the Cost of Dental Care for Dogs

The dog had a dental check-up and cleaning, complete with anesthesia.

The price included a pre-dental examination ($60), and anesthesia and cleaning. I am not sure how the anesthesia and cleaning broke down in price.

The dog hadn't had his teeth cleaned since he was one and a half years old, and he is now almost eight years old. Luckily, his teeth were still in good shape and only needed a routine cleaning, with no extractions or any other unforeseen circumstances.

He loved the vet, who was very friendly and good with him. We went to the pre-exam and came back the next week for the dog to get the cleaning. I left him there all day for the cleaning, as you have to anesthetize dogs to clean their teeth.

He came home about 8 hours later, woozy from the anesthetic but with shiny white teeth. I think his teeth and gums were a little sore for a couple of days, but is fine now and his teeth look great!

Getting dogs' teeth cleaned is an expensive process, because most vets will only do it under anesthetic. I tried to find a vet who would do it while the dog was awake, but I couldn't. They explained that this was partly because of the possibility of bites (the dogs don't know what' going on, after all) ,as well as just not being able to do a good job while the animal is moving around and unhappy.

However, dental care is important for pets because it can somehow affect their heart and other parts of their body. Hopefully, this won't have to happen again for a long time!