Doggie Dentals

[RobJohnson]

Xena finally emerged from the bedroom and ate a little of her food.

I was wondering if $499 is too much for dentals for 2 dogs? They said the dogs had to have "health and comfort pack", which included a pain shot. They also hooked IV's up to them. It was just a dental, no extractions. Next time I won't get that OraVet. They applied that plaque prevention gel to their teeth and sent home one pack of little gel packs to apply to their teeth once a week.

I was so annoyed that I argued them down another 10%. Maybe $450 was a fair price, but certainly wasn't expecting to pay that much.

There was a woman almost yelling at them next to me. It seems they quoted her $129 for a neutre for her dog. They charged over double that. She was told she had to pay and could fill out a "dispute" form.

The main vet there is wonderful. I think the world of him, but he doesn't own the place. They've gotten totally out of control with their prices. Or maybe I'm just being too thrifty.

What do they charge in other areas for those dentals?

Years ago my mother would pay around $150 per animal, that included putting them asleep during the cleaning. That has been over 10 years ago. This was done by a very good vet.

[talleyJudy]

One could also toy with the idea of obtaining a tooth scaling tool from your own dentist and try doing it yourself.

If your eyes are good and your hand steady and you are young enough to get down on the floor it might be worth a try. I did that back in the way back when I had an Italian Greyhound for 11+ years.
He would lay down flat out on his side and I would carefully scale away. So much time has past since then that I cannot remember how I got him to cooperate or how I eased him into the routine or how often I scaled his teeth... But I do remember that when he was PTS the vet was very impressed with the condition of his teeth and made a comment about how unusual/rare that he retained his complete set of teeth for a lifetime.

All I can really remember about it is that Pasquale was eventually more agreeable about tooth scaling than nail clipping. I began attempting to do his teeth after picking him up from his very first "vet dental" finding him groggy, dirty with news print (Pasquale's was white with large fawn spots) and strongly smelling of urine; :mad: we went from the front door directly to the sink to bathe him. So never again was he going to the vet for tooth scaling....

[Gingersnap]

One could also toy with the idea of obtaining a tooth scaling tool from your own dentist and try doing it yourself.

I second this idea. I've used one on the Shelties for years. The Shelties like to sit next to me when I watch TV. Basically, I would scale one tooth and we'd watch a little TV, I'd scale one more tooth followed by some TV, and so on. I'd do maybe 3 teeth a day when I was getting them used to it.

Now, they just stare at the TV and let me do anything with their teeth. I get them a regular fang-cleaning about every 2 or 3 years and they always have good reports. :)

[asdf2231]

Xena finally emerged from the bedroom and ate a little of her food.

I was wondering if $499 is too much for dentals for 2 dogs? They said the dogs had to have "health and comfort pack", which included a pain shot. They also hooked IV's up to them. It was just a dental, no extractions. Next time I won't get that OraVet. They applied that plaque prevention gel to their teeth and sent home one pack of little gel packs to apply to their teeth once a week.

I was so annoyed that I argued them down another 10%. Maybe $450 was a fair price, but certainly wasn't expecting to pay that much.

There was a woman almost yelling at them next to me. It seems they quoted her $129 for a neutre for her dog. They charged over double that. She was told she had to pay and could fill out a "dispute" form.
The main vet there is wonderful. I think the world of him, but he doesn't own the place. They've gotten totally out of control with their prices. Or maybe I'm just being too thrifty.

What do they charge in other areas for those dentals?

Speaking as the spouse of a veterinarian I can tell you that based on that right there you need to be dealing with a different Veterinary Clinic. One that is owner opperated. Doubling the price on a quoted procedure is not something you do. Ever.

(On Edit)

$100-150 is passing rate for a dental procedure even with what they call a "Health and Comfort Pack" Which is a joke because most Vets factor in the painkiller for these things.

This clinic is rodgering you royally.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Speaking as the spouse of a veterinarian I can tell you that based on that right there you need to be dealing with a different Veterinary Clinic. One that is owner opperated. Doubling the price on a quoted procedure is not something you do. Ever.

(On Edit)

$100-150 is passing rate for a dental procedure even with what they call a "Health and Comfort Pack" Which is a joke because most Vets factor in the painkiller for these things.

This clinic is rodgering you royally.

That's what I figured. They charged $131 for Xena before they added $70 for the health and comfort pack and another $40 for the IV. They are perfectly healthy dogs and I doubt that they needed the IV. I'm thinking of taking the dogs elsewhere for routine things and continuing Blue with the main vet there. I owe him for helping Blue so much. I guess I'm too loyal sometimes, but still hate to be taken advantage of financially.

[SaintLouieWoman]

I second this idea. I've used one on the Shelties for years. The Shelties like to sit next to me when I watch TV. Basically, I would scale one tooth and we'd watch a little TV, I'd scale one more tooth followed by some TV, and so on. I'd do maybe 3 teeth a day when I was getting them used to it.

Now, they just stare at the TV and let me do anything with their teeth. I get them a regular fang-cleaning about every 2 or 3 years and they always have good reports. :)

Good idea. I think I'll see if my dentist would give me one of her old scalers. She's a good friend and was at SR and my wedding. The greys are very easygoing. Darlene had her first dental when she was wide awake at a greyhound gathering. I had picked her up from the adoption group in St Joseph, Missouri. Her teeth were terrible. Most of the adoption groups have a dental on the hounds before adoption, but they hadn't done it on Darlene.

A woman who does the Gilley Girls greyhound travelling troup dog shows saw Darlene and did a dental on the spot. Darlene just stood there. It's just a matter of my getting myself on the ground to get it done. I think the girls would prefer our doing it to spending the day at the vet.

They are soooo glad to be home. At least they were clean. We'd know if they werent'---Xena is white.

The other thing that got me upset was they nicked Xena with the clipper when they were shaving around the area where they inserted the IV. They had to close it up with surgical glue.