![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/White-Smile.jpg\" "\\"White")
<\/a>See, a couple months ago I finally found & went to a dentist.\u00a0 On my new Kaiser med\/dental insurance I was taking care of the physical issues before I started work on my teeth.\u00a0 And after a few months of doctor visits it was time for the dental visit.\u00a0\u00a0 And it had been a while.\u00a0 Apparently, I’ll make sure the kids are set, but I’m not as diligent with myself.\u00a0 Typical mother, I know.<\/p>\nAnyway, the new x-ray system at my new dentist is wonderfully smart.\u00a0 Just a little pad hooked up with a wire and the digital x-rays pop right up on the computer.\u00a0 Not a good enough picture?\u00a0 Take it again!\u00a0 Got to LOVE technology!\u00a0 (Although I can imagine the cost of putting one in your office is expensive!) \u00a0 Once the x-rays were done it was time for the dentist to let me know what’s up with my teeth.\u00a0\u00a0 Let me just say, its a bad sign when the first words the dentist says is, “Are you having any pain?”\u00a0 And when I answer, “Nope.”\u00a0 She seems surprised and says twice more, “Are you SURE you’re not having any pain?”<\/p>\n
It’s lucky I find that so amusing cuz she tells me I have 3 deep cavities that are so close to the root I’ll need root canals, crowns and because they are also so close to the gum line I’ll need crown lengthening.\u00a0\u00a0 She says best to submit it to my dental insurance and let them tell us how much they are to pay before we do the work, so I’ll know the costs.\u00a0 Couple weeks later I get the answer from the insurance company.\u00a0 $1700.\u00a0\u00a0 For ONE TOOTH!!\u00a0 And this dentist says I have THREE that need this treatment.<\/p>\n
It is at THIS point I look for other options.\u00a0 And one of those options is going to Mexico for my dental work.\u00a0\u00a0 So I Googled and read up on a few articles.\u00a0 I contact my Latino friends and get their advice on who THEY go to and I make some calls.\u00a0\u00a0 One place didn’t speak English and was rather uncooperative.\u00a0 Another place gave me a quote that wasn’t much less than the dentist!\u00a0 I got discouraged.\u00a0 But a phone call with my Sex God cheered me up enough to keep trying.\u00a0 I went online and studied several websites listing dental offices.\u00a0 And I came upon White Smile Center.\u00a0\u00a0 Their website… (pix of their office above) … www.WhiteSmileCenter.com\u00a0 was wonderfully appealing.\u00a0\u00a0 It looked clean, it sounded almost too good to be true, prices listed right there and it claimed a fully bi-lingual staff.\u00a0 AND they said to call a number with a San Diego area code.\u00a0\u00a0 So I gave it one more try.<\/p>\n
And I will tell you I am THRILLED by my experience.\u00a0 I spoke to a woman who took my information and asked how late could they call me back.\u00a0 9pm being my limit, they called back by 8:30 and I spoke to Omar.\u00a0 He understood my dilemma of needing to make sure this was an economical decision if I was going to drive 3 hours there & 3 hrs back.\u00a0 I told him what my dentist told me what I needed and how much I’d be willing to pay and he met my price.\u00a0 (Pricefinder for Dentists!\u00a0 lol.. not.)\u00a0\u00a0 His next words were scary though.\u00a0 “When do you want to set your appointment?”<\/p>\n
See, it had taken several weeks and ever since the dentist TOLD me of my problems my mouth has been saying… “Yea… that DOES twinge a little… shouldn’t you fix this!?!”\u00a0\u00a0 So I knew I needed to do this soon. \u00a0 And then a piece of a tooth broke off when I was eating.\u00a0 Yup… so despite this amazingly scary step, White Smile made it really easy, so I bit the bullet, leapt off the cliff of trust and made the appointment.<\/p>\n
Sex God was terrified for me so he insisted on going along.\u00a0 He took a day off work and drove down with me, spent the entire day trying to occupy himself while I got the work done and then picked me up and drove me home to tuck me into bed and cuddle me asleep.\u00a0 Love my sweet man.<\/em><\/p>\n Anyway.. one of the reasons I liked White Smile was the fact they pick you up from the border and drive you to the facility and back.\u00a0 They made it really easy.\u00a0 They had great directions on where to park on the US side.\u00a0 And I just walked over the border and they would pick me up.\u00a0 Sex God stayed on the US side of the border cuz he didn’t have a passport.\u00a0 But I’m a very bold girl and I had no problem doing this myself.\u00a0 There was absolutely NO type of border check to enter Tijuana and I only got confused and lost ONCE!