Dental Cleaning Procedure & What to Expect
So it’s time for your pup to have a dental cleaning. Usually this is a very simple and straightforward procedure.
BEFORE THE PROCEDURE
Your dog is not allowed any food after 10pm the previous night. Water is allowed throughout the evening and still in the morning. Usually the vet will ask you to drop your dog at the vet early morning to monitor and prep for the procedure.
THE PROCEDURE
The actual procedure typically take anywhere from 45 to 75 minutes but that depends on the amount of tartar in the mouth, if there is a dental disease present, the number of dental x-rays that need to be taken and if there’s any dental extractions. Dental extraction procedures typically take longer and can take as long as 2.5 hours.
Your dog will take some time to recover after the anesthetic and will stay at the vet for monitoring till mid/late afternoon (depending on time of procedure and recovery).
AFTECARE
This depends on the procedure.
Straightforward clean: Your dog will probably be sent home with no meds, but remember that their teeth and gums might be sensitive and it’s best to feed soft food for the next day or three. Good qualify tin food and chicken and rice would do the trick. Alternatively, you can soften your dog’s normal pellets with water.
Clean with extractions: As the vet pulled some teeth together with the cleaning, your dog will be in some pain and discomfort. The vet should send some medication home with your dog to assist with the discomfort. My dog had this done a week ago, and they extracted 16 teeth!!! She was given baby Panado (twice a day for 6 days) and some antibiotics (twice a day for three days).
For 10 days following the procedure, it is very important to give your dog only soft food. This means no treats, no normal pellets, no chew toys – nothing that can hurt the inside of their mouth.
Soft food that can be given includes chicken and rice, some good quality tinned food, pellets softened in water (although I stayed away from this – was still worried it’s to hard), soft veg (list of vegies your dog can eat) or egg. I gave my dog some scrambled eggs, tin food and Vondis and that worked really well. Also great if you need to get some liquid meds in! I was having a tough time getting my pup to take the meds, so I mixed it in either the egg, or the Vondis and she gobbled it up 🙂
COST (this would be depending on your vet’s fees)
The cost really depends on what your vet is going to do. The cost is based on my vet bill in 2019. If it’s a straightforward clean, you’re looking at +- R4500. If your dog is older than 8, it’s always wise to do some blood work (kidney and liver tests to ensure that he/she can cope with the anesthetic procedure). This could add another R1000 to your bill.
My dog went to a specialist vet (at TAH Bellville) and used a specialist for her anesthetic (as she’s got liver issues and, well we need to be super careful with any procedure on my little one) – she was well overdue for a clean (due to me not wanting to take the risk of her liver failing under any procedure) and the doctor had to do 16 extractions and quite a bit of work. My bill came to a shocking R9500! Needless to say, this was a special case, and your bill should be much less. Another reason to do regular dentals (usually recommended every year or two, depending on your dog’s needs) as it should keep your cost low.