I got Kody in to see the doggie dentist today. Unfortunately not only did Kody break the top of his tooth off, he took a chuck off the side as well. This means I’m going to have to brush his teeth every day to make sure they stay clean, even after the root canal and crown.
But I want to post this, just in case any of you feel from your dog root canal experience it’s super expensive, I’m also going to call around to make sure, but after looking online, it unfortunately seems about right.
Adding a crown is important for Kody because he took some off the side of the tooth and the crown will add that area back which will deflect food away from the gums which will prevent decay.
As with humans, these are two separate procedures done on different dates. Many dogs can get away with just a root canal. The point of the tooth would still be missing, but the tooth itself would be fine.
Adding a crown is important for Kody because he took some off the side of the tooth and the crown will add that area back which will deflect food away from the gums which will prevent decay like the natural tooth shape would. Also, adding the crown will allow him to chew as he did before using the tooth. Of course, he won’t be allowed to chew on such hard things anymore, but he’ll still have softer safer chew toys.
The doctor did explain that extraction was an option that wouldn’t make me a “bad dog parent”. Kody would still be able to do basic chewing on that side of his mouth because there are more teeth around that area. But an extraction is expensive too, about $900, although the vet quoted a little cheaper price. I just feel like I should do what I can here since Kody is so young. I don’t take the cost lightly, that is a lot of money and while I have the money, my income with a new business will not cover it, it’s coming out of savings.
The doctor was very nice and I was confident in his skills, but he did one thing I didn’t like. When he went out to get the cost estimate sheets he didn’t come back and instead had an assistant give me the estimates. I just felt I would have liked him to be the one to spend that last five minutes with me and answer any final questions I had, and really, just say goodbye. I though it was bad form. On my way home I thought, That’s a lot of money to spend. I like to be taken to dinner before I get screwed! Oh well, no dinner this time. Kody goes in next Monday.
I guess I should probably get insurance now since Kody seems to be quite accident prone. I’m not sure why I don’t already have it, I guess I just thought how most people seem to go their whole dog’s life without an accident, but then, I am certainly not most people. And when Kody has an issue I’m more likely to notice it and more likely to want to fix it. So insurance, even just for the future is probably the right choice for me.
Wow! I suppose that most of the cost has to do with surgical prep, medications and care after the procedure. The price of crowns (human or canine) really has me gobsmacked! You’ve done a lot of research here and it is good information to have in the back of my head for future reference.
I agree that the Dr. should have returned to speak with you about the estimates. Too bad if they don’t want to talk money, that is part of being a business person. I had a regular appointment for Oskar last year where the vet never even entered the room, and everything was handled, out of my sight, by the techs and other staff. I was miffed because I was still charged almost $300.00 for the visit, and I had to wait long periods of time for answers from the vet (translated by the techs) to the point that we were there over an hour. The staff said that the vet was busy. Busy?
I really hope that this all goes well for Kody, and I’m interested to hear from you about recommended toys for chewing or other dental care items.
Give Kody a big hug from us!
You’re right, dogs take more work to do a root canal and there’s the general anesthesia too so it can be more expensive. I’ll definitely pass on what the doctor tells me about good chew toy and treat options.
I know it’s probably stressful for the doctor too, but the least he could have done prepared me and said something like, “OK do you have any final questions?” and then at the end, “I’m going to have Cindy come back with estimates for these procedures and you can make the decision with her which ones you want and when you want to schedule. Thanks for coming in!”
I guess it’s a bit nit-picky but it’s so much money. I was telling a friend at lunch today that this was another parenting lesson I’ve learned. I say that the cost doesn’t matter, that I want to do what’s best for Kody and that’s mostly true as long as I actually can scrape together the money.
But even though I feel that way, it is a lot of money, and it’s very stressful to think you have this expense coming. So you have the stress of your dog being hurt and to top it off you have the stress of money. The fact that it’s your dog, who you love, doesn’t really make giving up that much money easier, it just makes the decision easier.