Since I moved to the desert southwest about 12 years ago now, I've never given it a second thought that when it comes to dentistry, I get my teeth cleaned and worked on in a little border town (just 15 miles south of my own California hacienda) called Los Algodones in Baja California, Mexico. The town is a quick walk or drive over the border and free from the usual violence seen in the news for other California south-of-the-border destinations like Tijuana and Mexicali.
What I didn't realize is that this seemingly small village with about 6000 residents (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Algodones) is home to about 900 dentists and 300 dental clinics, boasting "more dentists per capita than any other place on Earth". With dental care for 70% less than in the USA according to Dental Departures (http://www.dentaldepartures.com/algodones-dentist/), a website that helps people find low-cost dental care.
Los Algodones is a busy place and I myself can attest to the prices. A teeth cleaning is $15 to $20 and the average crown is around $250—four times less than a dentist's office in the US and even cheaper than having insurance! You might think that in Mexico, service would be poor and equipment would be outdated. But quite the contrary; Los Algodones has all the modern equipment of US dental offices, and even more photonics-related equipment in some cases.
Zoom Laser Whitening using an ultraviolet laser and special hydrogen peroxide gel (see figure below from Doctor Iniguez) is available from numerous Los Algodones dentists. Incredibly, the treatment is a one-time affair that takes 45 minutes versus multiple chemical treatments for non-laser-based whitening.
Sani also has the latest laser equipment (http://sanidentalgroup.com/treatments-description.html#laser) to treat periodontal diseases, stimulate tissue regeneration, and for cleaning and whitening procedures. Doctors Figueroa and Perez (http://www.losalgodones.com/dr_figueroa_perez.htm) offer an FDA-approved Periodontal Dental Laser for laser gum treatment, and while I couldn't find anything in a web search on the use of 3D laser-printed implants being fabricated in Los Algodones, my guess is that in order to create implants much faster and cheaper than in the US, laser-based 3D printers must exist somewhere in the town. Perhaps I need to embark on a field trip donning my Laser Focus World editorial credentials to see what I can find out?
Check out these Los Algodones customer testimonials in this YouTube video.
And I'll see you south of the border when you need some serious dental work done; and don't forget the town is loaded with opticians as well; eye exam and 2 pair of glasses in an hour for $60!
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.