Tijuana Dentistry: 5 Key Steps to Get No-Hassle Dental Work in TJ

Are you considering getting dental work done in Tijuana? Tijuana Dentistry is a great option for those looking for quality, affordable dental care. Read on for 5 key steps to get no-hassle dental work in Tijuana.

by Dayo Dental | Updated on 14 November 2022

Are you a resident of TJ or just visiting? Looking for an affordable alternative to your local dentist? Tijuana is a dental tourism hub, with hundreds of dental offices left and right. You may be surprised by the horde of Americans that visit Tijuana for affordable dental work. Others visit Tijuana for certain dental procedures that may not be available in their home country.

But before making any trip to a Tijuana dental office, it’s important to do your research. Below, we’ll go into detail to ensure you get the best experience possible with Tijuana dentistry.

Here are six key steps to getting no-hassle dental work in Tijuana, Mexico:

Step 1: Decide if Tijuana dentistry is right for you

Do you need a lot of dental work?

If you need major dental work such as surgery, dental implants, or cosmetic dentistry, then traveling to Tijuana would be ideal for you. Why? Because savings would be tremendous just by traveling a short distance south of the border.

You have exhausted all your local options to get dental work

The cost of dental work is too high in your area.
Some of our clients have been quoted as high as $50k to $70k worth of full mouth restoration with dental implants. So ask for an estimated price of the dental work you need to get an idea of how much this will cost.
The same procedure in Tijuana would be half of that price.

It takes too long or too many visits to complete your dental work locally

Even minor procedures like a root canal can take up to 3 to 6 weeks to schedule with the next specialist in your area. In Tijuana, you get to make arrangements with a full-service dental office. Specialists are available to start the dental work right after your initial consultation appointment.
Dayo Dental works with dental facilities that perform the initial consultation free of charge. You get all of your questions answered and know exactly what to expect before committing to the treatment. Your TJ dentist will provide you with the final treatment plan cost as well as the number of visits required to complete your dental procedures.

You are relatively close to Tijuana

The key to dental tourism is proximity. The closer you are to your dentist abroad, the better it will be for you. Why? Because Tijuana dental implants, require 2 to 3 separate trips. Plus, you can travel back to see your dentist for any concerns.
If you’re from San Diego, that’s all the more reason to get your dental work done in Tijuana. It’s just a 25-mile drive and will only take 30-40 minutes to get there.

Guarantees in your dental work

Not all dentists guarantee their dental work. At Dayo Dental, you get an industry-leading 5-year guarantee from the top Tijuana dentists in our network. It protects your investment in your health. This kind of peace of mind is something you don’t get with your local dentist.
At Dayo Dental, we have pre-screened the top 5% of dentists in Tijuana to make the experience worry-free for you. They have years of experience treating foreign patients from the US, Canada, and Europe. They have been personally vetted by our US-based team.

TIJUANA DENTISTRY TIP: For easy and hassle-free dental vacation in Tijuana, we recommend that you book an all-inclusive dental package with a reputable dental tourism Mexico company like Dayo Dental. We will take care of all the details of your trip so you can relax and enjoy your vacation.

Step 2: Know what type of dental work you need

A crucial step is to know what kind of dental work you need. Get a consultation with a local dentist.

Tijuana dentist examining the dental x-ray image of a patient

You don’t have to become an expert in dentistry, but knowing the possible dental procedures you’ll need will improve your success rate for the following reasons:

You can estimate your costs before you travel to Tijuana. Call your Tijuana dentist and ask for estimated prices.
You can evaluate good talent. Do you need a general dentist or an implant specialist in Tijuana? How complex is your implant case? Is it a single tooth implant or full upper and lower implants?
You’ll be able to estimate the number of visits required. This is key, so you’ll know how many days you have to take time off from work or how much your travel cost would be.
You can spot a bad or dishonest dentist. Good dentists and bad dentists exist wherever you go. You wouldn’t want a dentist recommending root canals you don’t need or extracting teeth that can be saved with less expensive procedures.

TIJUANA DENTISTRY TIP: Make sure that the dentist takes a CT Scan for dental implants. This is standard for modern dental offices following best practices.

Step 3. Search for a good dentist in Tijuana

Don’t go rogue and start driving to Tijuana, and picking a random dentist while you are down there.

Research and preparation contribute to 80% of the success of getting dental work done in Tijuana. Look for a dentist with good specialization, training, and experience level to handle the complexity of your case.

