Dental Estimate Costs

[Zoolady]

I've been looking in this forum and have learned I need to ask about Amicar but so far the costs I've seen are way below our estimate.

 

Babe has very bad teeth and is at the point a dental is a must. She will lose most of her teeth and need some flaps. The blood work will be done. The vet that will be doing it has been in practice many years and has been focusing mainly on dentistry for the past three years.

 

The vet's office is state of the art and they have a ventilator and use some kind of blanket that helps control temperature and other stuff I can't remember. I'm 100% confident in the team. They say it will take two to three hours.

 

The estimate a couple months ago was $2,200 and he looked at her the other day and now we're up to $2,600. Her insurance does not cover dentals. The best they can do for us is a 5% discount and a year instead of six months on Care Credit.

 

For many reasons, one giant expense after another, it's just not financially possible to spend that kind of money right now.

 

I don't really want anyone else to do it as I'd never forgive myself if something bad happened to her.

 

It is just so frustrating. We have four dogs and two cats completely covered by insurance so that alone is a big wallet chunk. We've done dentals before but none were this expensive.

 

My question is, has anyone had to spend that kind of money on a dental? Do I need to adjust my perspective?

[tbhounds]

That's a pretty damn steep estimate and that's coming from someone who works in a clinic located in a pretty affluent area. Nothing is inexpensive around here. Our grade 3-4 dentals costs are as high as $1,200ish. We use all the bells and whistles-full parameter anesthetic monitoring, IV cath/fluids, oral blocks, bair hugger warming blanket, digital dental radiographs........etc.

The cost also includes all the to go home meds including a dental care kit and a 14 day oral recheck appointment. I do applaud you for pursuing the dentistry--it so important to have done to maintain the health of your hound (and eliminate the oral pain) but, I would want to see a breakdown of the estimate-it really is expensive.

[NeylasMom]

I just spent over $1300 on a dental for Zuri with 3 extractions, only one of which was complicated, Fwiw. $225 of that was due to using sevofluorane instead of isofluorane. He was under for a little over 2 hrs.

 

I feel your pain BTW. I'm about to have Violet get her dental from a veterinary dentist. I don't have the estimate yet, but I expect I'll be looking at another $1500-2000.

[Hubcitypam]

Holy cow! I know I'm spoiled from living where it was $120 and $10 a tooth. . Poodle's last dental was around $300 and included 3 extractions - one a canine. I'm with the above that even in an affluent area ~ $1,200 sounds about right.

[NeylasMom]

My vet admits that their charges are high, even for our area. I guess the other vet in the practice who does the dentals (she I guess sort of "specializes" in it) sets the prices since my own vet doesn't do them. But costs are high in my area anyway, especially if you're going with the vet dentist.

 

This is why I took Z to OSU last year. At OSU, full dental plus 6 extractions (teeny tiny teeth in bottom front of his mouth) plus lump removal and biopsy, $750ish. This year with my vet, full dental plus 3 extractions (2 incisors and 1 pre-molar, which apparnetly involved a saw and some more complicated stuff ), lump removal and biopsy, $1550. And now it is clear why gas and hotel to travel to OH were no big deal. I would have done it again, but we had to schedule the dental quickly because the lump popped up.

[Guest june]

That is outrageous. One of mine had 23 teeth extracted and it was only a couple hundred dollars. I'd be looking around. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. There are risks with any dental. I would find a vet who is familiar with greyhounds and is more reasonable. Maybe there is someone on here who lives in your area who will chime in with a suggestion.

[DesiRayMom]

At the clinic where I work, we use "all the bells & whistles" and have a dental specialist on staff.

A basic dental, including full-mouth xrays, runs around $300 - $400. Extractions are where it starts to

get expensive. However, our dental guy charges the extractions according to how long they take/how hard

they are to get out. I've seen some come through with 10/12 extractions for less than $1000, because

the teeth were so bad he pretty much just plucked them out. In larger dogs, some of those big teeth,

like the canines or the big molars, can be boogers to get out, maybe sectioned & taken out in pieces,

hence more time, anesethsia, etc. I think the most expensive one I've invoiced in the last few years

was around $1300.

 

As an aside.....when I do a dental estimate, I always err on the high side. You never know what you're

going to get into once you're in there. But I've found it much more pleasant to come in way under the

estimate than to try to call in the middle of the procedure & say it's going to be a good bit more than

expected.

 

Bless you for dealing with this. I've seen dogs with a boatload of extractions bounce back in the next day

or two feeling so much better. Icky teeth can be soooooooo painful.

[NeylasMom]

As an aside.....when I do a dental estimate, I always err on the high side. You never know what you're

going to get into once you're in there. But I've found it much more pleasant to come in way under the

estimate than to try to call in the middle of the procedure & say it's going to be a good bit more than

expected.

