LOS ALGODONES, Mexico The billboards that line the stretch of Californias Interstate 8 headed toward Los Algodones make it clear travelers are not on their way to a typical tourism destination.

The signs that beckon Americans as they head west toward Andrade, Californias narrow border crossing, arent for resorts or beaches but for dental clinics offering bridges and root canals at half what they cost in the United States. Dental care has become big business here over the last two decades, so much so that American visitors have taken to calling it Molar City. An estimated 600 dentists operate out of hundreds of clinics that fill the 1-square-mile town, which is home to fewer than 5,000 permanent residents.

When HuffPost visited in October, the busy season for dental tourism was just beginning. Americans, mostly retirees, were already walking the maze of streets, visiting gift shops for local handicrafts and pharmacies for low-cost prescription drugs.