Implants can fail, crowns can come loose, and root canals can get infected. The last thing you would want to do is to have to come back to Tijuana in a few months because of a botched dental job.

You may also find many young and general dentists who are not qualified to do your full mouth extractions and implants. Even worse, you are compromised because you are already in their office, and they can easily upsell you.

Benefits of Seeing a Dentist in Tijuana — Benefits of Seeing a Top Dentist in Tijuana

Hopefully, by the time you walk into the dental office, you already know the credentials of your dentist and an idea of the prices. You just have to confirm all your research on the first visit.

Here are some tips for finding the best dentist in Tijuana:

Ask the dentist for sample work.
Get a written treatment plan with detailed estimates from start to finish.
Know which doctors will be performing the procedures.
Don’t pay for the entire treatment in full on the first visit. You want to have the option to switch dentists if things are not going well.
Get everything in writing (including the payment plan) before starting treatment.
Communicate, communicate, and communicate with your dentist before, during, and after the treatment. If you have any questions or concerns, make sure you voice them out to the dentist or staff.
Take photos of your teeth before and after the treatment.

TIJUANA DENTISTRY TIP: The best way to find the best dentist in Tijuana, Mexico is to use a reputable dental tourism company like Dayo Dental. We have a network of pre-screened, qualified dentists to whom we match our patients according to their needs and budget. We offer free and no-obligation quotes and initial consultations so you can easily compare dentists and prices.

Qualifications to look for in the credentials of a good dentist in Tijuana:

US or European Training
Speaks English
Teaching or Faculty roles
Speakerships
Provides at least a 3 to 5 year guarantee on your dental work

Factors to NOT consider when choosing a dentist in Tijuana:

Memberships
Advertising and marketing gimmicks
Too good to be true offers

Step 4: Plan your trip to TJ

Here’s a checklist during your planning phase:

Block time beyond the consultation to avoid an extra trip. Block your surgeries to ensure you have a guaranteed appointment. Yes, you still have to go through the consultation and make a decision whether to accept the recommended treatment or not.

If you do all your thorough research and confirm everything during the consultation, then you would want to make sure to start or complete the work on the first visit.

Schedule early during the week. For instance, crowns take approximately 5 days to complete. If you schedule on a Monday, it is possible to have your crowns ready by Friday. If you schedule on a Wednesday, you’ll have to go back the following week to get your final crown. You’ll want your dentist to have the rest of the week to complete your work
Get a Passport, Passport Card, or Enhanced Driver’s License
Prepare enough funds for the work that will be completed. Ask your dentist for an estimate of the work to be done and prepare 50% more. Additional unexpected work could be recommended.
Prepare your form of payment. You can pay in USD cash. However, we recommend using a card in making payments for your dental work. In this way, you won’t need to bring a lot of cash into Mexico. One of the advantages of going through Dayo Dental, is that you can pay at the dental office using a credit or debit card without any extra fees.

Call your bank to inform them that you are using your debit or credit card in Mexico to avoid red flags and the transaction not going through.

Get a hotel on the Mexico side of the border. There is a huge selection of hotels in Tijuana with prices as low as $70-90 per night.

This is a much better deal than staying in San Diego, where hotels are around $150 to $250 per night. Plus, you can find nice places to eat in Mexico at more affordable rates.

Call your cell phone provider to find out if you have a data plan in Mexico. If not, buy a Mexico SIM card with data. This will be helpful in getting an Uber to take you to your hotel or dentist’s office from the airport or border.
Plan things to do and places to see, but don’t book them yet. You won’t know how you’ll feel after a dental procedure is performed or if there are extra appointments necessary after the consultation.
Get a hotel that offers breakfast. It’s nice not to have to worry about it especially when you are scheduled for an early morning appointment. Dayo Dental can give you a list of recommended hotels in Tijuana.
Get pre-surgery instructions from your Tijuana dentist if you are undergoing IV sedation for oral or dental implant surgeries. You have to plan ahead on things to do and what to bring. Visit this planning your oral surgery in Mexico blog for a list of tips.

Flying to Tijuana

Take a flight to the San Diego International Airport (SAN). Get a taxi or Uber to the PedWest Border Entrance (across the street from the mall “San Diego Outlets at the Border”). See this map. This takes about 25 minutes.

