How Coyote Dental is Revolutionizing Cross-Border Dentistry and Changing Lives Along the Way
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Show Notes:
In this episode of Mission Matters, host Adam Torres interviews Dr. Mark McMahon, Founder of Coyote Dental, about his bold goal to help one million people receive affordable dental care. From a life-altering road trip to launching a thriving dental tourism service, Dr. McMahon shares how he’s making high-quality dentistry accessible—whether at the border or on the beach.
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About Dr. Mark McMahon
Dr. Mark McMahon is the visionary founder of Coyote Dental and a graduate of the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. Dentistry runs in his blood—his father, Dr. William McMahon, served the Tucson, Arizona community for over 35 years. Following in his father’s footsteps, Dr. Mark built a successful career centered on patient care and affordable dental solutions.
With a specialization in cosmetic dentistry, Dr. McMahon not only honed his clinical skills but also founded a marketing company to support fellow dentists in growing their practices. In 1999, after successfully selling both his practice and marketing firm, he set off on a life-changing 2½-year solo road trip from Tucson to the southern tip of South America. Along the way, he embraced his passions for writing, photography, and videography, which further fueled his entrepreneurial spirit.
Coyote Dental emerged as a seamless blend of Dr. McMahon’s dental expertise and his love for adventure. Today, he helps clients access high-quality, cost-effective dental care across borders, while empowering them to enhance both their health and lifestyle. His mission is clear and powerful: to make dental care more accessible while helping people smile brighter around the world.
About Coyote Dental
Coyote Dental connects patients in the U.S. with trusted, affordable dental care in Mexico—offering savings of up to 70% on everything from implants to cosmetic dentistry. Founded by Dr. Mark McMahon, the company combines his dental expertise and love for travel to help patients access high-quality care at vetted clinics across Nogales, Tijuana, Cancun, and Cabo
With a mission to help one million people smile, Coyote Dental simplifies the process through free consultations and personalized support, making cross-border dental care safe, easy, and life-changing.
Full Unedited Transcript
All right, Mark. So this is this is going to be fun. So one million smiles helping one million people get dental care. So obviously the name of the platform is Mission Matters. I’m excited to learn more about how you did this and why you’re on this mission. So let’s just start with that. So, Mark, at Mission Matters, our aim and our goal is to amplify stories for entrepreneurs, executives and experts. That’s what we do. Mark, what mission matters to you? Well, the current mission that we have for Coyote Dental is
our 1 million smile mission. We’ve been doing this for 10 years. This is, going into our second decade now and we have been helping thousands of people save thousands of dollars on their dental work over the past 10 years. And I’m more excited about my mission right now than I ever have been.
How did you, take me back in time a bit, Mark, like how did you get on this mission? Like where’d all this become, where’d all this start? Like dentistry and all that, where’d it come from? Well, my father was a dentist and I, it has a kind of a sad origin story, but turned into a happy ending. I was driving home from work. I can still remember I had taken over my father’s practice. Well, let me go back one step really quickly. I went to school in California and,
on practice there for a long time, for about 10 years, 15 years. And then there was an opportunity for me to come to Tucson and take over my dad’s practice. And so I did that and I worked for a couple of months and then we decided that when the official passing of the torch, the handing over of the keys, that we would take a trip to Ireland. He loved Ireland and he loved biking. So we were gonna do a bike trip to Ireland. His last day was on a Thursday. We made it to London on
Saturday and he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Yes. Talk about a twist of the knife. Within 36 hours of his retirement, he got this diagnosis. It didn’t get him right away. He got some treatment in London and then back in Tucson and then he was in remission for about four years. So he had some really great high value years. But then he came back to get him. And after it did, I was driving home from work and I still remember the exact spot.
on East Deepway in Tucson, where all of a sudden my own mortality just sunk in like, my God, I’m going to die too. And in that moment I said, I got to do what I need to do with my life. I want to, and I want to do what I love. I want to travel and take pictures. And so I said, I’m going to take six months off to do that. And I set a date. And just the date just kind of came to me the same time. November 1st, I’m going no matter what.
