Bad news during the dental consult
 

Took Penny in for a dental consult today because she needs her teeth cleaned. Not a good visit at all. Only good thing is that I love this dentist.

- She's missing two molars. They could just not be there (which is fine) or they could be impacted which would require extraction.

- She also has a fractured tooth!! He says it appears that the root is exposed, but he won't know until he can get in there with his special glasses. If not, then a sealant and monitoring will take care of it. If the root is exposed, then it's either extraction or a root canal (over $1200). :eek:

So hubby and I have to discuss our options and weigh the financial matters. The cleaning and sealant is expensive enough, an extraction of the fractured tooth and addt'l anesthesia adds $280, not to mention if the other two teeth are impacted. Plus, he said just as in humans, there is always the chance the root canal/crown won't take and the process would have to be repeated.

Oh man. Thankfully she has finally learned to accept me brushing her teeth. Hopefully after all of this is over, we can maintain good oral health. She's only 4 years old!

They did say, however, that there is a possibility that the fractured tooth is what caused her to start inhaling her food without chewing a couple of years ago. Isn't it horrible that she could've had something like this wrong for so long, and we never knew? It could have happened much more recently as well, but I just hate that they can't tell us when they are in pain. The dentist said they just adjust and move on. :( :(

Ellie had oral surgery a year ago. The high end estimate was $1000 but it only turned out to be $600. She had no root canals or sealants but she had nine adult teeth pulled. For the most part, I think vets undercharge but $1200 is a lot. I would hope that includes preop bloodwork and and IV?

The $600 included the nine extractions, cleaning, OraVet (I recommend it), xrays, IV cath, preop bloodwork, anesthesia (isoflurane) and a recheck appt (free). I think Ellie's vet is fairly priced or maybe slightly undercharges but most people think they are HIGH, so I don't know what they would do with your estimate.;)

Oh yes, the estimates they gave include absolutely everything associated with the various procedures: pre-op exam, anesthesia, IV, monitoring, cleaning & polishing, Oravet, X-rays, bloodwork, follow-up appts, pain meds, etc.

Plus, he'll call during the surgery and let me know what he finds once he gets in there.

They called during Ellie's too, I believe. Maybe Kansas is just an expensive state.:)

oh my gosh! Poor thing, brushing their teeth is definetely hard, my archie hates it with a vengeance:( Hope she will feel better soon!!

That's cool that he will even fix the tooth....most vets just extract.

Well I do know that our particular vet clinic is a bit more expensive than others, but I am so trusting of their services and care that I'd never switch to save a few dollars. It's wonderful to have found people I can trust. I've had some worthless vets over the years.

Lol..I feel the same way. I like Ellie's vet so much that is could probably get triple what she should get from me.

dental consultation
 

Dentist's like to give you the worst case scenario so you won't be shocked. He's right, they won't know until they get in there what needs to be done.

Also, when I took my dog in to have a prophy, they said it would be $500.00.When I picked her up to pay the bill it was $177.00 which was still a lot of money but made them look good. See what I mean? It's a lot of money, but what can we do? The mouth and teeth are the portal to the whole body and when they are in bad shape if affects everything. Same as a humane.

I'm going to start putting away $20.00 a month to pay for their cleaning once a year. Can you tell I work for a dentist!

Periwinkle:

Good luck.

I know, worrying about dental health is something I almost forgot about with all the other health issues yorkies are prone to. I just had Pixie's first dental done last month and she's the same age as Penny. It's pricey, but I look at it as preserving her health and an investment. Pixie hates for me to brush her teeth, but we've been doing better with the Petzlife gel. Good luck with Penny!

dental consultation
 

My dog's hate getting their teeth brushed. My male basically chews on the tooth brush. My female will let me do it for a little while, then she gets fed up. I'm really laying down the law now that I've had to pay for two dogs teeth cleanings. They do like the taste of the enzymatic chicken toothpate from the vet.