Molar City - 99% Invisible

"Los Algodones, a small town on the northern tip of Mexico, has earned the nickname "Molar City." Every year, over a million people (mostly American retirees) cross the border into this community of 7,000 residents. They are not there for the beaches or the culture, but for the nearly one thousand dentists who have set up shop within a few square blocks."

"The experience of entering Los Algodones is a stark contrast to the typical border narrative. Tourists park on the American side and walk across, often greeted immediately by street promoters known as "jaladores." These promoters, who compete for commissions, vie for the attention of incoming visitors, directing them to specific clinics, pharmacies, or optical shops. The town was not always a medical hub."

Los Algodones is a small Mexican town nicknamed Molar City where more than one million mostly American retirees cross the border annually to access nearly one thousand dentists within a few square blocks. Visitors seek significantly lower-cost dental procedures compared with the United States. Tourists commonly park on the American side, walk across, and are greeted by street promoters called "jaladores" who compete for commissions and direct visitors to clinics, pharmacies, or optical shops. The town shifted from farming to alcohol and entertainment after mid-20th-century water shortages, and then to dentistry beginning in the 1960s under Dr. Bernardo Magaña, who encouraged clinics and reshaped the local economy toward medicine.

Read at 99% Invisible