And then between the time that I set the date and the time the date came around, instead of taking six months, I ended up selling the dental practice, selling a trademark I had made. I had registered of the name Smile Works and selling commercial on porcelain veneers and cosmetic dentistry. All three separate deals were signed and sealed on the day I had committed to leaving November. Wow. Wow. So what do you do next?
Like you’re like you hit this goal. There had to be a build up here. Like there’s obviously a lot that goes into selling these three different companies. Like what happens next? Like what does that first day look like after deals close and it’s time to go? I had set this date and I had no intentions of selling any of those assets. And then all these things, the universe sort of rearranged itself and presented this opportunity for me.
So these people were all interested in my associate dentist. I said, I want you to take over part of the practice so I know you’ll take care of it when I’m gone. And he said, I want half. And I said, no, I’m not willing to sell half. I’ll sell you a third or I’ll sell you a quarter, but I don’t want to give away my authority, my membership. So I’ll sell you third or you can buy all of it. Just kind of came out of my mouth. And then a couple of days later, he said he wanted to buy the whole thing.
And so was a turn of events. And then I had this deadline set. so I just told everybody, hey, I’m leaving. leaving. I didn’t actually leave on that day, but all the deals did close on that day. I got an old pickup truck named Baby Blue and I took off and I drove from Tucson all the way to the southern tip of South America. spent two and a half years on the road. So I got to see a lot of different cultures and a lot of different ways of doing things and got exposed to
dentistry in different countries. And when I came back, didn’t think that I was going to be, I didn’t think that I was going to go back to being a dentist. after a couple of years, I started running out of money. I thought I had made enough money where I wouldn’t need to go back to work. And I live in Tucson, Arizona, which is close to the Mexican border. So I thought, well, maybe I could go to Mexico and see if I could get a job there without, because my license had lapsed in the States. And I went across the border.
And I went in as up, I made appointments at four different offices as a patient just to check it out from the inside. What I found was the prices were so low that I wouldn’t make that much money as a dentist, but the quality was amazing. And I was just blown away by the quality and then how nice the people were. And the tech was better than you found in Arizona. And so I just became my mission to tell people about it. thought somebody has to know, people have to know about this.
I started taking people down in a sedan and then before you knew it, I had a van and I was driving people down a couple days a week and I had met some offices that I trusted and so I would get appointments set up in advance. We would drive them down, we’d park at the border and we’d walk them across and the people were just like, they would come skipping out of the treatment room. I just saved $1,600. So it was like, it was really fun. It was fun. It was very, it was inspiring.
at the very beginning. And now I’m even more inspired. We went through this. I hired a woman early on who really became the beating heart of the organization. She took all the phone calls. She got everybody over the hump. I mean, that’s the biggest thing that we do is to help people work out the logistics and see if it works for them and get them an appointment. But she literally helped thousands of people personally on the phone make this happen.
And she and her husband, her husband was our bookkeeper and they were both in way past retirement age. And so they decided they wanted to phase out and we got a new team. took two people to fill her shoes, but then they were half her age and they really tuned into the technical stuff and the latest stuff. the cool thing was is that she was able to transfer the beating heart of the organization into these two ladies.
And they’re just as mission driven as she was Jane. I want to say, hey, Jane, know you’re going to see this. And Don, hi, how are you doing? anyway, I started to really, when I took a look at what she had done, I got really inspired. was like, my God, look what we did. Then I decided, hey, let’s set a goal for the next 10 years.
We got to like 10,000 people on our database. About half of them have been down as patients. And so I just needed 10 times that to 100,000 and 10 times that again to a million,
It’s not that hard. Wow. That’s a lot of people, number one. Tell me, let’s go a step further. How does Coyote Dental work and who’s the typical customer? Let’s get into that. Well, we have now, we started out just taking people from Tucson to Nogales, which was about an hour away, and we’d set up the appointments. But every once in a while, every month, we would get a few patients who would be coming from out of town, and we’d either put them in Nogales or we’d get them appointments
at the beach, like at Cabo or Cancun. So now we have options at the border or at the beach. you know, depending on where you live and what your travel circumstances are and your finances, there’s a figuring out if it’s going to work for you is what we help people do. So we have a free call where people call us up, they go to our website, they book a call, and then we figure out what they what they need, get them an estimate and you know, go over the travel arrangements. We don’t actually do the travel arrangements. We help to sort things out and see if it’s something that’s going to work for them. And then we book somebody, book people an appointment with the dentist that we’ve already vetted that I already trust. And that’s pretty much how it works. Like I said, at the border or at the beach, different, slightly different logistics at the beach. You don’t even need a passport, no passport, no problem. Excuse me. At the border. Did I say border or beach? Yeah, border. The border.
