Dentals....

During Bears last check up they mentioned he needed a dental. I set up the appointment for the second week of August since hubs and I will be off. What do I need to know? Never had to go thru the dental stuff before. My vet has 10 pugs of his own so I completely trust him to know what needs to be done for my Pug to be safe but its 3 weeks out and I'm already nervous.

I have nothing to share about dentals.. but I want a vet who has 10 pugs!!!

(well, I like my vet too - she has horses, and has had 4 dogs in the past, which helps her understand the level of training which I seek in mine)... but wow... 10 pugs..

That's like a day of dremelling when it comes to toe time! I can't imagine it! And how do you know which one to call? (Assuming they all run around as a pack!)

Not much to add except that dentals can be really expensive depending on how many (if any) teeth need to come out.

Yea we really lucked out with this vet. He's awesome. He said that he allows 3 in the bed at night and has a rotating schedule as to who's turn it is. He also brings them to work with him every day.

Blanche he gave me an estinate of 170 and said that he didn't see any that needed to come out but he wouldn't know for sure until he's in there poking around. Oh and the 170 included bloodwork. Didn't sound too bad.

First - holy cow Dayna!! Only $170, including bloodwork???? Is everything cheaper in the South???

Up here, a dental runs about $400-600 - plus extra for each extraction, and that does not include bloodwork. All three of my pugs had dentals last year, average was $500 a piece, which was a good price.

I was very happy with the dentals. They saved some of the teeth to show me, and I felt terrible knowing my babies had those yucky teeth in there hurting them. Plus, their breath smells so much better after a dental.

I noticed with mine that they spend the first day pretty woozy and easily get cold. The anesthesia makes them colder, so make sure to keep them warm. Go lightly on the food. You may want to buy some canned or do a bland diet at first, depending on how sensitive Bear is.

Vivian and Rupert both had dentals last year. I had them do a blood panel before then gave them the pug protocol for the anesthesia.
They both ran about $300, which I did not think for to bad.
Of course I was a mess the whole time but they were just fine once they were home.

We charge $180 for a dental and $36 for the office visit fee. The $180 includes pre op bloodwork, the dental, keeping them on fluids, monitoring, etc. Extractions are extra (along with extra anesthesia) and can add anywhere from $150 to over $800 depending on how many teeth (obviously the dentals that cost around a grand are usually the pets who have never had them and are geriatric and need most teeth extracted).

But, for healthy dogs a dental is pretty simple and routine. Unfortunately with pug and their small mouths jammed with teeth, they commonly need extractions even at a young age (and for no fault of the owner). Bella is 5 and Reggie is 7. Bella has had a tooth extracted and Reggie has he fractured that we're watching (it wouldn't be a simple extraction).

Just make sure that you give the vets a phone number they can reach you at at anytime that morning/afternoon. They only have a short period of time to get a hold of you to authorize extractions while the pet is under.

Try not to worry! They're really routine procedures, and it's great that your vet has pugs of his own.

My vet only charges about $150 and that includes 2 or 3 extractions and the bloodwork. I need to get Lola's done too, but I was hoping my DH would get a JOB first....

Okay, now I am feeling ripped off! I paid between $450-550 for each of my pugs dentals. They all had 3 teeth removed each. Hmm....

Hope all goes okay Dayna! If he has lots of extractions my best piece of advice would be to ensure you leave with sufficient pain meds for him. The first 24 - 48 hours can be quite painful for the little guys.

I don't remember exactly what Imi's dental cost, but I know I would have been happy to pay the biggest amount any of you quoted. I think Imi's went into the low 4 figures. I guess that's what I get for my vet being a major referral centre.

Angus had many teeth taken out during his dental. I was SO worried, but he was just fine. I kept him quiet afterwards, and also moistened his food with warm water for about a week afterwards.

The vet we were using at the time charged us over 600 bucks. I felt like I got hit by a truck.

Then, our new vet did Calvin's--including cleaning, 2 extractions, and extraction of a fang--for 200. I told them about Angus and they said it would have cost about 250 at their office. I'm glad I did it, because Angus needed it, but I was really, really ticked off that the old vet charged us that much.

None of my dogs have acted funny, or in pain in any way after dentals. Sometimes they are just put under light sedation if their teeth aren't too bad, or they're completely out if they need a lot of extractions.

Don't feel bad, Renee: Rhoda's last dental, at the age of 11, cost more than $700. She did have several big teeth extracted, though.

Marlee just had a dental last month, and it was $475 (I saved $$$ by having the blood drawn and sent out in advance by one of the vet techs at work). She had two small extractions.

Ikey just had a dental today.....$673. He has very bad teeth on one side, mainly because his tongue hangs out and over his teeth and the food gets stuck under it and decays, and as of today has had most of that side pulled, up and down. This is the 4th dental I've had to have done on him in the past 6 years that we've had him and he's only 8. He won't let ANYONE touch his mouth and my vet has to put him out to even look. I've gotten in the habit of doing them yearly now. OUCH. This one included a full blood work panel, not just the pre-op panel, and they did an xray because he had quite a bad abcess and they wanted to make sure there was no bone involved or tumor. That also includes having the xray read by a radiologist. Oh, I also got an antibiotic, pain meds, and some wipes for his nose fold all included in that grand total.

I think a "regular" dental with no extractions runs around $300 at my vet.

Anyway, he is feeling kinda slugglish tonight, but he ate and took his pain med and by tomorrow he'll be feeling great since he had some yucky teeth pulled. Poor guy :(

I'm going to throw up. $170 is GREAT!

The last dental done here was on Tank who lost 11 teeth and it ran me between 8 and 9 hundred dollars. Mind you, my vet is worth every single penny.

OMG Dayna!!! I have never paid under $700 for a dental!!!! That is with pre-op blood work, dental, extraction, and meds. When Boo-Bear comes home he will be groggy. Have some wet food on hand in case he is in pain, and something soft to administer the antibiotic and pain meds he will most likely be sent home with. After a day or two, when the anesthesia is fully out of his system he will be fine. He will probably just sleep a lot the first 24 hours, but is that really any different than a day in a pug's life anyway? Kisses for my Smushy!!!

Thanks everyone! You've helped put my mind at ease. Dental in 2 weeks. Hoping for no or minimal extractions.