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Why Are Americans Going to the Dentist in Mexico? | The Daily Social Distancing Show - YouTube
Channel: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
[0]
I'm Michael Kosta,
filing this report
[1]
-from Molar City, Mexico.
-(dog barking)
[3]
Shut up, dogs!
[4]
God! We're doing a thing!
[7]
Guard dogs, barbed wire,
cavity searches.
[10]
This Mexican border town is run
by a cartel.
[14]
No, not a drug cartel.
[16]
Something even more cruel--
dentists.
[19]
Over 600 of them operate here,
[21]
and you'll never guess who
their biggest customers are.
[24]
NEWSMAN: The Mexican border town
of Los Algodones
[27]
has been seeing a steady stream
of Americans
[29]
looking for dental care.
[31]
KOSTA: That's right,
Americans are flooding
[33]
into this border town
[34]
for dental care, and
they're not even ashamed of it.
[38]
-These are seven crowns.
-Wow.
[40]
I'm getting ready to do
all of these, nice and white.
[42]
I came down here, and I got
every single thing done
[45]
that I needed, and
I have had not one infection,
[48]
not one bit of pain.
[50]
Beautiful teeth.
[52]
Every one of my teeth
in my mouth are Mexican teeth.
[54]
Are you worried about your mouth
being from Mexico,
[57]
but your body being American?
[59]
Is everything getting along?
[61]
-So far, yeah,
it's doing pretty good. -Yeah.
[63]
-(laughs)
-American teeth, Mexican teeth.
[65]
KOSTA: Yeah, maybe the teeth
look good, but isn't it risky?
[69]
If I know anything
about Mexico-- and I don't--
[72]
it's that their dentists are
all bad hombres with chainsaws.
[76]
To find out more,
I went to talk
[77]
to an American tooth jockey
across the border in Arizona.
[82]
If something does go wrong
down there, you have no rights.
[85]
And I have seen
some very bad stuff done
[88]
that I've had to fix.
[89]
The worst is the patient had
his third molar taken out.
[91]
When they were drilling,
[93]
they severed
the next tooth up's roots.
[96]
That's the massindecular vain.
[98]
-Mandibular.
-Mandibular.
[100]
-I know what you said,
and I know what it is. -Okay.
[102]
I'm as versed in the oral cavity
as anybody else.
[105]
-This one right here? Bang. L4.
-No.
[108]
KOSTA: Are the Americans in this
caravan of cavities even aware
[113]
of the dangers
they're about to face?
[115]
You're in
what has been described
[117]
as a Third World country.
[119]
-Okay.
-You don't have rights
[121]
as an American citizen
in Mexico,
[123]
and you're okay with all this?
[126]
Well, I mean, I...
[128]
I mean, I-I guess I just went
by the old-school Yelp review.
[131]
KOSTA: Look, we all know
that Yelp is bullshit.
[134]
(scoffs) Whatever, Katie H.
[137]
But the question remains:
[139]
why are Americans
risking foreign surgery?
[142]
To get to the real story,
I'd have to go mouth to mouth
[144]
with one of these dangerous
Mexican dentistas.
[148]
You hear some
of the horror stories?
[150]
-Yeah.
-Americans are, "Ah!
[151]
There's a guy with a chainsaw
ripping open my mouth."
[153]
-You don't do that? No.
-Absolutely not.
[155]
It seems crazy to me that so
many Americans cross the border
[160]
-into Mexico
to receive dental care. -Mm-hmm.
[163]
In the United States,
there are over 60 million people
[165]
without dental insurance,
[168]
so that's why
they're coming here, looking
[170]
-for a cheaper price.
-Mm-hmm.
[171]
And they're finding, uh,
good facilities.
[173]
Do you have a chainsaw
back there? (imitates chainsaw)
[175]
No, no, I don't.
[177]
KOSTA:
The 74 million Americans
[178]
who don't have dental insurance
[180]
can't afford to get
their teeth did in the USA,
[184]
so these people are really
economic refugees.
[187]
I figure I saved, like,
probably like almost,
[190]
you know, like,
$45,000 probably.
[192]
Yeah. And what do you do
with that money?
[195]
Well, you know... (laughs)
[196]
I have a serious
gambling addictions, right?
[198]
You're taking the money
you saved from Mexico
[200]
back to the American economy?
[202]
Right.
[203]
You seem like an American man.
[205]
-A true American.
-A true American.
[207]
-I'm a Republican.
-What would you say
[208]
to your Republican peers
[210]
that say
you're taking American business
[213]
and giving it to the Mexicans?
[215]
I'm retired, and I need
to save every dollar I can,
[218]
just like the rest
of these people do.
[220]
KOSTA: In fact,
dental care in the U.S.
[222]
is more expensive than
any other developed country.
[225]
Hey, we're number one!
[228]
Is it a product
of Mexico being cheaper, or
[231]
is it American health care
being exuberant in its costs?
[235]
-Yes.
-Yes. Both?
[237]
Yes. We have
to follow regulations, rules.
[240]
-Malpractice is a part of it.
-Mm-hmm.
[242]
Everything I buy costs money.
The building costs money.
[245]
Every lab I use costs money.
[247]
You have a sports car?
[248]
-No.
-Okay.
[250]
I see these Americans
crossing the border,
[252]
and I go, "Wait a sec.
[253]
We got the best health care
in the world, don't we?"
[255]
-Correct.
-How does that make you feel?
[257]
You know, I'd rather see you go
to Mexico
[260]
and get dentistry done
than not at all.
[263]
I want people
to have a healthy mouth.
[265]
KOSTA: It's clear that Dr. Land
cares about people,
[267]
even if they can't help him
with payments on his Corvette.
[270]
And maybe in the future,
Americans will be able
[273]
to have dental care
that won't bankrupt them.
[275]
But until then,
Mexico is calling,
[278]
with its pleasant climate,
friendly people,
[281]
and 70% off preventative
root canals.
[284]
(speaking Spanish):
[290]
(drill whirring)
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