Nuevo Progresso, Mexico

My first day in the dentists chair.....

 February 2011-  I arrived for my dental appointment with Dr. Fabio Durzzo in Nuevo Progresso, Mexico at the appointed 10am. I met Dr. Durzzo (who prefers to be called Dr. Fabio) who welcomed me warmly saying he was sorry to miss out on dinner the night before. He asked if I was comfortable at my hotel and if I needed anything before we got started. His English is pretty good, better than my Spanish for sure! Daisy speaks good English and she was present for any questons I had. 

The office is modest but very clean and all the instruments he used came out of unopened individual sterilized packages. Everyone went straight to work chatting in Spanish to each other and all the time smiling at me and stopping to ask if I needed anything. 

I was surprised how much Spanish I began to understand once my ear was retuned to the language. You'd think I'd get enough exsposure to Spanish here in Amarillo but truthfully unless you seek it out, most folks here speak English all the time. But it is different when you're in Mexico :) Duh.. 

We went over my notes on what was going on with my teeth and then he did a full set of X-Rays. After a morning of assessment we decided on a treatment plan which would involved several root canals, some implant surgery and perhaps a surgical procedure to repair a poorly done root canal I had been living with for several years which was painful all the time. Dr. Fabio told me what he thought needed to be done and we talked about a schedule and the estimated cost.  I would end up with crowns or permanent bridges except for three teeth that would need two implants on either side of a crown tooth replacement.

We finished up about 2pm and Daisy said I needed to be back in the office the following morning at 9am to begin the root canals etc. Ugh. Oh happy day, how can I wait for all this fun? And me a dentaphobe to boot. I definitely needed something to drink.

I left the office and decided to explore Nuevo before heading back over the bridge to the USA.  (The picture above is of the main north/south street of Nuevo. Wall to wall shops and pharmacies, dentists and beauty salons.)

I was getting hungry by this time and followed the street south and around a corner to a small cafe called "Jessica's - Pharmacy and Cantina" I know it sounds funny doesn't it? Every single business that can have one, has a pharmacy in it. So you have things like Maria's Beauty Salon and Pharmacy, or Leon's Boot shop and Pharmacy or Granada Liquors and Pharmacy! 

This picture is looking south as you enter Nuevo Progresso. Note the turquoise building on the right, top floor on the corner, "Arturo's Plaza."  That's "Omni Dental," Dr. Durzzo's office. Also note the Mexican soldiers standing by the army tank stationed at the intersection edge of the border.... the heavily armed, Mexican soldiers I might add. 

I wandered into Jessica's Cantina and went into the small well lighted bar (and pharmacy) where a man was singing American pop hits and Mexican favorites accompanying himself on an organ. The bar was populated by about five gringos(as) smoking cigarettes and drinking beer or margaritas (which were on sale for $1.50 :)

I ordered a Corona and a plate of Mexican tacos and beans and chatted with the folks sitting next to me at the bar. As the afternoon wore on the cantina got pretty crowded with Americans and Canadians drinking and singing to the requests the cantate performed. I met some very nice folks from Toronto and another couple from West Virginia (imagine that) It was pretty surreal. No one from Nuevo was there as a guest, they were all working.

I left about 4:30 and walked back across the bridge to the US Border station where they looked at my passport and ushered me through. And I remembered to save back change so I'd have another quarter to put in the turnstyle to get back into the USA. Tomorrow was going to be a big, long, painful day. I hoped it would be worth it. 

I'll let you know. - Kyt

 

My first visit to Nuevo Progresso, February 2011

I finally scheduled my trip to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico for dental treatment at the end of February 2011.  I booked a flight from Amarillo, and a hotel (America's Best) and a rental car.

I have never been to Mexico before or even south Texas so the whole trip is an adventure. I've always wanted to go to Mexico since I love the culture and music and dance and language and the arts of Mexico. Will I love the reality of Mexico? Qien sabe?

I arrived in Harlingen on a sunny Sunday evening and made my way from the baggage claim to the rental car kiosk and out to the Ford Focus I managed to talk the clerk into letting me have. Man was it hot! Not the car, the temperature.... about 80 degrees. I was sweating like a pig by the time I got my luggage in the trunk and settled in the driver's seat and cranked up the AC.

