Dentistry is not regulated the same way medicine is. If I were closer, I'd be hitting Mexico for dental work. What I do is go to Puerto Rico, where I have several family members who are dentists. Even if they charged me their full price, it would be a FRACTION of what dentists out here typically charge, IMO it's practically criminal. We just got an estimate recently for my youngest son to have some work done and they're estimating over $10,000 worth of work, as though his teeth are practically falling out! Gets me pretty hot to think that my filling is paying for that dentist's trip to Jamaica, and it took him all of two hours and maybe $150 worth of materials. And no, the equipment he uses is not that fancy.
What I hate about going to my uncle for my dental work is that when I tell him that I need more painkiller, he chides me, "Shut up! Stop talking! You have enough!" in Spanish.