You can get across, can go across the border walking without a passport, with a driver’s license or birth certificate. So there’s just different logistics depending on what you need and where you live. And we help people sort them out, sort that out and get them an appointment. What kind of savings do can people expect? mean, obviously that’s going to vary a bit, but like, what kind of savings do get? Our line is up to 70%. You know, we have some actually saved more than that, but typically it’s somewhere between 60 and.
60 and 70 percent. if and this is is it I’m guessing it’s all dentistry right cosmetic dentistry like whatever right? Everything from implants to orthodontics, Invisalign, crowns. I just got my teeth done in Cancun. Yeah. That’s another thing there’s a there’s a bunch of things that came to pass right at this 10th anniversary you know the passing of the guard with new people and plus I had been
I had porcelain veneers done on my teeth almost 40 years ago and I was in need of an upgrade. my dentist friends and people were saying, hey, Mark, you gotta get your smile up to speed if you’re gonna be selling this, right? I got an offer from a office we work with in Cancun and I couldn’t refuse. And about four months ago, I had crowns on every one of my teeth.
It’s a long story. don’t think we have time to go into all the detail for me, but it was just a fabulous experience for me. And you’ve said, and just to be clear here, because I know that maybe some people that have listened, listening to the show, maybe they’ve considered or maybe they’ve heard, if you’re in California, then you’ve heard possibly, depending on your conversations, you’ve heard about going to Mexico maybe to get some treatment and other things like that. But for many that haven’t, like, I mean, how many, you said thousands of people that you’ve done this with already, right?
Yes, literally thousands of people. that’s so interesting. California, we have offices we work with in Tijuana. if you’re from Northern, you’re from Northern Park, you know, you have an option of flying to Cabo from California. Cabo is a good place to go pretty quick flight. Yeah, we get we help you sort things out and get you estimates and get you an appointment.
Can you, mean, and this could be from your days of dentistry or this might even be from, you know, currently what you’re doing, but can you talk a little bit about just the importance of the smile and what that means? Because I know I’ve, I’ve seen, I’ve had individuals that I’ve seen have transformations in their life or maybe they.
and they didn’t have the right smile and other things. And it can be debilitating, especially if you need major work done and you don’t have the money to do it. It can be debilitating. I’ve known people that didn’t smile because they were so ashamed of their teeth or they had bigger problems and they just couldn’t afford it. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because it really is a service. It can be life-changing. As I said, when I was in dental school,
I had gaps between my teeth and eventually had bonding and then porcelain veneers and that changed my life, made me smile. It changed the way my face was shaped. And then just recently I had gotten, I sort of self-conscious over the past years because my teeth, some of them got chipped and they were worn down. And so just my own personal experience just recently has been very dramatic. But yeah, we’ve had a lot of people who’ve had
life-changing experiences. We this one guy, we call him our miracle man. He was in an accident and he was driving his truck and the trailer pulled him off the road and tumbled him down a hill and he broke. He landed on his head and broke several vertebrae in his upper back close to his neck. And he was expected to be a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. He managed to rehabilitate. rehabilitate himself with Qigong like Chinese medicine. But the only thing he couldn’t fix was his teeth because he broke a bunch of his teeth. So he’s having chronic headaches because his bite was off because he broke on all his teeth and it didn’t fit together right. And we were able and he’d gotten estimates in this in Tucson for $75,000 to get them done. And we got him across the border and he got it done for around $20,000.
