Why Are Dentals So Expensive?

We know that when you're told your pet needs a dental, the price tag can sometimes come as a surprise (unless your dog's mouth looks like the main photo because that dog is going to need almost all those teeth taken out). It’s natural to compare it to the cost of your own dental check-up or clean—but veterinary dentistry is a whole different ballgame. So, what exactly are you paying for, and why does it cost more than you might expect?

It's Not "Just a Clean"

Unlike human dentistry, our patients can’t sit still and say “ahhh.” To safely and thoroughly assess and treat your pet’s mouth, a general anaesthetic is essential. And with that comes a high level of care, planning, and monitoring—especially because most dental patients are older and may have other health conditions that need to be considered.

Pre-Anaesthetic Blood Tests

Before any dental anaesthetic, we perform a pre-anaesthetic blood test. This is not optional for dentals because they often surprise us and become much longer than anticipated. This helps us check key organ function—especially the liver and kidneys, which are involved in processing the anaesthetic drugs. It also checks for signs of infection, anaemia, or other underlying issues that could affect how safely your pet can undergo the procedure. In some cases, these tests can pick up problems that aren’t yet showing any outward symptoms, which allows us to tailor the anaesthetic plan or delay the procedure if needed.

Modern Facilities and Advanced Monitoring

We’ve invested in modern, up-to-date anaesthetic monitoring equipment, similar to what you’d expect in a human hospital. This means your pet's heart rate/ ECG, oxygen levels, blood pressure, respiratory rate, temperature and more are continuously monitored throughout the procedure. We also use warming equipment to maintain your pet’s body temperature during anaesthesia—something that’s easy to overlook but critical to recovery.

A Dedicated Team for Every Step

During your pet’s dental, we have:

• A dedicated qualified/registered veterinary nurse whose only job is to monitor the anaesthetic from start to finish. They’re not multitasking—they're focused solely on your pet's safety.
• A second nurse taking full-mouth dental radiographs. These are essential because most dental disease is below the gumline where we can’t see it.
• The veterinarian carefully assesses these radiographs, plans the treatment, and performs any necessary extractions or other procedures. This approach ensures we’re not just cleaning teeth—we’re diagnosing and treating disease that could be causing pain or infection.

It's About Quality and Safety

We know that our dental procedures aren’t the cheapest around, and we’re okay with that. Because what we offer is thorough, safe, and compassionate care that prioritises your pet’s well-being. There are cheaper options, but they often skip essential steps like blood tests and dental radiographs. These shortcuts can put your pet at risk—and that’s never something we’re willing to do.

So, when comparing prices - check if you are comparing Apples with Apples.

The Power of Dental Radiographs: Seeing What’s Beneath the Surface

One of the biggest advances in our dental care has been the introduction of dental radiography—and honestly, we would never go back. Since implementing it nearly two years ago, we’ve uncovered an astonishing number of hidden dental problems that we never would’ve seen just by looking in the mouth.

We’re talking about:

• Tooth root abscesses.
• Fractured or abnormal tooth roots.
• Advanced bone loss.

Here are some case examples:

This is a little 10-year-old toy poodle who had had a dental performed at another vet 6 months earlier because they had a dental month offer on and so it was cheaper – nothing wrong with that. They had since noted that there was a funny growth in her mouth on the inside of one of her lower teeth, and we were investigating that. We took dental radiographs to check whether the mass was a cancer affecting the underlying bone and found that the tooth next to it had no root. The mass was an inflammatory non-neoplastic mass associated with the problem tooth – the tooth itself looked completely normal from the surface.

We always do full-mouth radiographs so we don’t miss anything… and guess what?! We found a couple of tooth root abscesses on both the teeth behind the upper canines (the darker areas around the root of the teeth):

So we took those out too. The first dental was cheaper because they didn’t have dental radiography and therefore couldn’t tell the full extent of the dental problems and only removed the teeth that looked bad on the outside.

These undetected issues often cause chronic pain or infection, but without radiographs, they remain hidden. Many pets simply adapt or hide signs of discomfort, so you might not know anything is wrong until it’s advanced.

And don’t feel guilty that’s it’s you not being an observant owner! Here is my own cat Misty – she was only 4 years old when we noticed her chin seemed larger than it used to. But we hadn’t really noticed anything else. She was still eating, and we didn’t really consider her a “smoochy” cat – it was normal for her to keep herself to herself. I examined her mouth and noted that she had fractured the tips off her upper and lower canines but they looked a normal colour and the surrounding gum was totally normal. I took her to work, and we performed a general anaesthetic and took dental radiographs. My Goodness! Did I feel guilty? She had a tooth infection in her lower canine (from the fractured tip) which had infected the bone and the tooth root was being eaten away by the infection.

The dental radiograph showed me not only what the problem was, but also, that there wasn’t a root there to go searching for, because it isn’t as easy as it looks from the x-ray to see that when you are extracting the tooth. We’d be expecting one the same size root as you see on the good side without the dental X-rays. So I was able to remove the tooth that was there and put her on antibiotics for the infection in the bone, and she has been a different character since! So what we assumed was her normal demeanour as she matured, was completely wrong. She was in pain and we didn’t know it! How heartbreaking is that?! Here she is, back to asking for the tap to be turned on so she can have a drink... 

So I hope this helps explain why we cannot always give an accurate dental estimate when we look into your pet’s mouth – we don’t have x-ray vision.

At Warnbro Veterinary Hospital, we currently have a cap on dental pricing - $3000 – some dogs and cats need ALL their teeth taken out and that takes a long time. We do not do anaesthetics longer than 3 hours in the best interest of the animal. Shorter if there are any problems e.g we cannot keep their body temperature or blood pressure at a safe level. In some cases we will “stage” the dental in two parts for the safety of your pet. In these circumstances, so long as the second stage is done within 6 weeks of the first, the $3000 cap still applies.

Dental radiographs allow us to diagnose accurately, treat appropriately, avoid unnecessary extractions and ensure we do extract all those necessary, while also making informed decisions about your pet’s ongoing care. They’ve become an essential part of every dental we do—and they’ve massively improved the quality of care we’re able to offer.