr. Sanchez and his two colleagues—Dr. Israel Martinez, who took care of me, and Dr. Rodrigo Flores, who took care of Françoise—to be efficient and wonderful people to deal with. They use first-class equipment and Dr. Sanchez speaks excellent English.
The cost of our week in Merida, airfare included, came to less than $1,500. We estimate that we’ll spend another $1,500 for our second trip. Fortunately, our time in Mexico wasn’t spent exclusively in the dentist chair. Our dental work merely served as an excuse for us to enjoy the wonderful culture of Merida, and to experience a few adventures along the way.