 

Sound advice for any vet practice. My vet gave me a low and high estimate and they were still $300 over the high estimate. I was really pissed. Still irks me actually although I've (mostly) let it go. Most of that was because they quoted me for iso and not sevo, but they also went about $70 over their cushion. It's all about expectations.

[Zoolady]

Thank you all. Extremely helpful. Today we are taking in Blue for his rabies shot and heart worm yearly so will get a print out of the estimate. Maybe their prices are higher too because they are a 24/7 hospital and never close.

[gracegirl]

I'd be curious to see what the itemized charges are as well. Fenway's last dental was in the ballpark of $500, though I know my brother's hound's dental with many extractions was closer to $1,500.

 

Fenway had a lump that I wanted to take off so the dental was billed as a lump removal with an add an charge for the dental, rather than biing for the dental and adding the lump removal. That way insurance covered the lump removal and anesthesia (which was the highest dollar amount on the bill) and I only had to pay a small amount for the dental cleaning.

[lukasmom]

Wow, I can't believe these prices. Our vet who is the vet for our area greyhound rescue is very reasonable. I don't think I have paid more than $350 and that was with 4 teeth removed. I couldn't afford to do a dental every year at over $1000. I don't think most people could.

[Batmom]

If you can without delaying too long, get an itemized quote from another vet in the area who's competent to do the work. Then you can compare the two.

 

Strategy #2 is to tell them flat out, "I would love to have you do this but I can't afford it. If you were in my position, who would you have do the work?" and see who they recommend as 2nd best.

[DofSweetPotatos]

If you can without delaying too long, get an itemized quote from another vet in the area who's competent to do the work. Then you can compare the two.

 

Strategy #2 is to tell them flat out, "I would love to have you do this but I can't afford it. If you were in my position, who would you have do the work?" and see who they recommend as 2nd best.

This.

A vet worth their salt will give a recommendation and other viable options.

[PatricksMom]

Thank you all. Extremely helpful. Today we are taking in Blue for his rabies shot and heart worm yearly so will get a print out of the estimate. Maybe their prices are higher too because they are a 24/7 hospital and never close.

My old vet's practice was 24/7, I think I paid about $600ish w/complete senior blood panel, all the works, but no extractions.

[Zoolady]

Blue's appointment went well. I did what you suggested about asking for second best. She said to make sure whoever does it has had extensive dental training and is "boarded" and not just a regular vet because Babe's peridontal disease is so bad.. She had two suggestions. One is a fellow north of us who has a very large reputation and has written many books on canine dentals. I rejected him simply because of someone I know told me a long time ago about her experience with him which didn't go well. I believe she had a root canal done with a crown for her big dog and then something happened and she ended up getting either a gold or titanium tooth and something happened again. Her first bill was around $7,000 and by the time she finished it was around $10,000. Definitely too risky for our wallet.

 

The next person she suggested was a woman that does big dentals at different facilities. Our vet told me the places the woman goes to and the closest one is where Ben had his chemo done and is also a big 24 hour hospital. She was so sweet and asked me if that would be okay and that some people can't go back. It was a loving place for Ben and the only vet he wagged his tail all the way in. They really loved on him a lot. Anyhow, she offered to call her and get the estimate for us and her schedule.

 

Our vet also said she would talk to one of the head guys at their place and see what could be done.

 

Here is the breakdown of the estimate. Usually they do low and high too but this is just one on the high side.

 

Preanesthetic profile 113.21

Preanesthetic ECG IVS 80.86

Comprehensive dental with anesthetic 501.09

Included items:

Catheterization/cephalic

Anesthesia/inhalation/general

Cardiorespiratory monitoring

Initial fluid therapy

Ventilator/initial/1 hour

Fluid thermo support/warmer

Dental radiology / full mouth

Dental cleaning/routine

Dental cleaning/polish

Dentistry fluoride treatment

Medications are not included

Dental extraction single root (12) 341.04

Dental extraction double root (12) 582.60

Dental extraction triple root (4) 302.36

Dental carnasial extraction (4) 455.64

Dental extraction canine (2) 227.26

Post op antibiotic is not included

Post op pain med is not included

Total $2,604.06

 

She called me about ten minutes after we left. She was able to get a $400 discount on the estimate which was amazing and she called the other vet and left a message. She will call me Monday or Tuesday after she speaks with the other outside dentist.

[DofSweetPotatos]

2 questions, does Blue have a heart murmur/issue? Is the full mouth radiology before and after? When was blues last woodwork?

Whoops, that's 3 questions.

