Our wonderful mechanic that has repaired our Honda Accord for the last 10 years told us about a dentist in Neuvo Larado in Mexico (just across the Rio Grande River from Larado) . Our mechanics' son and brother in Law had seen the dentist and her husband (he does the casting and surgery) . They had root canals/ crowns/ fillings and bridges done and have been very happy with the work at 20% of the cost in the US.
Some background on our experience with a dentist in the US begins with Mariah going in for a simple filling that turned into a root canal that when this procedure was done the tooth cracked because The US dentist was very rough and in a hurry. So he had to extract the tooth, which being a large molar has left a huge void. He told me my option was to get an implant. This involves testing to see if my bone was strong enough to accept the implant ($200.00+). If it wasn't I would then need a bone graft, then a screw would be inserted in the jaw, and then I would come back to him for the crown, total cost around $6,000.00- $8,000.00. That was 2 years ago.
So when we heard about Dr Patricia Vidal Ozuna ( 956-242-7775), We were ready to try her out. I should note here that both her and her husband were trained in the USA and have Licenses hanging in the office.
We called her home in Larado, her son who knows fluent English made the arrangements for us to see his parents. She works on a walk in basis unless you are from out of town, in which she will see you first . So for us it is a 5 hour drive. We left at 4:00 am , checked into the La Posada hotel 956-722-1701) , which has secure parking and is only 3 blocks from the border crossing. They accept AARP & AAA discounts.
We then walked across the border ($.75 each to get in, $.50 to get out) which was heavily guarded and straight down the road about 3 blocks on the right. We got there at about 11:00am. Richard went first , needing a difficult root canal, X-rays and cleaning. Mariah was in the chair from 1:30 to 4:00 pm and needed 5 vaneers , X-rays, correction of her bite, and cleaning. The total for the day was $ 575.00 for both of us.
She told me my options for my missing tooth was 1)a fixed bridge ($800.00) , which utilizes the two neighbor teeth to create a bridge consisting of three crowns in a row. This cannot be removed. 2) a removable bridge($350.00) , which is a single crown that is like a retainer that attaches to a joining teeth. This is removable for cleaning. 3)Or an implant ($1,500.00+) which even in Mexico is still expensive and at this time can only be done in Monterrey, Mexico. She is considering training for this in the next year. So we will go back in February (Richards root canal must heal first) for the crown for Richard & the bridge for Mariah! We have been very happy with her Professionalism and results!!!! Her space is very clean and neat.
Fast forward to Feb 18...... We made the trip back to The dentist and felt even more comfortable with the hotel/ Nuevo Larado/ and Dr Vidal. She did an exceptional job and we will always call her our DENTIST!!!
2014 UPDATE: Now that time has passed.....Mariahs Veneers all failed, I could never wear the bridge, It was unbearable to eat with, food got stuck underneath and it rubbed on my gums.
Richards crown failed and it needed to be replaced in 2013.
The border was getting sketchy and the trip took 2 days to complete. So with all things considered we have never gone back to Dr Vidal. We really liked her but we have found a wonderful dentist close to us that works much better. I hope this helps.
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