teeth removal dogs..anyone any experience?

Kt8

Has anyone had their babys teeth out?

My little one is around 11 years now (jack russell cross terrier) and needs several teeth removed as she is getting smelly breath.

Vet didnt specifically say any damage or any of them going bad however i am due to speak to her tomorrow to determine how many and cost.

Is it an expensive job? Does insurance cover teeth removal as I was under the impression it didn't.

Thanks again

Nod_Off

It's difficult to determine cost for a dental as often, you just don't know how bad the teeth are until the animal is under anaesthetic and the vet can get a proper look. Also depends on how they price their work - some vets will charge per tooth and some just have a set cost depending on the time involved.

I would say that if you are looking at several teeth needing removed then you will be looking at a couple of hundred pounds upwards. Insurance doesn't normally cover dental work unless it's something like a broken tooth but do check your policy just in case.

easy

Our dog had to have most of her teeth out as her gums were infected - she had dreadful breath too. it was done under general anaesthetic, and cost about £275 (our vet isn't cheap by any means).

Our policy says that dental work isn't covered, but the vet treated ulcers on the roof of her mouth at the same time, and the insurance has paid the whole cost (less the excess of £60). I suspect it depends what the vet actually puts on the claim foirm.

rising_from_the_ashes

Ohhh poor pooch - mine has a couple of teeth that really need to come out and I was quoted £300 upwards

Very unlikely insurance will cover it unless there's an underlying problem such as happened to easy

I'm trying to find out if there's an alternative to a general anaesetic - mr pooch is elderly and with other health problems, there's a very high risk he won't survive the procedure:(.

I've seen programmes on TV where pets are sedated (rather than having a general) but my vets don't do it ....

Good luck

moomin5

It was about £120 for removal of a couple of teeth for our greyhound a few years ago. We did ring round a few vets to get a rough cost of a dental though knew they can't always do a proper assessment until the dogs knocked out. I think most of the cost was the GA.

elsien

Mutt got an abscess and had to have a couple of teeth removed.
It was covered by petplan, as the vet put on the claim form that she'd had an annual check up. Basically when she gets her annual once over he has a quick look at her gums and teeth. Not that thorough but if he was happy to say that that was an annual dental examination, that was fine by me! I think a lot of it comes down to how the vet is prepared to word the claim form as to whether it's covered or not - mine is very obliging in that respect.

As far as the op itself went, it was a breeze. Admittedly mutt didn't notice that she'd got an abscess and her face was blown up like a balloon (where there's no sense, and all that), but other than soft food for a few days, she got over it really quickly. She was probably a similar age to yours at the time.

booter

Hi Kt8 - yes, mine had all his front small teeth out and one of his molars which was growing sideways and causing problems. I was "lucky" in that I was eligible for PDSA treatment. I did price up the vets local to me and was told it would cost at least £140 - this was for 2 extractions and the anaesthetic etc. (It ended up being more extractions than I thought!)However, reading your OP, you say the vet didn't mention damage? It may be that the teeth aren't rotten and that it's just a build up of tartar/plaque that requires a scale and polish - although the vet I spoke to said that a scale and polish would cost around £100.
Re: insurance - my old dog had insurance, but dental work was not covered unless damage had occurred through accident or as a result of another illness. As others have said, I suppose it all depends on what your vet puts on the claim form.

Don't worry if your dog does lose some teeth, although initially it's a little shocking (the fact that you've got a gummy dog:)) they recover really quite quickly (although in the case of mine, look a little strange:):))
Good luck!

hethmar

Do get it done asap, she may be in a lot of pain - dogs put up with so much. Im sure she will be fine. We had a JR who came to us aged 12 and had only about 6 teeth left in his head Wonderful little dog, never worried him at all.

Person_one

Our family dog when I was a kid had to have practically all her teeth removed, they were a state we got her at about 5 and she hung on to them till she was about 8 or 9. The only lasting effect was that her tongue didn't stay in her mouth and the tip of it lolled out a bit, but that was quite cute actually!

She barely noticed, if anything she probably saw an improvement as she was suddenly getting yummy stinky wet food instead of that dry rubbish!

I don't remember anything of the costs, but I do remember that she was herself again within 24 hours and suffered no ill effects long term.

dizziblonde

Person_one wrote: »

Our family dog when I was a kid had to have practically all her teeth removed, they were a state we got her at about 5 and she hung on to them till she was about 8 or 9. The only lasting effect was that her tongue didn't stay in her mouth and the tip of it lolled out a bit, but that was quite cute actually!

My retired grey's lost almost all her front teeth and one of her canines (and is looking thin on the back teeth ground) - manages fine, to the extent she's just tried to half-inch my sandwich, but does do the escaping tongue thing fairly regularly making her look like the village idiot and making us laugh endlessly as she tries to look nice and regal with an inch of tongue hanging out of the edge of her gob!

clipclop_2

I'm a veterinary nurse and when we do dental work the average price is around £300, the smaller the dog the less the price of the general anaesthetic and the drugs

If they have alot of tartar on the teeth it means they are swallowing alot of bacteria everyday therefore its important to act before any damage is done to the kidneys and possibly causing CRF. So for an 11 year old the vet will probably recommend pre op bloods and this would be a good idea although probably another £30.

Good luck with your pooch

Edited to add that pet insurance doesnt cover routine dental work, some insurers cover gingivitis if the dog has been for dental checks yearly (eg. at booster time) and accidental damage such as a broken canine tooth.