cured his headaches and he has this beautiful Hollywood smile. So, you know, that was one of the highlights of my career as Coyote Dental. Yes, really awesome. We get stories like that all the time, people, similar to that. What’s your vision for this going forward as you scale to a million people? Talk to me about the vision. Well, we have
I, we started out getting a lot of press early on in the very beginning. got on the newspaper in Tucson. I got on the radio and TV and stuff. And then I did some speaking engagements here and there, but it was mostly word of mouth. we tried advertising once in a while. It never really worked out, but in the past six months, we’ve actually started getting results from Facebook and
I think it’s a combination of the fact that we already have Goodwill in the marketplace and the Facebook advertising is really working. So we’re focusing on Tucson. Now we’ve gone into Phoenix. We’ve got ads running in Phoenix pretty successfully. And the goal is to ramp that up and get it all over the United States so that we have people flying from Kansas City, New York, Portland, wherever.
to destinations at the beach like Cancun. So that’s our mission now is to go to a million people and make it all over the North America. And just to get coyote dental to become a household word, like the concept of dental tourism. I would like everybody to think when they think dental tourism, they think
Coyote Dento, like go coyote is like the catch phrase that people think of when they think of getting their teeth done in Mexico. And you’ve been, you got some other things coming up. So you got a TEDx talk coming up in Beijing, like talk to me about it. And you’re launching a podcast. Where’s Dr. Mark? I mean, celebrating the 10 year for Coyote Dento, like talk to me about some of the stuff you got coming up. Let’s start, maybe start with the TEDx. That’s that’s online. It’s December 6th in Beijing.
and I put in an application and I heard back from the director and it’s not 100 % but it’s pretty much, it sounds like a pretty sure thing. And I’ve done a lot of adventure travel. I’m a very serious photographer and an author. I drove from Tucson all the way to the southern tip of South America and I wrote a book called Driving to the End of the World. So I’m a pretty serious photographer and writer.
I’m looking forward to sharing that part of my life. But at this moment, it’s all about Coyote Dento and getting people to learn about what great technology there is across the border. And you have the podcast coming up too, man. I can’t let a podcaster come on here without plugging their show. My Instagram is where’s Dr. Mark.
And I have a where is drmark.com and the podcast is also going to be called Where is Dr. Mark podcast. Yeah, it’s good. And and what I have you launched yet or you haven’t launched the yet. When is that when is that going to be launched? I think within 30 days. That’s why I do that on purpose, by the way, put you on the hook. Yes, to put you on the ones. by the way, when’s that going to launch?
Do that one for you on purpose mark. It’s worth it. It’s fun I think I think I mean, I know you’re a talker already I know you you collaborate and then by the definition your business your your you’re definitely out here with a strong mission I just think the podcast side is gonna gravitate to what you’re doing your mission and just your overall style It’s gonna be fun and I do wish you the best with that because I think it’s gonna be a fruitful endeavor
But that being said, Mark, mean, honestly, it’s been great having you on the show today, learning more about what you’re doing. Congrats again on the big 10 year for Coyote Dental. Like that’s huge. And what’s next? I mean, what’s next for the rest of year? You got Beijing coming up. Anything else you want to comment on for the rest of the year? No, I’m just really excited about expanding to for for more getting more people from all over the country, you know, who can go to our website and sign up for a free call. I mean, a call.
to see if works for them. Sort out what your treatment is, what your financial situation is, and what your travel situation is. And we sort it out for you, and if it’s appropriate, we help you with an appointment at the border or at the beach. It’ll be better And what’s the, you mentioned website, what’s the best way for people to connect and also to follow your content, by the way? CoyoteDental.com is the best place to go to get scheduled for a free call with us for Coyote Dental. And then my handle on most of my other adventure stuff is
Where is Dr. Mark on my Instagram and I’ll be able to name it my podcast. And I also have a website, whereisdrmark.com. Awesome. And for everybody watching, just so you know, we’ll definitely put those links in the show notes so you can just click on the link and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show. Each and every day we’re bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully,
new inspiration to help you along the way on your journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button. And Mark, thanks again for coming on the show. Thank you, Adam. It was a pleasure.
