Mexico
Recovering in Mexico: day-by-day guides
Mexico is the first choice for many Americans and Canadians: dental work and gastric sleeves in Tijuana, a drive from San Diego, and veneers with a beach week in Cancún. These guides cover what you can safely do each day.
Treatments and cities
| Treatment | Tijuana | Cancún |
|---|---|---|
| Dental implants | Day-by-day guide6 safe things to do on day 3 | Not covered yet |
| Bariatric surgery | Day-by-day guide5 safe things to do on day 3 | Not covered yet |
| Veneers | Day-by-day guide13 safe things to do on day 3 | Day-by-day guide10 safe things to do on day 3 |
What to know
- Tijuana patients usually cross the border by car with the clinic driver. The return queue can be long and partly outdoors.
- Cancún is hot and humid all year. Veneers barely limit the beach, but implants and surgery do.
- Ask any clinic for its COFEPRIS licence and the dentist's or surgeon's cédula profesional, which you can check in Mexico's national register of professionals.
- After abdominal surgery, the CDC advises waiting at least 10 days before flying. Many Tijuana patients drive home or fly from San Diego later.
Tijuana
Tijuana is a short drive or walk from San Diego, which makes it the busiest medical tourism city in the Americas for dental work and bariatric surgery. Most patients stay in Zona Río near the clinics and never need a flight inside Mexico.
Dental implants
Tijuana
7 days, day by day. The first 72 hours bring swelling and some bruising.
Open the guideBariatric surgery
Tijuana
7 days, day by day. This is major abdominal surgery.
Open the guideVeneers
Tijuana
7 days, day by day. Veneers have almost no downtime.
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Cancún
Cancún is where many Americans and Canadians go for veneers and a beach week in one trip. Veneers have almost no downtime, so most of Cancún is open to you. The few things to plan around are biting, cold drinks and snorkel mouthpieces.
Veneers
Cancún
7 days, day by day. Veneers have almost no downtime.
Open the guide