A Last-Minute Trip to Los Algodones, Mexico for My Son’s Tooth | What We Paid + Our Experience

This was definitely not how we planned to spend our Saturday.

My son woke up complaining that his tooth hurt, and one side of his cheek was swollen. I immediately went into mom mode and knew I wanted him seen that day.

My husband and I had talked before about going to Los Algodones, Mexico if we ever needed a last-minute dental appointment. We had heard how easy it was to cross the border for dental care, but we had never actually done it ourselves.

Well, Saturday became the day we tried it.

Thankfully, we were already up early. I had somehow placed our Starbucks order by 6:08 a.m., so we grabbed our drinks, gathered what we needed and got on the road.

Driving From the Phoenix Area to Los Algodones

Since we were driving our Tesla, we made a charging stop in Gila Bend along the way.

While we charged, my husband also used his portable tire inflator to top off the tires. This is one of those random things I’m now very glad we keep in the car, especially for road trips.

From there, we kept heading toward the border.

As we got closer, we started seeing signs for Mexico and advertisements for dental offices. There were so many dental signs that it became very obvious why Los Algodones is known for dental care.

Parking and Walking Across the Border

We chose to park on the U.S. side and walk across rather than drive into Mexico.

Parking was $10 for the day or $15 for overnight parking when we went.

From the parking lot, we simply walked toward the pedestrian border crossing. You can’t take photos or video while going through the customs area, so I put my phone away for that portion.

We went through security and a metal detector, and then suddenly we were in Mexico.

And honestly? The first few minutes almost didn’t feel real.

There were pharmacies everywhere, dental offices everywhere and people asking if we needed a dentist or pharmacy. If you’ve never been before, it’s definitely a lot to take in at first.

Finding a Dentist for My Son

Because this wasn’t a planned appointment, I had searched online for dental offices that saw children and picked one of the top results I found.

We walked over and asked if they could see my son that morning.

They could.

That was probably the biggest surprise of the entire trip. We didn’t have an appointment booked weeks ahead. We walked in with a child who was having tooth pain and swelling, and they were able to see him.

The dentist examined him and took X-rays. Ultimately, the tooth needed to come out.

From walking in to walking back out, we were there for about an hour.

What We Paid

For his visit, X-rays and the tooth extraction, we paid $80 USD total.

Afterward, we stopped at a pharmacy and bought a large bottle of generic children’s ibuprofen for around $3.

Those were the prices we personally paid on our visit, so of course prices, treatment recommendations and individual dental needs can vary.

And because this was an unexpected dental situation with our child, we’re also following up with a pediatric dentist for his ongoing dental care.

Crossing Back Into the United States

Once we were finished, we walked back toward the U.S. border.

We showed our passports, crossed back over and returned to our car. The whole process was much easier than I had imagined before actually doing it.

I had built crossing the border on foot up in my head as this complicated thing, and for our experience, it really wasn’t.

From the time we entered Mexico until we were back out again, it was a surprisingly quick trip.

Buc-ee’s on the Way Home

Since we’d already turned Saturday into an unexpected road trip, we stopped at Buc-ee’s for lunch on the way home.

I expected it to be completely packed because it was Saturday, but we probably waited 10 minutes or less.

And of course they had all of their Halloween things out, so I ended up getting the kids a Buc-ee’s stuffed animal.

For lunch, I shared the brisket mac and cheese with the kids, and my husband got the Cuban-style sandwich. Both were really good and honestly exactly what we needed after the morning we’d had.

Would We Go to Los Algodones Again?

For a completely unplanned Saturday, everything went much more smoothly than I expected.

We woke up with a tooth problem, drove down from the Phoenix area, parked on the U.S. side, walked into Mexico, found a dentist who could see my son, had X-rays and treatment done, picked up ibuprofen and crossed back into the U.S.

I was especially grateful that my son felt better afterward.

Would I treat this one experience as a replacement for having a regular pediatric dentist? No. But for our family’s experience that day, I was surprised by how simple the logistics of going to Los Algodones actually were.

If you’re considering dental care across the border, I’d still research the individual dentist, ask questions about the recommended treatment and make the decision that’s right for your own family.

But if you’re mostly wondering what it’s actually like to park on the U.S. side and walk into Los Algodones for a dental appointment, hopefully our experience makes the process feel a little less mysterious.