This tiny Mexican town has more than 350 dentists to treat the thousands of Americans who flock across the border for dental care

Andrew Waits

For Americans looking to mix in a little dental work with their vacations, there is no better place than Vicente Guerrero, a small Mexican border town better known by its nickname: Los Algodones (translation: Molar City).

Mexico is a top destination for so-called medical tourists from the United States who go south of the border for significantly cheaper dental work, eyeglasses, plastic surgery, and prescription drugs.

In Los Algodones, some 350 dentists work within a few blocks of the city center.

Photographer Andrew Waits recently headed down to the town for a day to figure out why it has become a bustling medical mecca.

Waits shared a number of the photos with us here, and you can check out the rest at his website.

Many people travel to Los Algodones because they don’t have insurance, and they can get treatment and medication there at a fraction of the cost in America.

Visitors can drive across the border or park in a large holding lot and walk into Los Algodones. Parking is $8 per day, and the town is right across the border from California.

After parking, visitors walk through customs. You can generally bring whatever you want with you to Mexico, but you are checked more closely upon your return.