Passport Requirements To Mexico For Dental Work

I know several posters in this thread have said you don't need a passport, that you can get back into the US with just a drivers license. But consider this, do you really want to "talk" with a border agent for hours after having dental work? Save yourself aggravation and get a passport card from the Post Office.

And of those that use the Mexican Dental services how many complain about unemployment and lack of good quality jobs?

IMHO if you feel you have to have your dental work done in a sub standard country because it costs so little then you should not be retired.

As I said before when I talk to people and tell them I built Dental clinics for 35 years several have told me of how they had to go back or were not happy and and also infections from having extractions.

Problem is people in general think its almost a requirement to have dental work done there as a retiree "because everyone does it". So if they have a problem they keep their "mouth" shut.

Old-Biscuit wrote:


Dental Care in Mexico.........majority of Dentists have been trained in US. They have modern equipment, clean updated clinics and are better than a lot of dental offices in US and a heck of a lot cheaper. Just because they are located in Mexico doesn't mean inferior by any stretch of the imagination.

We have personally used the dentists in Mexico for the past 10 years, quality work and no problems to date. Cost is about 30% of USA prices.

We've been using the dentists in Algodones, south of Yuma for years and have had excellent experiences, as have many of our friends. There are over 200 dentists in Algodones and thousands of people getting dental work every day. If there were problems the business would have dried up by now.

For us we put .50 cents into a US turnstile and walk into Mexico - that's it. When you're done you put .35 cents into a Mexican turnstile and proceed directly to US customs to be "allowed" back in.

We've had Passports for the last 20 years and would never not have them. Just makes life so much simpler. They're good for ten years.

On the subject of Dental work I think you get what you put into it. Heard many good things from people who took the effort to get quality recommendations. The problem is it takes time to find people who you can count on to give you good advice. Showing up at a RV park and asking the check-in person might not be so good. Someone who got their teeth cleaned and a filling might not be the best for recommending a dentist to do teeth extraction, and implants. Last thing you want is an infection in your jaw bone.

If things do go wrong what is your recourse? Who do you call? What paper work do you file. Might explain one reason why things are so much cheaper, don't you think.

"The law" says you need a passport or passport card to cross into Canada or Mexico and a passport only to travel to any other foreign location. As mentioned above, travel very deep into Mexico may also require a full passport.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Traveling outside the USA....best to have a Passport.

Simple to get.......check with your local Post Office

Dental Care in Mexico.........majority of Dentists have been trained in US. They have modern equipment, clean updated clinics and are better than a lot of dental offices in US and a heck of a lot cheaper. Just because they are located in Mexico doesn't mean inferior by any stretch of the imagination.

I will respectfully disagree. I built Dental clinics for 35 years. They are on a tight rope and get inspected often.

Most that have poor experiences don't say anything because it's the thing to do when you are along the border.

I have had several confide with me about their negative experiences when the topic of me building well over 100 clinics in my career comes up.

Traveling outside the USA....best to have a Passport.

Simple to get.......check with your local Post Office

Dental Care in Mexico.........majority of Dentists have been trained in US. They have modern equipment, clean updated clinics and are better than a lot of dental offices in US and a heck of a lot cheaper. Just because they are located in Mexico doesn't mean inferior by any stretch of the imagination.

We just got PP's last Spring. It took less than a month for us to receive. But we had to drive to the state I had my DL in because this was my first PP.

We were missing a document with the correct information for him, so couldn't do both at once. They require the Certified birth certificate to have BOTH parents names on it. So we had to resend to his birth state for a new updated one.

Luckily, he was allowed to get his in another state other than his DL, only because he had an expired PP from years before that shortened the process.

Some border crossings will accept an "enchanced" US driver's license, but they tend not to want to tell you that. Get a passport and be sure.

One tip: If you go into Mexico on a day trip, try to get in early and get out early. Once the liquor stores open, the lines are lots longer to get back into the US. :)

al