Dental procedures for dogs

[GSD Woman]

I knew that Rudy needed a tooth extracted but it didn't seem to bother him so I waited. Earlier this week I saw a small amount of pus, and I mean small, in the gum line above the tooth. I managed to get in with into the vet today. I knew I couldn't afford the dental right now. I'm unemployed and haven't had a firm offer. I'm going to sell plasma to pay for it but it will take 6-8 weeks for the payments. I received an estimate of $950 on up. Would this be typical in the UK?

And thanks for letting me unburden myself.

 

[AmyMay]

Ouch, that’s a lot of money.

I paid around £175 for one of my dogs last year. However, small dog so that would have made a difference.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Not an extraction, but I paid £170 this week for a small dog to have a descale and clean, that included extra fluids as he is nearly 11 years old. The price you have been given would be around £700 I think, which does seem a lot, but I guess the infection doesn't help. Does that price include antibiotics etc ?

 

[Aru]

I knew that Rudy needed a tooth extracted but it didn't seem to bother him so I waited. Earlier this week I saw a small amount of pus, and I mean small, in the gum line above the tooth. I managed to get in with into the vet today. I knew I couldn't afford the dental right now. I'm unemployed and haven't had a firm offer. I'm going to sell plasma to pay for it but it will take 6-8 weeks for the payments. I received an estimate of $950 on up. Would this be typical in the UK?

And thanks for letting me unburden myself.

It'll depend on the tooth affected.
Canines and Carnassials the largest deep rooted teeth in the mouth generally are much more expensive to extract then say and incisor as they need surgical extraction.
In the likes of a Shepard I'd be expecting to see a much higher then average cost to remove then in something like a Pomeranian as it will take a lot more time to do. It took me and my associate 2 and a half hours to remove a broken carnassial from my own Labrador for context.. Some come easier but those deep roots can be trouble... Most surgical extractions take me less then half an hour in a small to medium sized dog. Multiple large breed extractions and your heading into hours of surgery.

That should be including good pain relief after the procedure. Local anaesthetic,surgical extractions and closures, pre op bloods, iv fluids etc though!
If it's for a smaller tooth I'd shop around more. The other issue we run into....is it's rarely just one tooth rotting for a dog..once one is damaged your more likely to see generalised dental disease on that side of the mouth.

It'll vary region by region though and some clinics might be cheaper if you shop around just make sure you get an idea of what's included with each quote....but ya. The dentals can end up v v expensive.

 

[GSD Woman]

The tooth in question is 208 so I knew it would be expensive. The vet thinks 304 and 404 need to come out too. And maybe more teeth. I have carprofen at home and if he needs gabapentin I'll get a prescription and take it to a human pharmacy where it will be much cheaper. Right now he is on generic Clavamox. He'll be on fluids and the cost includes pre-op blood work and all of the safety measures. My boy has a slight grade 2 murmur so the vet really wants a recheck echo from the cardiologist to make sure nothing has gotten worse. My boy is 11 and means the world to me so I would rather fork over the $ than add to his risk. At least I get a professional discount at both clinics.

I've worked for enough vet practices to know that this is pretty much the average.