On November 3, 2026, the Washington bureau of France Télévisions published a four-and-a-half-minute report titled «"Molaire city", capitale mondiale des soins dentaires» ("Molar City, the world capital of dental care"), shown in the network's 20H evening news format. The crew followed American patients across the border into Los Algodones, Baja California, and Molar City helped make the visit possible on the ground.
Watch the full report (in French): Facebook · X (Twitter) · Instagram
What the report shows
The story opens with Salvador Chavez, an American patient who drove about eight hours and was picked up at his hotel by the clinic's driver. His insurance treated a crown as cosmetic, and he says he was quoted $7,000 to $8,000 out of pocket at home. In Los Algodones, after an X-ray and an exam carried out entirely in English, his quote for the crown plus a cleaning came to $745.
The camera then walks through what makes the town unique: dozens of dental offices within a few blocks of the border wall, clinics with on-site labs where crowns are milled by 3D printer and finished by hand, golf carts for patients, hotel nights included above a certain spend, and even restaurants with soft-food menus for people fresh out of the dental chair. The report also notes that the American Dental Association advises patients to choose their dentist carefully, while recognizing that care is generally of good quality.
Alex Labra: "a kind of medical Disneyland"
Near the end of the report, Alex Labra of Molar City explains where Los Algodones is heading: new clinics, more walkable tourist streets and a wider range of medical services. In his words, translated from the French broadcast, the goal is "to become a kind of medical Disneyland, where patients can find everything they need from A to Z", from glasses and eye exams to other specialties, all in one walkable town next to the US border.
Other voices in the story
- Dr. Juan Carlos Miranda Villa, a dentist at the Sani Dental clinic, says the quality of care is equivalent to what is done in the United States and that patients often tell them the clinic is better equipped than their dentist back home.
- Dr. Bernardo Magaña Jr., a Los Algodones dentist, tells how his father, a dentist who became mayor in the late 1960s, transformed a rowdy border town into the dental destination it is today.
- Several American patients describe paying far less than at home for implants and crowns.
Why this matters for patients
The report closes on a figure that explains the trend: according to the broadcast, one in four Americans has no dental coverage, and rising insurance costs could push more people to cross the border. That is exactly why Molar City exists. Since 2007, we have helped patients from the US and Canada compare clinics, understand real prices before they travel and plan the visit, including the border crossing.
If the report made you curious, start with our independent Los Algodones price list or request a free quote. You can also see how other outlets, from The New Yorker to Bloomberg, have covered Molar City on our Molar City in the Media page.
Credits
Report by F. Genauzeau, L. Soudre, A. Filippi, K. Sullivan Den Bergh, C. Rouaud and C. Guimier for France Télévisions (France tv Washington). Quotes are summarized or translated from French by Molar City. All screenshots belong to France Télévisions and are shown for reference.
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