Yes.

In the vast majority of circumstances, the answer to this is yes. Safety in veterinary anesthesia has improved steadily over time. Studies have shown that for a healthy pet undergoing anesthesia, the likelihood of a successful outcome (measured as survival in the study mentioned) is around 999 times out of 1000.

We routinely anesthetize dogs and cats with heart murmurs, chronic kidney disease, addison's disease, diabetes, recent trauma and many other major medical conditions. Our anesthetic protocols are developed in conjunction with a veterinary anesthesiologist, and we have access to consult with veterinary anesthesiologists on complicated cases.

Specific precautions do need to be taken for pets like this, including adjusting which drugs are used, adjusting drug doses, and keeping procedures to an appropriate length based on how healthy or unhealthy a pet is. It is very uncommon that pets are not well enough for us to do a procedure that is aimed at improving their quality of life.

Sometimes we will abbreviate or shorten procedures over our concerns about length of anesthesia, but it's very rare that we cannot perform a procedure at all

In our practice, we do a number of things to make anesthesia as safe as possible. We use safe reliable and pet specific drug protocols and doses, high tech and high-quality equipment combined with diligent patient monitoring by humans. When we perform procedures, we typically have three to four team members working on a pet at any given time, including a dedicated anesthesia technician, a dentistry technician, an assistant, as well as a veterinarian. This approach ensures everyone is focused on their specific role in patient care.

When you drop a pet off for surgery it can be nerve wracking. We will keep you fully informed of what's going on throughout the day.

They will receive a sedative, and they will have an IV catheter placed, then be placed under general anesthesia and have their airway protected with an endotracheal tube.

They will have full mouth dental radiographs and or a cone beam CT scan performed by a Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), or veterinarian. Dr. Pegg will perform a detailed examination under anesthesia, then will read and interpret the radiographs while your pet has their teeth professionally scaled and polished by an RVT.

At this point you will receive a phone call to confirm everything is going well, and to give any updates on the treatment plan.

We expect to have additional findings based on the oral exam and radiographs. This is normal and our treatment plan and recommendations may vary at this point from the initial exam.

If there are any implications for the cost of treatment (95% of the time there aren't) we will update you at this point. 

Following dental extractions, typically, the younger and healthier a pet is, the quicker we expect them to recover. Many young pets having a broken tooth extracted are normal or nearly normal the evening of  surgery. Older pets with other major medical conditions may take several days to recover fully and really feel themselves again.

Most pets, regardless of their age, are eating the night of surgery or the morning following surgery, and we are in close contact in the days after surgery to ensure their recovery is going smoothly.

Most pets by 48 hours after surgery, are feeling well enough to go for regular walks, but we ask you not to do anything too strenuous like long hikes for a few more days.

By five to seven days following surgery, most of the swelling is gone. By two weeks after surgery, if recovery is going well, the soft tissues are healed well enough that they are able to transition back to regular food.

In most cases pets are well enough to go home following surgery.

We find that most pets (especially older pets and anxious pets) recover better at home than they do in a hospital setting. If it’s necessary from a medical standpoint for your pet to stay overnight in hospital, we will make arrangements with a local 24 hour hospital to have their care transferred there overnight.

We aim to make the process seamless for you, with your permission we will transfer your pet to the 24-hour hospital, and pick them up in the morning so you can pick them up from our hospital.

As soon as they are awake from anesthesia and able to get up and walk around (usually within 1-2 hours) it’s fine for them to begin eating.

They can have any soft food after surgery is performed. Canned dog or cat food is fine, and so is home cooked food for the short term after surgery. If they are on a special diet we recommend sticking to it, and if it’s a kibble, soaking in warm water for 10-15 minutes before feeding to soften it.

Our recommendation is to discontinue raw diets for 2 weeks after surgery while the soft tissue heals. Raw diets can have higher bacterial counts than commercial diets, and if there are any incisions in their mouth we don’t want to predispose them to infection. The same diet can continue to be fed if cooked first.

Most pets (including those with no teeth at all) eat very well, and the majority of them, after the healing time is complete, will go back to eating solid food or whatever their diet was before surgery. Most pets receiving major or full mouth extractions have severe oral issues, and many of them have chronic pain.

It's common for pet owners to notice that their pets are more lively, energetic and seem happier following dental surgery, including full mouth dental extractions.

Many pets, even with all of their teeth, do absolutely no chewing of food.

In the wild, teeth are needed to groom the body, pick parasites out of the fur, catch and kill prey, break them into small pieces, and grind them up to swallow. The reality is that with pets, we have done most of these actions for them, and in most circumstances, pets can live wonderful lives with no teeth at all.

The majority of people end their life without some or most of their teeth, and the majority of pets are similar.

Whenever possible and reasonable, we try to preserve bottom canine teeth, but when they do need to be removed, it should be acknowledged that sometimes there is a period of adaptation where they have to figure out how to pick up food differently. Feeding in an elevated bowl or in a bowl with a lip around the top can help them scoop food more easily with their tongue. Some dogs are messier eaters than they were before, but it is very uncommon that pets experience major long-term difficulty eating or are unable to eat following surgery.

We fully recognize that dental care in pets is costly. We aim to provide the best value possible and have done many things to help alleviate the financial stress for pet parents.

We have a published list of expected costs transparently displayed on our website to help with financial planning for pet dental care.

Of course! We keep our website up to date with a series of generally expected costs for many situations, but can’t cover every situation.

We will always give you a written estimate of the cost of treatment before we begin a procedure for your pet.

After diagnostics are done, the only time the cost of treatment will change is if we find new information that couldn’t have been previously known or reasonably anticipated.

We do our best to provide fair and accurate cost estimates for what we might reasonably anticipate, and 95% of the time, the total cost falls into the provided estimate.

 An example of an unexpected finding would be detecting an oral growth that needs to be biopsied in the back of the mouth where it’s impossible for the doctor to see while your pet is awake.

In these cases, you’ll be updated on the expected costs of services before they are performed, and you will never be charged more than what you have originally agreed to without your consent.

If you are not comfortable with proceeding with a modified treatment plan at that moment, we can always stop, regroup, and come up with another plan for another day.

We are happy to provide flexible payment options through our financing partners and in some circumstances we will provide dental treatment in stages with no additional cost over completing treatment in one episode.

There are a variety of benefits to this, including shortening anesthesia time by performing two shorter procedures as well as splitting up the cost over time.

While many practices do offer quality dental care, Dr. Pegg is one of the most highly trained veterinarians in Canada in Dentistry and Oral Surgery. She is a Board Certified Veterinary Dentist™ (one of 29 in Canada [12/31/2024]) with extensive experience treating a wide variety of dental and oral issues in pets. 

High quality care is costly, and we would strongly caution against choosing an option that is a fraction of the cost and at a significant compromise to the quality of care.

All treatment is not created equal. Treatment that does not include dental radiographs is incomplete and inadequate, as is skipping steps such as appropriate monitoring under anesthesia by a dedicated, fully qualified Veterinary Technician.

• Do you take full mouth dental radiographs?

• What training does the person monitoring anesthesia have?

• Is the same person responsible for monitoring anesthesia and performing dental care such as cleaning?

• Is it a veterinarian performing the dental extractions?

• (It is illegal for any other staff member to perform dental extractions).

• Do you like and feel confident about dental extractions?