The trip to Weslaco from Harlingen (pronounced har'-lin-jen) took about 30 minutes and I found the hotel located just off Hwy 83 and International  Blvd.

America's Best? What a dump! No kidding. The whole place was really in poor repair and the pool water was green, seriously.  I decided to go ahead and stay there this time but vowed to find another place next trip.

I checked in and put my stuff in my room and then called Miss Bea, Dr. Durzzo's assistant.  She had asked me to call her when I got to my hotel offering to come pick me up and for a show and tell trip across the border. I really appreciated her doing this so I would feel more comfortable crossing by myself the next day for my first appointment. Wow! I've never had a dentist's staff do that before...

We drove south down International Blvd to the small parking lot on the US side of the International Bridge at Nuevo Progresso where we left her suv and paid our $2 for parking in the guarded lot.

We walked the short distance to the border crossing where she showed me how to put my quarter in the turnstyle and walk over the border. The walk over the bridge was pleasant and we were joined by a dozen or so other Americans going over. I stopped to look at the Rio Grande since I'd never seen it before. It's a pretty river, kind of lazy and winding along banks of green plant life (what a change from Amarillo with no water or trees).

We walked the one block to Dr. Durzzo's office which is upstairs in the "Arturo's Plaza" building on the west side of the main drag through Nuevo Progresso. It's the big turquoise two story building on the first corner after you get into the village. Literally five minutes from parking lot to Dentist office. Sweet.

She introduced me to the receptionist cum assistant Daisy who told me she had scheduled my first appointment for 10am Monday morning. Then Bea and I went to one of the most popular restaurants in Nuevo,  "Arturo's," which is located on the east side of the main drag.

The meal at Arturo's was divine and the service unbelievable. The waiters were dressed in crisp white shirts and bow ties and even though we were eating enchiladas and salad it was truly a fine dining experience. Yum. I decided to eat well since I was looking at a few root canals and some surgery the next day. I figured I'd be drinking my meals after that for a couple of days.

After our meal we walked back across the bridge to the parking lot. I felt perfectly secure in my path for the following day thanks to Bea showing me the ropes about crossing into Old Mexico.

Rating for my first day in Mexico: definitely a 9 or 10. More later about my first day in the dental chair and meeting Dr. Durzzo.

Hasta Luego!

~Kyt

Where to go, who to see, how to get there...

Oh my gosh. Once I decided to investigate going to Mexico to get dental work done I had no clue where in Mexico to go. The reports on the news are horrible. Murder, rape, robbery, extortion (not the dental kind) and kidnapping all seem to be a daily occurrence in Mexico. How do they have any citizens left if there is that much crime there?

Thinking on this I remembered that a friend had told me about a dentist his sister had seen in a small town across the border from somewhere near Harlingen, TX.  OK, that's a start. I called my friend and asked about this information again and was given the name and phone number of the dentist his sister had seen and highly recommended.

His name is Dr. Fabio Durrzo and he practices in the town of Nuevo Progresso, Tamailupas, Mexico and indeed it is just south of Weslaco, Tx nestled on Hwy 83 between McAllen and Harlingen, Tx.

Only having seen the word in print, I thought the town of Weslaco was some Spanish word and pronounced: wes/lak'/o. But it's an abbreviation of the words "Western Land Company," apparently the group who formed the small agricultural town rich in palm trees, mango groves and fabulous birds.

The Audubon Society designates particular places as world class birding centers and there are nine of them in southeast Texas. Each of the three north/south migration routes cross in that part of Texas/Mexico giving residents and visitors a unique opportunity to see nearly every migratory bird from the western hemisphere at some point of the year or other.  Check out the link below:
http://www.theworldbirdingcenter.com/estero.html

I crank up the courage to make the first phone call to Mexico and right off the bat I find my Spanish isn't good enough for telephone conversations with strangers. I ask in Spanish if I can leave a number for someone who speaks English to call me back. After I hung up I wondered if anyone would call me back at all and wondered too if I ought to continue to pursue this considering my limited ability with the native tongue.

