Dr. Patricia Escobedo is a Juarez dentist with a state-of-the art practice that is crossing borders. In Juarez, Mexico there are only few dentists who use laser dentistry for their patients, and it is estimated that only five percent of dentists in the United States have laser technology in their offices. Escobedo is located on Calle Internacional Waterfill, in Centro Comercial Waterfill Space 33. She is excited because she is one of the few dentists who provide the treatment in Mexico. 

“I have many patients that come from El Paso, and they come especially to get laser dentistry,” said Escobedo, who uses the procedure to whiten teeth and treat patients with facial paralysis, sensible teeth, oral herpes, and aphthas, a disease of the mouth that causes small red sores. “The reason why most patients get it done is because they want their teeth as white as actors and actresses,” said Escobedo. The average cost of a laser dentistry procedure in Juarez is about $150, but can be higher depending on the complexity of the patient’s case. In contrast, the same procedure on the U.S. side of the border can be at least three times higher.

Escobedo was born in El Paso, Texas but because her parents are from Juarez she decided to open her office there. She has 15 years experience in dentistry practice and three years in laser dentistry. She graduated from Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez in 1987 and after she graduated she opened her own practice in 1989. She now has patients, not only from El Paso, but from the rest of the United States. About 70 percent of her clients are from El Paso, 10 percent are from other areas of the United States, and 20 percent from Juarez. She says that because her office is so close to the Zaragosa International Bridge she sees about 40-50 patients from El Paso a week. Escobedo says her Non-Mexican patients visit her practice because they are looking for cheaper prices and most don’t have insurance. Her business has grown so extensively because old patients recommend new ones and they prefer to go to her because of the combination of low prices and good treatment.

In El Paso there are some dentists who practice laser dentistry. One is Dr. Ed McElroy, who specializes in cosmetic dentistry and he is part of the Texas Association of Cosmetic Dentistry. He uses a technique called sedation dentistry which helps patients not feel pain but his prices can cause a bit more pain because they are higher than the cost of a similar procedure in Juarez. Laser dentistry in El Paso can range up to $1,000. 

El Paso patient Olivia Ornelas visited Escobedo about two months ago to get her teeth fixed and whitened. “I feel very happy and confident in front of other people now that my teeth are as white as snow” she said. Ornelas looked for a dentist in El Paso but because of the expense decided find one in Juarez. Ornelas said her life has changed for the better because of the procedure. Before her teeth were stained from coffee and smoking but now she says, “I feel very happy and confident in front of other people now that my teeth are as white as snow”.