Forum Discussion

BobsYourUncle's avatar
BobsYourUncle
Nomad
Dec 04, 2019

Cost of dental work on a small dog?

We are looking at rescuing an 8 pound Yorkie, sentenced to be put down. It's a kennel dog (AKA puppy mill female) and cannot have any more puppies at 6 years old due to complications of a problem litter she had.

We desperately want to save this little girl from death, but have a concern about possible huge vet bills.

Getting her spayed and having a thorough vet exam and shots is no problem, that's a given, but I'm wondering about her teeth.

I have a family member (a professional dog groomer) going to see her this afternoon to give her a visual examination, including the teeth. Family member took a course on basic teeth care, cleaning, examination etc, but not dental work.

It's about 200 miles one way, so can't really go there myself until we go get her to give her a new home.

My question here is: Can anyone tell me the rough cost, in Canada, of dental work on a small dog? Broad question, I know, but things like having extractions done, pulling some or all her teeth.

We really want to save this little girl, but cannot afford to spend thousands to do it.

In about 2 1/2 hours I have to give a yes / no answer over the phone on whether we will take her or not.

I am really out of touch with vet costs, so thought I would ask here.
I know I could call a local vet here and ask, but I know there are a lot of dog owners here who perhaps may know.

Thanks.
  • pinesman's avatar
    pinesman
    Explorer
    Dec 04, 2019
    Prices can vary greatly but probably at least $500 for just a cleaning. I have heard any dental work can be dangerous for the dog also.
  • Diplomat_St_Poo's avatar
    Diplomat_St_Poo
    Explorer
    Dec 04, 2019
    Sadly the vet costs to do dental care can be very expensive. I had to have one cracked tooth removed from a 4 year old healthy standard poodle and it was $1200. My friend was told to have a complete dental on her 12 year old mini poodle was around $1500. It will definitely depend on how bad the teeth are. But most vets require putting the dog under anesthetics to do even the simplest cleaning.

    Yorkie’s teeth require regular brushing and scaling. If she is coming from a puppy miller she has likely not had any dental care. But a good groomer should be able to tell you what the teeth look like visually. It is not hard to tell if a dog is in need of expensive dental care or just a routine cleaning.
  • Crowe's avatar
    Crowe
    Explorer
    Dec 04, 2019
    Call your local vet. The procedure itself is probably not that expensive but much of the cost is based on how much anesthesia, pain meds and other items based on a dog's size which causes a large fluctuation between animals. Also, costs vary from vet to vet. Costs at our old vet were much higher than our knew one so to get accurate info you really need to talk to who would do the procedure. If you are worried about cost work with your vet prior to see if you can pay in installments.
  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Dec 04, 2019
    Better off asking a vet that does dental work in your local area. Give him/her the story too.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Dec 04, 2019
    Perhaps Los Algodones has some good cheap vets. That's kind of a joke.

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