But the following day I received a telephone call from a lovely lady named Beatrize Cruz who is Dr. Durzzo's English speaking assistant. Miss Bea does the phone calling to patients who don't speak Spanish. What a relief and something that made me feel much better.

We talked about my needs and I asked if I could send a list of treatments that had been suggested here in the USA. She gave me a fax number and said she would show them to Dr Durzzo and get back with me. And a couple of days later I received another call from Miss Bea saying that Dr. Durzzo thought I would need to be there for three or four days to get the treatments underway.

It all sounded surreal. How long would I have to stay, where would I stay, what all was he going to do? My upper lip started sweating. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

Then Miss Bea said, Dr. Durzzo thought he could do the majority of the work (if it needed to be done) for approximately $1900. Given that I had already carefully studied the suggested treatments here, I immediately saw the price difference, about 1/4 the price here. I asked if I could call her back in a few days after giving it careful thought. She said, of course, to let her know when I wanted to schedule a visit.

Honestly I wasn't all together comfortable with the prospect of going to a country I've never seen to have a doctor I don't know, do dental treatments I don't fully understand for an amount of money about which I am not completely sure.

Hmmm. Faced with the prospect of being in chronic pain for the next umpteen years versus putting our finances in jeopardy to pay for treatment that will hopefully fix the pain, I decided to go for a walk with the dogs and think it over.

We went outside to feed the sheep their night hay and braced against the below freezing temperature. The wind was blowing about 20 mph from the north making it feel like 5 degrees. As I bent my face away from the wind on the walk back to the house, I remembered having seen the weather report for Weslaco, TX,  nine miles from Nuevo Progresso, "sunny, breezes from the SE at 10 mph with a projected high of 80 degrees F."

OK, I'm gone.

You can take out a second mortgage.....

January 2011 - 

"You can take out a second mortage on your house..."  
This was what the finance person at my dentist's office said to me when we went over the proposed treatment plan designed to stop-gap the deterioration of my teeth. 

A second mortgage? Are you kidding me? 

This is nothing but extortion in the guise of medical care.

I am not maligning the skill, only the astronomical  fees for services, take out a second mortgage... sheesh.

And it would be nice if you knew how good your dentist was.  If they were graduated from dental school at the top of their class you might think the work was worth more maybe.  But your dentist might be one who was graduated from dental school on the bottom rung by the skin of their own teeth, but they still got the sheepskin and hung up their shingle. And now you're paying them for your dental care... really, really paying.

Is this even legal?
When I got the treatment estimate here in the USA I said to the staff person  that I thought I might shop around for a better price. She replied, "That won't do you any good here, they all get together and decide what prices to charge."   Isn't that price fixing? Is that legal? I'm just asking...

See that expensive (insert here: sports car, lavish SUV, etc)  in the parking lot? It don't think that  belongs to the receptionist. You're paying for that car and the boat and all the other amenities that go along with the "Doctor" status here in the states. In other words, the dentist/doctor, etc works for YOU, not the other way around.

Everyone deserves to earn a good living if they can do it ethically and legally.
I just don't think that the costs charged for dental care in the USA are even close to fair.

The estimate I received for minimum treatment only for a few teeth and only to prevent them from getting worse was more than $8000. Or I could have them all pulled and get dentures for somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000.

I shuddered to think what it would cost to actually repair or replace the problem teeth so that I would be unlikely to need more work any time soon. Given the breakdown on my proposed treatment plan I believe it wold cost certainly more than $20,000.  If I was hiring the Ed Hardy of dentistry, maybe... the local guys, NOT.

Implants, Crowns, Bridges... these are considered premium applications of dental art and are priced accordingly.  (Hmmm...) They are not only sturdy and pretty well permanent but also beautiful, transforming in some cases. For me? I just want to be out of chronic pain.

I've never had pretty, white, straight  teeth and I despaired of ever having a pretty smile considering the cost of even relieving pain and restoring function.

So I decided to pursue another course.... one that took me south of the US border....

I'll take you with me on this adventure toward a healthy mouth and you can decide for yourself if you want to continue to pay the money here or there.

¡Vamos! - Kyt