[Batmom]

Sounds like your appointment went *very* well. Glad to hear the vet was willing to work with/for you. Hoping you will be able to get the needed things done for your pupper, safely and yet without too much of a stretch to your budget.

[Zoolady]

Blue was at the vet's for his yearly exam and rabies shot.

 

His vet is knows our girl Babe who has the dental issue so we used Blue's appt to also discuss Babe. There are no heart issues in any of our greys that we are aware of. Babe has not had bloodwork in quite a while.

 

I don't know when the radiology would be done but wouldn't they have to do it before just to see where all the roots are going?

[tbhounds]

Typically the dental radiographs are done after the prophy but, before extractions. They are repeated only as an as needed basis.

Hopefully, those extraction prices will be reduced if the tooth in question is so diseased it's extracted with ease.

[DofSweetPotatos]

Sometimes 2 sets of radiographs will be done to confirm removal of all of the root with multiple extractions or extreme disease. Otherwise a "dry socket" situation can result. Or at least, the practice I worked at did it when wehad a bad mouth situation.

Sorry for the confusion with Blue and Babe, sorry. I see they are doing and ECG , that's what Mae me question the heart issue.

Overall, it sounds like you had a @ positive result with your vet. Good luck with all that you are going through.

[Zoolady]

Thank you so much everyone for your input, suggestions and advice. I feel in a better position understanding some things now.

 

DofSweetPotatos wished us luck and I had to smile. I'm not whining but I will share what's been happening. Our washing machine had to be replaced. Shortly after that my husband had a partially detached retina that was reattached with laser surgery. A week into the healing process the retina detached in another spot, same eye. He had to have the more invasive surgery with the buckle/band put behind the eye to hold everything in place. Then Babe somehow hurt herself outside and came in with a leg wound that meant bandage changes every few days and weeks in a cone. Then both Scott and I were having stomach issues for a while. It turned out our refrigerator was over 40 degrees and although cold, not cold enough so everything was spoiling slowly. Didn't taste bad but was turned. Freezer was okay.

 

Thankfully it was under an extended warranty so on June 2, I called. The repairman said he knew it was a thermostat sensor or mother board so he would order them and only have to make one stop. One of the parts was back ordered so that was a further delay. Eating take out and frozen foods amazingly does get tiresome. Anyhow,, he came out and "fixed" it. Well, in a day the temperature was still bad. They said they would refund the purchase price with a gift card that we were to use at the store we got the first one. So we did that and had our delivery. They will reimburse for spoiled food too.

 

In the meantime we had all this food to throw away. Scott put stuff like pickles, olives, etc. down the disposal. We went to the store to get some food for the new refrigerator. While we were out, I had a load of wash going. There was a clog in the line and the washer vomited pieces of pickles and olives all over the garage and water backed up into the garage and into the kitchen sink and overflowed an inch of water on the floor. Thankfully our kitchen is sunken down so it didn't go all over the house. A neighbor has a big shop vac and helped clean up and clear the line with plunger and vac which took about an hour.

 

Two days later we discovered the new refrigerator wasn't going down cold enough so they offered to send a repairman or replace. They brought another one out and the delivery guy wasn't very nice. He gave me an argument that our thermometers were wrong. He didn't want to exchange it and called his boss. He was told to exchange it. Anyhow, it took a while but this one seems to be fine with the display and thermometers finally agreeing. The box has to be under 40 and it is 34. Nice and cold.

 

Last week our microwave overheated and smelled like hot wires. Scott took it outside to the driveway and that was the end of that microwave. When he got back inside, we looked at each other and what started as a chuckle turned into laughter, a high five and a what can you do attitude. Sigh. We were able to replace the microwave yesterday.

 

Oh, I forgot about the part where his truck threw a timing belt, blew a gasket and is in the shop having half the engine replaced. Covered by warranty but not the rental. He's driving a van instead of his pickup and it's been almost two weeks and the truck still isn't ready. They had to order parts.

 

So that's about it from this little section of paradise.

[Batmom]

I'm giggling about the olives and pickles, too, but .... wow. Y'all are due for some GOOD luck, starting NOW!!!!

[carronstar]

A similar dental for my girl last year was over $4,000. One of the joys of living in NYC. Multiple extractions, one that required very careful removal as the roots had wrapped around a vein and caused severe blood loss (of course over the weekend so there was the $1,500 evet visit). I completely trust the practice and they are good about my sitting in the hospital all day and they come out to give me updates. I don't really need to eat or go out anyway.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm sorry--we have VERY expensive veterinary care here compared to most parts of the country--and those prices are out of control.

[tbhounds]

I'm sorry--we have VERY expensive veterinary care here compared to most parts of the country--and those prices are out of control.

That was my feeling--everything is expensive here but, I feel that estimate is way high.