Then, take a 10-minute walk across the border through PedWest. There’s usually no line to walk across. After, take another 5 to 10-minute Uber ride to your dentist. It’s easy and stress-free. And the cost is usually less than $5.

Driving to Tijuana

Driving allows you to be more flexible – you won’t have to worry about a plane to catch at the end of the week. Maybe your consultation didn’t go well, or you didn’t stay for a full week, then you can just drive back anytime. On a reverse situation, you can stay longer if you have to extend your trip due to unforeseen issues.

You have several options to go to your dentist in Tijuana. Tijuana is conveniently located across the border of San Diego, CA. Below are the options on how to get there for your dental work:

Option 1: Drive to the border and park on the US side

Step 1: Drive to the Tijuana border (San Ysidro border). Take Exit 1A (Camino De La Plaza – Last USA exit).
Step 2: Park on the US side of the border. We recommend Border Station Parking. Parking is around $9 for 10 hours from Monday to Thursday and around $18 from Friday to Sunday.
Step 3: Walk across the border through the PedWest or PedEast Border Entrance. See map.
Step 4: Once across, take an Uber or taxi to your dental office. Uber will cost you approximately $3 to $7 to your Tijuana dental office.

Option 2: Driving directly to the dental office

Enter your dental office address in Google Maps. Follow this option as well if you prefer to stay at a hotel in Tijuana.

TIJUANA DENTISTRY TIP: You want to ensure that you have data coverage for your cellphone when you are using Google Maps in Tijuana. Call your cell phone provider to include data coverage in Mexico. Some providers give this coverage for free, such as AT&T. Others give you a special temporary add-on plan. It allows you to use your phone for texting and Google maps without any extra roaming charges.

Step 5. What to do after your dental work

Unlike your local neighborhood dentists, your Tijuana dentist is not that close enough for him to be able to just pop in for a quick control check-up. You would need to travel all the way to Tijuana to get issues addressed most especially for major surgical procedures such as dental implants. It is important to follow your Tijuana dentist’s aftercare instructions strictly.

What happens if there is an issue after the dental work? This is when the guarantee saves the day. Your Tijuana dentist will repair or redo the work completed during the guarantee period. You would just need to take care of your travel expenses back to your Tijuana dental clinic.

Why Seek Dental Work in Tijuana?

How much can you really save by getting implants and cosmetic dentistry in Tijuana?

Below, we’ve outlined the average US and Tijuana prices for common dental procedures:

	Crowns	Veneers	Single tooth Implants	Whitening	Implant Dentures	Root Canals
Mexico	$560	$550	$1,805	$300	$7,700	$400
United States	$2,050	$2,150	$5,000	$750	$20,000	$1,550

So how possible is it to get much more affordable dental work done in Mexico? It’s all about the cost of living. According to https://livingcost.org/, the cost of living is 66% less in Mexico than it is in the US. That means practically everything costs less money — including dental work.

What’s more, Mexican dentists are not required to pay for malpractice insurance. This is a significant added expense for dentists in the United States, which raises the overall cost of dental procedures. They also don’t carry student loan debts like US dentists.

The quality of dental care in the US and Mexico is no different. The only difference is the price you pay. Dayo Dental works with the best Tijuana dentists – pre-screened, qualified, and experienced. The emphasis on safety, dental care quality, and technology is the same or even more than what you would find in the US.

Call Dayo Dental to see our featured dentist in Tijuana. We’ve done the prescreening for you. We will connect you to the best dentists so you can get high-quality dental work done hassle-free.

How much can you really save by getting implants and cosmetic dentistry in Tijuana?

Below, we’ve outlined the average US and Tijuana prices for common dental procedures:

	Crowns	Veneers	Single tooth Implants	Whitening	Implant Dentures	Root Canals
Mexico	$560	$550	$1,805	$300	$7,700	$400
United States	$2,050	$2,150	$5,000	$750	$20,000	$1,550

Call Dayo Dental to see our featured dentist in Tijuana. We’ve done the prescreening for you. We will connect you to the best dentists so you can get high-quality dental work done hassle-free.

About the Company

Dayo Dental

Dayo Dental is a US-based company helping American and Canadian customers find the most reputable and qualified dentists in Mexico. Through Dayo Dental Network of pre-vetted dental practitioners, clients can find the top dentists in their field offering top-notch dental services for, often times, a fraction of the cost of US/Canadian prices.

Know More About Dayo Dental