Frequently Asked Questions

Our full address is 344 Vin Rambla Drive Suite B-2 El Paso, TX 79912. We’re located in the heart of the Montecillo neighborhood, right across the street from the Topgolf facility clearly visible when driving down I-10!

Absolutely! We are currently accepting new patients. We generally schedule new-patient appointments on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and we have both morning and afternoon availabilities. New-patient appointments generally include x-rays, comprehensive exams, cleanings, and fluoride treatments, so you can expect your first appointment to last a full one and a half hours.

Prickly Pear Dental Care is open from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday. We are sometimes able to see patients—in the case of emergencies, for instance—outside of these hours on a case by case basis, although we are not able to guarantee after-hours availability.

Different patients have different preferences, which is why we offer a wide variety of ways to schedule appointments with our office. You can always call or text us at 915-308-0663, or send an email to hola@pricklypeardentalcare.com. We’re also happy to schedule appointments via private message on both our Instagram and Facebook profiles!

Finally, new patients only can also schedule their own appointments via our convenient online booking portal at this link. If you can’t find an available time slot that fits your schedule there, however, please reach out to us directly as there are likely other time slots still available for you!

Prickly Pear Dental Care is an independent, doctor-owned dental practice focused on thoughtful, patient-first care—not corporate production quotas. Here, Dr. Flores takes the time to truly get to know our patients—both clinically and personally—and then recommends treatment based fully on her sincere desire to improve their oral health and overall well-being. Basically, our philosophy is to prioritize honesty, trust, comfort, health, and long-term relationships, not short-term dollar amounts. We don’t dream of becoming the biggest dental office in El Paso, but we do endeavor to become the most trusted!

Generally speaking, for most adults any toothpaste that features the ADA (American Dental Association) seal of approval is a smart choice! For young children, those with sensitive teeth, etc., there are other considerations to be made, and we’d be happy to discuss them with you during your next visit to our office. In the meantime, you can check out this page over on the ADA website for additional information.

When it comes to choosing a toothbrush, both manual and electric toothbrushes can be effective when used properly. We do recommend choosing a toothbrush with soft bristles; they are equally effective when it comes to cleaning your teeth, yet they are gentler on your teeth and gums, reducing the risk of enamel damage and gum recession.

Simply put, as long as you are both brushing and flossing your teeth your dentist will be happy! The order matters less than the simple fact that you’re doing both on a daily basis. That being said, the perfectionists among us might be interested to know that some recent research shows that flossing before brushing could be marginally more effective than doing things the other way around! Ultimately though, we still believe that this is a matter of preference for our patients.

Let’s keep it simple: the vast majority of patients should visit their dentists for professional cleanings every six months. Generally speaking, this timetable keeps plaque and tartar under control while also allowing dentists to diagnose and treat any potential problems before they become more complex (and more expensive) to address. We’d also point out that this is why our in-house membership plans include two professional cleanings per year at no additional charge to our patients!

In the mid-2010s, a handful of articles emerged claiming that there was little to no evidence that flossing was effective. According to these reports, studies that examined the effectiveness of flossing were limited in number and flawed for a variety of reasons.

On one level, none of this is untrue! Most scientific studies on flossing to date have had small sample sizes or short durations, or they’ve relied on self-reported behavior, which isn’t always reliable. However, what’s vitally important to understand is that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because many studies to date haven’t been particularly strong doesn’t mean that flossing doesn’t work; it just means that flossing is inherently difficult to study well.

The overwhelming consensus among dental professionals is that flossing is an important part of one’s oral-hygiene routine, and although some additional studies would be great, there is plenty of scientific evidence that flossing is effective. Simply put, we strongly suggest that you don’t toss the floss!

Believe it or not, this is 100% true. Poor oral hygiene can result in complications such as tooth decay and gum disease, infections that can then go on to spread throughout the body. Poor oral health has been linked to heart disease, respiratory issues, and even pregnancy complications such as premature birth and low birth weight.

On the flip side of things, certain systemic health issues can also lead to oral health problems, such as diabetes contributing to gum disease. To sum things up, oral health and overall, systemic health are much more closely related than many people imagine. So think about it like this—when you take care of your oral health, you’re really taking care of your whole body!