\u00a0 Which was rectified by a quick call to Laura who directed me to a landmark I could find (McDonalds! haha) where they promptly picked me up.<\/p>\n I dressed quite down, looking more like a mother than a MILF or a Cougar.\u00a0\u00a0 Just a precaution.\u00a0 After all, even if a young cub tried to pick me up I wouldn’t speak the language!\u00a0 All around me was only Spanish and I kinda felt a small desire to learn the language.\u00a0 Then the compulsive reader in me said, I’d really have learn to READ the language not just understand or speak it! haha.\u00a0\u00a0 So I get to the dentist and I meet their staff.\u00a0 Wonderful people.\u00a0 They checked me in, did a bunch of x-rays and sat down to let me know what they’d found.\u00a0 They found that one of the teeth my L.A. dentist said was a root canal was just a deep cavity, but would need a crown.\u00a0 But they found ANOTHER root canal on a completely OTHER tooth.. a canine no less.\u00a0\u00a0 (all this work mostly on my molar teeth)\u00a0 Plus they feel that a row of my old metal filings are not sealing anymore and need to come out and be replaced.<\/p>\n That was pretty demoralizing.\u00a0 Then they told me how long it would take and I was REALLY faced with a tough decision.\u00a0 We had a late start leaving L.A.\u00a0 and I was at least an hour late for the noon appointment and even if we did 3 root canals like I’d planned and brought the cash for I wasn’t sure I’d be able to have the time!\u00a0 Who’d pick up the kids?\u00a0 Feed them dinner?\u00a0 I was really undecided.\u00a0 But I bit the bullet and had them pick 3 teeth that were the worst and we’d do them.\u00a0 Frantically texting arrangements for watching kids.<\/p>\n So they numb me up and start working.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They tell me later that they had TWO root canal specialists working simultaneously on the two root canals which are almost side by side.\u00a0\u00a0 I had no idea that was happening.\u00a0 I kinda thought the dentist had a really pushy assistant!\u00a0 Cuz every time he’d leave my mouth to get a tool, she’d be in there digging and drilling as if the job he’d just done wasn’t up to her standard.\u00a0 Just a little hilarious.\u00a0 Which was needed since I ended up with my mouth open for 3 straight hours.\u00a0 My jaw was just aching and it felt sore more from THAT than from any of the work done.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I got home by 10pm, tired, sore with temp caps on my teeth.<\/p>\n 10 days later I go back to get the crowns put on.\u00a0 I had to get a loan from my Dad to cover the expense of all this which was good cuz I decided to get ALL of it done that day.\u00a0 See, on the way down to this appointment, what happens?\u00a0 I crack off another tooth.\u00a0 And not even one of the ones they said needed work!\u00a0\u00a0 (There is so much metal in my mouth the x-ray can’t always see around it to the decay.. another reason to remove the old fillings before bad gets root canal worse.)<\/em><\/p>\n I arrive at my morning appointment at 9:30 and we get to work on my teeth by 10 am.\u00a0 I’m not outa there until 6 pm!\u00a0 Because they had to give me little breaks in between\u00a0 jobs (thank goodness I brought a good book! lmao)<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 I had one root canal done, two deep cavities filled and SIX (6!) crowns made & put on.<\/p>\n This time I was smart enough to take an Advil halfway thru the procedure and on the drive home.\u00a0 So my jaw didn’t ache nearly as much as last time.\u00a0 They sent out for soup around 3 ish since I didn’t bring anything and OMG it was delicious!\u00a0 Although maybe I was just hungry, but I cannot wait to try the combo of broth, cilantro & onions with chicken recipe at home.<\/p>\n My conclusions?\u00a0\u00a0 Highly recommend this to anyone within driving distance.\u00a0 I ended up spending the exact amount my USA dentist WITH insurance quoted me but I got 6 teeth done for the price of 3.\u00a0\u00a0 Will I go back?\u00a0 Hell, yes!\u00a0 I got a deep cleaning and the other fillings to remove.\u00a0 Although I might try taking the train… see how THAT adds or detracts from the full experiment.<\/p>\n Top it all off, I think the receptionist is now a fan of my blog.\u00a0 lol.. win\/win! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes, I did it.\u00a0 I went to Tijuana to get my dental work done.\u00a0 No, I’m not crazy…. I’m, well, rather desperately cheap.\u00a0 Cuz I’m a single mother feeding 3 boys, 2 of which are teens!\u00a0 With no help from … Continue reading