Bowpi came to us with gunky teeth, and is in need of dental work.
We considered anesthesia-free dental, but the person who checked her out said she'll need to go under; it doesn't look like her teeth have ever been done (she's about 5 or 6 years old) and while her gums look good, they'll want to look underneath the gumline.
We got an estimate done at one vet so far. They quoted us $560 for everything without extractions (including pre-dental bloodwork, IV, fluids, a technician to monitor her all day, a special sealant after the cleaning…), or up to $950 in the "unlikely" possibility of three extractions (they included the price of a molar in this estimate, just in case). :eek:
Now keep in mind that this is skewed for California cost of living, but that seems awfully high. I know dental work is supposed to be expensive, but never having a dog that needed dental work before, I was a little shocked!
Just curious as to what Basenji dental work costs in other parts of the world/country? Not that I can do anything about it… except envy the rest of you who are able to get the job done at half these prices. ![:cool: 🆒](https://basenjiforums.com/assets/plugins/nodebb-plugin-emoji/emoji/emoji-one/1f192.png?v=dd0ek6p7usa)
At any rate, we're going to ask around for a couple more estimates. The vet said Bowpi could probably wait until February, which is "Pet Dental Month," and they would knock 25% off the bill. Meanwhile, she gets daily PlaqueOff supplements, occasional raw meaty bones, Himalayan yak chews, and C.E.T. dental chews, which have already improved her teeth and breath a LOT compared to when we first got her.
Also, I love this link on the BRAT page about Basenji dental work:
http://www.basenjirescue.org/Chey_Miller/Dental/dental.html
Unfortunately, Bowpi's teeth are in worse shape.
![](https://camo.nodebb.org/de30118d848b130552de4e41484f06f3c26a2742?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm5.static.flickr.com%2F4108%2F5022160122_317f1f8b34.jpg)
Tartarrrrr by ilovemytank, on Flickr (sorry, I don't have a better picture of her teeth at this time)
But we're going to make them better!