Community Highlights: Meet Raymundo Landavazo & Anays Avalos of A&R dental care

Today we’d like to introduce you to Raymundo Landavazo & Anays Avalos. 

Hi Raymundo & Anays, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
A&R Dental Care, founded in July 2017 by DDS. Raymundo Landavazo and DDS. Anays Avalos with the idea of creating a space where customer service and quality dental care is a priority for patients in Mexico and California due to the proximity of the border and our location. 

We both knew each other since middle and high school in the city of Tecate, Mexico, it was at the university level where we each took our own path, Raymundo studied at the University of Baja California (UABC) Tijuana campus, and Anays at the AME University in Monterrey, Mexico specializing in Periodontics and Implantology. After graduating, we both worked in established clinics in Tijuana for a few years and it was not until 2016 that we decided to join forces and open our clinic in the city of Tecate, due to the demand we presented in that city and the ease of access for patients from California, as it is a very small international gateway compared to Tijuana. 

The beginning, like many businesses, was not easy. Opening a dental practice requires a lot of patience and, most importantly, gaining the trust of patients because it is a health service. There were days when we had zero patients in a day, it sounds unbelievable, but as I said before, this business requires a lot of patience. Knowing the challenge of creating a clientele and building trust, we decided to make ourselves known by giving talks in schools, local businesses, videos on the Internet, etc. Thanks to these informative talks, we received offers from some companies to provide dental services to their employees. One of these companies was very familiar to Raymundo because he had worked with them for several years during his college years. We began offering the service and word spread. This is where everything started to flow, and we were creating that trust with our patients and reaching the other side of the border. Everything was going very well, and it was 2020 when another big obstacle came, which was the pandemic that affected us all, definitely the hardest year. Fortunately, we started initiatives, the most popular of which was online consultations by video call, which gave incredible results and many people who had doubts or questions about their oral health contacted us. 

Sometime later, things started to return to normal and the demand grew so much that our schedule forced us to schedule patients up to 3 weeks after their request, which created another problem and that’s when the A&R team started to grow. Today we are 7 dentists including specialists in all areas of dentistry, 3 assistants, and 1 receptionist. 

Our mission is to improve the oral health of our patients through quality service, empathy, respect, latest technology, and materials by highly qualified professionals in their work. 

Our vision is to position ourselves as one of the dental offices with the best quality and service in the region, improving the oral health of our patients. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Definitely, as we mentioned before, starting a business from scratch is not easy, especially when you have to build trust with patients, where many times they questioned if we had the capacity to treat their oral health, which is completely understandable since it is a health-related service. 

One of the biggest challenges we had was in the beginning when there were days when we had zero patients in a day, yet we have to pay the bills and the salaries of the staff, and we learned to be patient and keep going, trusting that every effort will pay off. Above all, the biggest and most recent challenge has been running the business during a pandemic that affected everyone, and it has been a challenge but also a learning experience that gives us the confidence to move forward today. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a dental clinic that offers all specialties such as Endodontics (Root Canal Treatment), Prosthodontics, Periodontics, Maxillofacial Surgery, Pediatric Dentistry, Comprehensive Dentistry, but what characterizes us the most is Implantology and Cosmetic Dentistry. 

We know that going to the dentist can be very stressful for many people, either because of past experiences, unbearable pain that keeps them awake, high cost of dental treatments, or simply fear of dentists, we understand and we put ourselves in people’s shoes and our approach is to create a pleasant, trusting and familiar environment in the clinic that you can feel the moment you set foot in the place, adding that we offer affordable prices and treatment plans and accept the vast majority of dental insurance. 

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Ray: I have always been very fanatical about sports and practiced several of them, especially baseball, even before entering college I was considering dedicating myself to sports and was looking for ways to apply for a scholarship, it was definitely something I wanted to achieve when I was 18 years old, shortly after I got the news that I had passed the exam to enter dental school, I took the first semesters and I liked it so much that I decided to continue and so far I really like what I am doing. 

Anays: I like to play tennis which I used to do a lot, nowadays I can’t play as much as I would like to but it’s something I’m very passionate about and I also learn to play the guitar which I usually do several days because it helps me to relax. 

Pricing:

• Comprehensive oral evaluation (xrays included): 30 USD
• Routine cleaning: 60 USD
• Composite filling: 50-70 USD
• Porcelain crowns: 350 USD
• Root canal treatment: 220 USD

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aandrdentalcare.com
• Instagram: www.instagram/aandrdental
• Facebook: www.facebook/aandrdentalcare 

Image Credits
Demian Vega
Baja productions
Porta creative