Hunter was examined at his routine yearly physical. He had no indication of dental disease, oral cavity pain, or anything really. This is the real power of routine examinations; finding the problems before your pet suffers from them.
Hunter was seen at a routine annual physical examination. While examining him a dark black spot was seen at the gum line in the back of his mouth. The dark spot was worried to be an abscess, or infection, or broken tooth root, or even packed debris. I discussed with his family placing him under general anesthesia to look at the area closer.
Hunter was given pre-op blood work with his annual examination and vaccines. Total for this visit was $120 for exam and vaccines. Pre-op bloodwork (CBC, full chemistty, urine, fecal, thyroid) $200.
Any dental with complex fractures, broken teeth, missing, or diseased teeth, or even patients with anesthetic concerns should be offered a dental surgeons advice. The tooth that I was worried would need extracting was a PM$, or a carnassial tooth. It is the largest tooth in the dogs math. It is a difficult tooth to remove, and great care must be taken as it lives so close to the ocular (eye) orbit.
Hunter was given an intravenous catheter, i.v. fluids, and placed under general anesthesia. His teeth were x-rayed and probed. There was a very large pocket between the two teeth where the black spot was noticed. After closer inspection, which only happens under anesthesia, we saw part of the enamel on the outside of the tooth and the tip of the tooth was missing. Enamel loss is most commonly associated with chewing excessively on toys, treats, or bones. When the enamel is lost the tooth is much more vulnerable.
The cost of Hunters dental and extraction was as follows;
i.v. catheter, i.v. fluids, fluid pump $115
anesthesia $200
PM4 extraction $95
Scale and Polish teeth $95
anesthetic for the extraction $22
suture $25
Dental X-Rays $60
post op injectable pain medication $16
Antibiotics to take home $30
Analgesics to take home $23
Total for procedure $941
This story was posted with Hunters families permmission
