By A. Galvin
LOS ALGODONES, Mexico
(AP) — Mark Bolzern traveled 3,700 miles to go to the dentist. The 56-year-old
Anchorage, Alaska, native left home this spring, made a pit stop in Las Vegas
to pick up a friend, and kept heading south, all the way to Los Algodones, Mexico,
a small border town teeming with dental offices.
About 60 percent of
Americans have dental insurance coverage, the highest it has been in decades.
But even so, the nation's older population has been largely left behind. Nearly
70 percent of seniors are not insured, according to a study compiled by Oral
Health America.
A major reason is
because dental care is not covered by Medicare and many employers no longer
offer post-retirement health benefits. What's more, the Affordable Care Act
allows enrollees to get dental coverage only if they purchase general health
coverage first, which many seniors don't need. At the same time, seniors often
require the most costly dental work, like crowns, implants and false teeth.
As a result, many are
seeking cheaper care in places like Los Algodones, Tijuana & Puerto
Vallarta where Mexican dentists who speak English offer lower prices for
everything from a cleaning to implants. Dentists in Los Algodones say a large
portion of their clients are seniors.
In the desert outpost
near the border of California and Arizona, men in white shirts stand outside of
offices with signs advertising root canals and teeth cleanings.
For Bolzern, seeing a
dentist in Los Algodones meant a savings of up to $62,000. He was told the
extensive dental work he needed — his teeth needed to be raised and he needed a
crown on every molar — would cost $65,000 at a private dentist. He looked for
lower rates, finding a dental school where the work was less expensive because
it was performed by students. But it still cost $35,000.
He paid $3,000 in Mexico
and has been back several times.
