FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
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Dental cleanings typically take anywhere from 45-75 minutes depending on the amount of tartar in the mouth and the disease present. Dental extraction procedures vary depending on how many teeth are being extracted and the level of disease – typically running between 1-3 hours.
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No, we only provide our services for dogs and cats.
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Yes, broken or worn down teeth often painfully expose the inner pulp chamber of the tooth where the sensitive nerves and blood vessels lie. Without treatment, this can lead to a tooth root abscess/infection, pain for your pet, loss of appetite, and more.
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Sometimes there are alternative treatments for a tooth other than extraction. Some teeth can have root canal therapy performed or crowns placed. For these procedures we refer patients to a board-certified veterinary dentist. Often the cost is much higher than performing an extraction, but this option may be available in some cases.
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Bad breath, or halitosis, most frequently comes from the overgrowth of bacteria in the mouth. Bad breath can also come from kidney or stomach disease, or if your pet just ate something particularly bad smelling. Dental cleanings remove the bacterial overgrowth and tartar from the mouth and should return the mouth to a normal smell, but without at-home tooth brushing the bad breath is likely to return. The best way to prevent bad breath due to dental disease is annual dental cleanings and daily at-home tooth brushing.
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Dogs have 42 teeth, although they can be born with fewer or lose teeth from the disease over time. They can also have more than 42 teeth if there are baby teeth that are still present that should have fallen out. These are called persistent primary or deciduous teeth and are often extracted.
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At Dogwood Veterinary Dental we agree with the American Animal Hospital Association’s recommendation: “[Dental cleanings and oral evaluations should be performed] when abnormalities are noted, or at least on an annual basis starting at 1 year of age for cats and small-breed dogs and at 2 years of age for large-breed dogs.” At Dogwood Veterinary Dental we want to make dental care available to every pet owner and part of their regular general health routine because it is more important than many pet owners realize. Annual oral evaluation for gingivitis, tartar, and other dental diseases is crucial to your pet’s health.
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Cats have 30 teeth, although they can be born with fewer or lose teeth from the disease over time. They can also have more than 30 teeth if there are baby teeth that are still present that should have fallen out. These are called persistent primary or deciduous teeth and are often extracted.
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Yes, pet insurance is definitely an option for customers of Dogwood Veterinary Dental. With pet insurance, the pet owner pays the bill in full and submits a claim to their pet insurance provider for reimbursement. As a veterinary care provider with a licensed veterinarian, we are eligible for pet insurance companies to reimburse our clients for care provided. There are quite a few pet insurance plans available, most only would cover dental injuries such as extraction of fractured teeth, but some do offer plans with benefits including routine dental care. Two insurance plans that do offer some routine dental care coverage are VPI and Petsbest.
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Daily at-home tooth brushing.
Dental products/treats approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC).
Dental health diets are helpful in removing/preventing tartar buildup.
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We accept cash, checks, debit, and all credit cards. In order to keep our prices as low as possible, we do require payment on the day of service and do not offer payment plans. We also accept Care Credit and Scratch Pay as alternative options.
Healthcare Financing and Medical Credit Card | CareCredit -
Signs of dental disease (periodontal disease) can include any of the following:
• Lack of appetite/not wanting to drink or eat
• Reluctance to play with toys/chew on toys
• Dropping food from the mouth
• Swelling under an eye (from a tooth root infection near the eye socket)
• Drooling
• Slowing down/lethargy
• Bad breath
• The appearance of dental tartar/plaque
• Red or swollen gums
• Teeth that “chatter,” especially in cats
• Discolored or broken teeth
• Tooth loss (other than the normal loss of baby teeth)
• Pawing or rubbing at the face
• Not wanting you to touch his/her mouth or face
• Sometimes there are no signs at all!
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Most veterinary clinics do provide in-house dental cleanings, both for routine preventative care and for treating urgent issues like fractured teeth or root infections. However, due to their busy schedules, many general practices often have extended wait times for dental appointments. At Dogwood Veterinary Dental, our singular focus on dentistry means we operate with extreme efficiency, allowing us to offer next-day or same-week appointments, saving pets from prolonged pain. This specialization also enables us to perform more dental cleanings and extractions daily, contributing to lower costs. Furthermore, we pride ourselves on transparent pricing, ensuring you will always know the exact cost without any surprise charges.
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Blood work is used to screen for organ dysfunction and underlying disease before an anesthetic procedure is performed. Physical examination alone may not detect these underlying diseases. We require all patients to have blood work done prior to going under anesthesia for their dental procedure. We provide blood work the morning of your pet's procedure to have the most up-to-date results. Our pre-operative blood work panel evaluates the liver, kidney, blood sugar levels, and checks for anemia, dehydration, and signs of infection.
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Yes, as recommended by the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC):
“For a thorough, safe dental cleaning in veterinary patients, anesthesia is essential, as this permits a comprehensive assessment of the tissues, allows dental [x-rays to be taken] when indicated, followed by the cleaning (scaling and polishing procedure) itself. So-called “anesthesia-free dental scaling” is not recommended by AVDC.”
The American Animal Hospital Association agrees, stating:
“Use well-monitored inhalation anesthesia with cuffed intubation when performing dental cleanings. These techniques increase safety, reduce stress, and decrease the chances of adverse sequelae (e.g., inhalation pneumonia), and they are essential for thorough and efficient evaluation and treatment. Attempting to perform procedures on an awake patient that is struggling or is under sedation/injectable anesthesia reduces the ability to make an accurate diagnosis, does not allow adequate treatment, and increases stress and risks to the patient.”
