Bella in for her U. of Illinois molar extraction.
 

I dropped Bella off at the University of Illinois Veterinary College Teaching Hospital at 8 AM this morning to have her lower molars extracted. It was a referral from her regular vet, who was afraid to do the procedure for fear of damaging her jaw (see the prior thread here: https://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/si...tal-bella.html). They called me at noon to tell me that they only needed to remove one molar--the other one is okay. It came out easily, so they did not need to do a bone graft. She was coming out of anesthesia and was doing great! I will be able to pick her up at 2:30 PM on my way home from work.

The doctor there has a good bedside manner--she was cooing over Bella as she carried her off for surgery. They have a dedicated team of anesthesiologists and are AAHA approved. I couldn't ask for anything better :heart to.

Cranking up the prayers from the south of you.

Glad everything went well. Prayers for a quick recovery!

Thanks for the news. So glad that Bella had less surgery than expected and that she is doing well now. I am sure you were very stressed when you left her in the hospital, and that you will be so relieved by how well everything went and to get her home. Hoping she will be her old self again very soon. WTG Bella.

I wasn't stressed, but I was thinking about her all day. The vet college is right next to my corn field, so I could look over at the vet med buildings and think about her being nearby.

She's at home and already had a small meal. Her energy level is normal now, but I expect her to crash later after more of her anesthesia wears off.

The total cost of her procedure was $476. Not bad! They recommended a professional teeth cleaning each year from now on.

Bella
 

Great that you weren’t stressed, I get anxious when I just leave my boy at the vet for a bath!! But I am sure that being so close to where she was helped a lot. So happy she is home, doing so well and even eating already. That must be comforting, but as you say she will soon run out of steam from the anesthesia and sleep her little head off. How these little dogs recover from illness and surgery is amazing. The cost was very reasonable for such an expert procedure, probably less than the routine vet dental cleaning!
With it being a molar, is she bleeding still or did they sew the cavity up?
So praying you both have a peaceful night and that Bella has forgotten all that happened today by the time tomorrow comes. Hopefully they gave her a pain shot that will last a bit.

Good news! So glad it went well and ismover now!

Bella has dissolvable stitches where they removed the tooth. They expect the bone to grow back in fairly quickly to fill the hole where the tooth was. I wish that humans were as resilient. They did give her a pain shot. She's sleeping now :)

The cost was comparable to a dental cleaning with no extractions. The biggest expenses are related to the anesthesia, followed by the x-rays. Here's the breakdown:

anesthesia midazolam $5.75
anesthesia methadone $5.75
anesthesia isoflurane $101.00
anesthesiologist services $52.03
meloxicam (take-home metacam) $12.75
dental visit and exam $78.04
x-rays $116.49
dentistry local anesthetic $13.57
dentistry drugs and supplies $30.00
tooth extraction $49.76

:love: So glad all is okay!

Not bad at all! I paid more for Jackson's cleaning. He did end up having the six bottom lower incisors pulled but they didn't charge me a ton extra for those. I'll have to look at my receipts.

Bella
 

Thank you for the update, answers, and cost breakdown. Good that she is sleeping now and that she has pain meds on board. The sutures sound a good idea and I hope the bone does grow into the vacancy from tooth removal. I think in humans they can now inject some compound that aids in this process of bone regrowth. They may do the same with dogs, or bone may grow on its own.
Hoping she sleeps well tonight and feels much better tomorrow. They give these dogs so many chemicals I am amazed they get over them so quickly with few side effects. I guess the expertise of the vets has helped a lot. Nite, nite.

Wonderful news on Bella's surgery, I am so happy it was an easy extraction and no bone graft was needed. What a great relief off your mind this must be.

Bella slept well last night and is nearly normal this morning. Yesterday evening, we took her for a walk, but only wheeled her along in her stroller. This morning, we took her out of her stroller and she walked for about 1/4 mile with no problem at all. She even pooped, which was sooner than I expected. (It was two days before she pooped when she had her dental in April.) I'm thinking of getting Bella's annual dental cleaning done at the University of Illinois in the future. They are much more specialized than my regular vet, and they were able to clearly show me on the x-ray why Bella's bad molar needed to be removed (bone loss around the tooth) and why her other molar didn't need to be removed (normal bone growth around the tooth). I was a little shocked that my regular vet recommended the removal of a perfectly good molar, and that makes me question whether the other teeth that she removed needed to be removed.

The material they inject to fill in until bone can regrow is called a bone graft. That was an option for Bella, but they said that she didn't need it. My regular vet is supposed to take a quick look in her mouth to make sure everything looks okay in about three weeks.

The only reason I'm not transferring all of Bella's records to the University of Illinois for primary veterinary care is that they have a very high volume of business, and I had to wait for about an hour just to drop Bella off for her dental procedure. Plus, it took two months to get an appointment. With my regular vet, I can get an appointment almost whenever I want, and can quickly get in and out. It's also closer to my home, and they do have a good reputation, despite their lack of dental expertise. I think I'll keep my regular vet for routine care, and have specialized care such as dentals and surgery done at the University of Illinois.

Bella
 

Thanks for the positive update, Bella did and is doing very well. Shows that going to experts is worth it!!!
Thanks for the info on bone grafts. I think I had one once for a removed molar. I thought that Bella may have too as these little dogs have little jaw bone volume. Good she did not need it and that her molars are well supported too. Sounds like a great idea to have dentals done at the Uni, you have confidence that diagnosis and treatment are THE BEST! Regular vets are great too, but cannot be experts at everything. Useful to have a vet close by though for routine care. Hope Bella continues on this positive path and that the check up is good.