Our Dental Procedures
Every Dog and Cat Dental Includes
- Safe General Anesthesia Tailored to your Pet
- Scaling and Polishing of all Teeth
- A Complete Oral Examination
- IV Catheter and Fluids
- Blood Pressure Monitoring
- ECG Monitoring
- Heart Rate, Oxygen and CO2 Monitoring
- Pain Medication/Nerve Blocks
- Nail Trims
- Anal Gland Expression (if needed)
- Ear Canal Evaluation
- Intra operative and post operative patient warming
- A dedicated team member monitor your pet throughout the entire process
Dental Cleanings
We use high-speed, top-notch dental equipment for faster & less traumatic extractions. We don't believe in charging you for the extraction of a diseased tooth when the extraction takes less time than the cleaning/polishing of that tooth!
All pets are NOT created equal! This is why we require an examination for new patients and a consultation for existing patients. This enables us to tailor each pets procedures to their specific needs. We can't prepare or quote you correctly without seeing your pet's mouth. Our dental cleaning price will not change but your pet may need more than just a cleaning and we don't want that to be a surprise to you or us.
Please review our Dental Exams and Scheduling page.Services that may be advised but are not including with a dental cleaning include - Pre -operative blood testing, dental radiographs and surgical tooth extractions. Not all pet's will need these so to keep prices affordable we tailor each of these services to each individual pet.
Pre anesthetic blood testingFor your pet's safety we ALWAYS recommend pre-anesthetic blood testing. We do not require these so they are not included in our cleaning price. Our trained staff and veterinarians will discuss these options with you during your consultation.
Dental Radiographs
We do offer Dental radiographs at an additional cost. Full mouth radiographs are always recommended and should be done on all patients at least yearly. Currently we do not require the full mouth dental radiographs but assessment and post extraction dental radiographs are required for teeth that need extracting. Assessment radiographs are always advised for teeth with oral lesions.
At Union Animal Hospital we do a lot of dental procedures. In many cases our Veterinarians are trained to extract even the most complicated teeth. This is due to our extensive experience with extractions and specialized training to help ensure we use the latest techniques and surgical skills to remove even the most difficult of teeth. Dental extractions are where things get more complex. Dental extractions are oral surgery and are often done at the same time as a dental cleaning but they take a dental cleaning procedure from a basic procedure to a more complex surgical procedure. If you pet needs teeth extracted we try to plan ahead based on the exam/consult findings to help you get these done at the same time. Extractions, however, are not part of a cleaning and can't be quoted without an oral exam. Extractions are oral surgery and require advanced training to perform. These are performed by our veterinarians and due to the complexity of most extractions these are going to be an additional cost and require additional treatments both during the procedure and at home. Not all teeth are created equal and as such extraction costs vary by the tooth and the patient. We pride ourselves on providing you with patient specific procedures and this is why we are not able to accurately quote you for extractions by phone and why in some cases your estimate will have a larger variance in cost until we are actually performing the procedure. Our veterinarians will do our best to give you an estimate at the consultation and then try to narrow your estimate range once we can get an in depth oral examination, the teeth cleaned up and perform the necessary radiographs. We try to over estimate at the time of you consultation as a precaution for budgeting and more often than not we are able to complete the procedures for less.
We do not offer orthodontics, root canals, fillings, sealants, or tooth restorations. These services require advanced equipment/supplies that add to practice overhead and are not practical for many pets/owners in the area. If you are interested in an advanced procedure, we happily can recommend a Board-Certified Vet Dentist or Vet Surgeon.
We do not want to "guilt" our clients into services. We want to help you understand what care makes sense for you and your pet. With this in mind we are a high quality office and regardless of income level our recommendations will be the same. We do understand that veterinary care is often an unexpected and emotional expense and we will do our best to help you take care of your pet in your budget whenever possible. We can and will make modifications to treatment plans to help if possible. Just communicate with us and we will do our very best to work with you without compromising your pet's health and safety.
We do not recommend "anesthesia-free dentistry". In almost all cases it is more stressful/painful for the patient and much less effective at identifying, preventing and correcting oral disease than traditional veterinary dentistry.
Many veterinary regulatory entities have deemed "anesthesia-free dentistry" to be malpractice because of the risks to the patient. This practice is not good for your pet and you will never see us offer this service or contract with any company that does. Our patients that have had regular anesthesia free dental care often have numerous teeth that require extraction.
Please check out AVMA Dentistry Information for more information on Dental Care and Cleanings.
Our practice style, limited scheduling/services and payment options can not accommodate every situation.