At Dogwood Veterinary Dental we perform dental cleanings under gas anesthesia. This is the best method to safely perform all the necessary treatments and keep your pet safe and their mouth healthy. Without anesthesia, it is not possible to take dental x-rays, clean and polish all surfaces of the teeth thoroughly, clean and probes under the gum line where dental disease is most active, and extract teeth if needed. Without anesthesia, there is a major risk of missing dental disease. Many of the anesthesia-free dental cleaning companies even recommend an annual anesthetic dental cleaning and dental x-rays to maintain your pet’s oral health. -
Dogs typically receive 3 vaccines:
1. Rabies
2. DAPP (Distemper/Adenovirus/Parvovirus/Parainfluenza with or without Leptospirosis)
3. Bordetella (Kennel Cough) for at-risk dogs (boarding, grooming, dog parks)
Cats typically receive 3 vaccines:
1. Rabies
2. FVRCP (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis/Calicivirus/Panleukopenia virus)
3. FELV (Feline Leukemia Virus) for at-risk cats (outdoor or indoor/outdoor)
An up-to-date rabies vaccine is required for all dental cleaning patients. If your pet has had rabies in the past but is past due for their vaccine, we can update it at Dogwood Veterinary Dental when they come in for their procedure. If you do not have a record of your pet ever having a rabies vaccine, you will need to have a rabies vaccine administered at least two weeks prior to your appointment. -
Although the risk of anesthesia may be slightly increased for older animals due to the normal aging of the body’s organs, age is not a disease and should not be a reason to forego dental treatments. At Dogwood Veterinary Dental we perform a physical exam prior to an anesthetic procedure to ensure that your dog or cat has a healthy heart and lungs, and we require blood work be performed prior to the treatment to ensure that their internal organs are functioning properly. Even patients with health problems can have an anesthetic procedure safely performed to receive excellent dental care. The risk of anesthetic-related death in pets is estimated to be significantly lower than 1%, while the likelihood of chronic pain and suffering from untreated dental disease may be closer to 100%. The benefits of a healthy, pain-free mouth definitely outweigh the minor risks of anesthesia.
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Extracting a tooth can be painful for a pet, but at Dogwood Veterinary Dental we do everything we can to keep your pet as comfortable as possible before, during, and after any dental treatments. Animals having a dental procedure completed always have a pain injection before and during their treatment, after surgery if necessary, and oral pain medications to go home if they have had teeth extracted.
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At Dogwood Veterinary Dental we take every precaution and use state-of-the-art technology, strict patient monitoring, physical examination, and lab testing to significantly reduce the risks associated with anesthesia, but the risk can never be fully eliminated. You can be assured at Dogwood Veterinary Dental that we devote our time and attention to your pet because they are our exclusive focus during their dental procedure and anesthetic recovery.
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Most commonly tooth breakage occurs from chewing on objects that are too hard: bones,ice cubes, and hard toys. To help prevent this, monitor your dog’s chewing on toys and provide softer alternatives for them to chew on.
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The doctor will go over all dental x-rays and perform an oral exam prior to calling you to go over recommendations for further treatment. If there are any problematic teeth, the doctor will create an estimate and go over why the extraction(s) are recommended and what the cost will be to have them done. If you approve the extractions and cost, the doctor will extract the teeth that same day; if you choose to wait to have them done at a later date, we will provide an estimate and schedule a separate appointment. There are never any surprise costs.
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Pets can get cavities, however, they are much rarer in dogs and cats because their diets are generally not high in decay-causing sugars. To avoid cavities in your pet’s mouth feed the only dog or cat food and treats designed for pets.
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Unfortunately, anesthesia-free dental cleanings are insufficient in allowing complete oral examination and dental cleaning. Without anesthesia, it is not possible to take dental x-rays, clean and polish all surfaces of the teeth thoroughly, probe the entirety of the gum line, and extract teeth if needed. Without anesthesia, there is a major risk of missing dental disease. Many of the anesthesia-free dental cleaning companies even recommend an annual anesthetic dental cleaning and dental x-rays to maintain your pet’s oral health.
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By providing annual dental cleanings you can better maintain your pets health. Without these annual cleanings your pet is at risk of requiring multiple extractions down the line which could result in a bill of one thousand dollars or more, having an infection in a tooth root that could cost hundreds of dollars to treat, or multiple veterinary visits and blood work bills as your pet gets older and begins to get sick from the dental disease and bacteria in their bloodstream and organs. But annual dental cleanings can do more than save you money, they can save your pet from chronic dental pain, early signs of aging, and early organ disease. Many people have noted that after having painful, diseased teeth removed their pet seemed years younger!
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Yes, we offer a range of services including the following:
- • Oravet dental sealant application
- • Anal gland expression (internal)
- • Clip and Clean (including mats)
- • Ear cleaning
- • Ear hair plucking
- • Fecal analysis including Giardia screen
- • Fluoride treatment
- • Mass Removal-surgical
- • Urinalysis
- • Vaccine-Bordetella (Kennel Cough)
- • Vaccine-FeLV (Feline Leukemia virus)
- • Vaccine-FVCRP (Feline Distemper/Calicivirus/Panleukopenia combo)
- • Vaccine-DAPP (Canine Distemper/Adenovirus/Parvo/Parainfluenza combo)
- • Vaccine-Lepto (Leptospirosis alone)
- • Vaccine-Rabies (Three-year rabies)
