Molar City

99% Invisible

SiriusXM Podcasts and Roman Mars

Arts, Design

4.8 • 28.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How a small Mexican border town transformed itself into the dental tourism capital of the world, where dental care costs up to 80% less than what it might cost in the United States.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is 99% Invisible.
0:03.1	I'm Roman Mars.
0:06.0	The walk begins at the parking lot at the end of the road.
0:09.8	The site isn't much to speak of,
0:11.9	just a sprawling expanse of asphalt peppered with cars.
0:16.2	Over a million people come here every year to embark on a kind of pilgrimage.
0:20.9	They're here to cross the border.
0:23.4	We are getting ready to go to Mexico this morning.
0:29.3	Yes, one more time.
0:31.4	So we shall see what the rest of the day hold.
0:35.5	There are hundreds of videos online documenting this experience.
0:40.1	Watch as many as I did, and they all start to meld together.
0:44.1	That's 99PI producer, Lashemadon.
0:47.0	Some people seem nervous in the videos.
0:50.1	Others are more excited.
0:51.9	Many will turn to their imagined audience behind the camera
0:55.2	and speak in a reassuring tone.
0:57.8	You see that American flag up there, y'all?
1:01.4	This is one of the safest crossings.
1:05.8	There is.
1:07.6	And it's not scary, I promise you.
1:10.1	It is not scary.
	...

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