Broken tooth

Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Shamas chipped a tooth on a bone, and the vet's suggesting Root canal because he says it's sensitive. They're reaching out to the Fraser Hale institute in Guelph for a price but I'm worried about cost.

I know when he chipped the tooth- it was in mid sept, on a bone but it didn't look bad, and he's not ornary, nor does he favour it at all when eating(and he's on a T/D dental food that requires him to break it up with his teeth)---he just protested to it being touched in the Vets.

Anyone have experience with root canals/dentistry cost? I have no insurance on Shamas.15743911306571059978162.jpg15743911306571059978162.jpg
 
SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

If he has a tooth that's chipped or broken it needs to come out or it will get infected and course lots of problems. You need it out asap because it can be dangerous to leave and course blood poisoning. Even if it looks ok and seems that it's ok infection will travel into the gum and course an abscess. Do it while he's young in old age it can a big problem. Just because it looks ok doesn't mean it is. A tooth abscess was a contributing factor to Moos death. Hope you and your family are well XXX♥
 
Charlie

Charlie

Location
Argyll & Bute, Scotland
That must be extremely painful. I agree with @SwampDonkey he needs to be seen urgently. If it's been like that since September he must be in a lot of pain. It will be expensive but I'm afraid there is no choice. There are a couple of members that have had experience with broken teeth @Beanwood and @Oberon who I am sure will advise you. Poor Shamas. Let us know what happens. xx
 
MrChew

MrChew

Agree that it needs doing because dental abscesses are awful things.

However, with humans they would be offered root canal vs extraction, with the latter being much cheaper and with fewer steps, so maybe that's an option for you?
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

I think most vets would recommend extraction. You need to see a dental vet specialist regarding a possible root canal, but if I remember rightly the outlook for a tooth treated in this way is not great, as they become more brittle than the other teeth.
 
SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

If the root I'd taken out the tooth dies. It does become very brittle for us it's not to much of a problem for dogs this is a big problem. I had them taken out asap with my dogs.
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
I'm getting prices now....so far it's looking like about $2000, and we'll have to book a specialist a few hours away....which surprises me, given we're in the health care capital of Canada. Not for animals though lol. I'm waiting to hear back from our vet about Guelph's prices, and in the meantime I called a couple on my own.

The vet wants the root canal done to save the tooth, rather than taking out the whole tooth, because it's strong, and he'd have to saw the tooth in half and dig out healthy roots if it were extracted....but it depends a lot on how much both options cost, and how long it takes to book him in. He wasn't showing pain before, but he sure is now that it's been poked at-nothing like poking a sore tooth to tell the owner it's there!
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Any suggestion on food for him while I organise the dentist? He's not touched his bowl since he came back from the vet- it obviously pains him now that it's been poked....I have plenty of CAT food in the house, but will need to buy softer dog food...he's on the T/D dental diet, designed to remove plaque
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
I got him some Pedigree cans

And no, because he didn't hurt before the vet- it was only AFTER the appointment that he got fussy. Vet was closed today, so his reference didn't go to Guelph yet. I'm looking into financing options...after talking to them, I was told that it could be as much as $3,500

I think my credit limit has about $2000 left
 
Oberon

Oberon

Location
Canberra, Australia
My first Labrador broke the same tooth (carnassial or upper 4th premolar) and he had a root canal to save the tooth. As it's such a big tooth it leaves a big gap if removed. It has three roots, so getting those out causes a lot of disruption to the bone around.

Unfortunately it would be very painful - would've hurt a lot before seeing the vet but for some reason he is only showing it now. It has probably just worsened beyond what he can hide.

It is a tricky one, and it sure is expensive. We did it without insurance too, so I feel your pain. We also had to travel to Melbourne and stay a couple of nights. A big palaver. But in the end I was glad we allowed him to keep the tooth.
 
M

M.F.

That is expensive. Would it cost the same if it were a human having root canal? My husband had root canal done a few weeks ago. It cost $1000. In Cape Town, South Africa.
 
Oberon

Oberon

Location
Canberra, Australia
It’s a lengthy operation, thoroughly removing the interior tissue from such a large, triple rooted tooth. It needs to be done by a specialist veterinary dentist.

When our boy had his root canal the tooth was less robust than his other teeth afterwards. But he had lost much more of it initially than Shamas has. A few more bits did chop off over time, but it didn’t matter as the tooth was dead and fully filled anyway. Our boy originally broke his on a large cow bone - that was the last time I ever gave a dog a weight bearing mammal bone.
 
Shamas mom

Shamas mom

Location
Canada
Oberon said:
My first Labrador broke the same tooth (carnassial or upper 4th premolar) and he had a root canal to save the tooth. As it's such a big tooth it leaves a big gap if removed. It has three roots, so getting those out causes a lot of disruption to the bone around.

Unfortunately it would be very painful - would've hurt a lot before seeing the vet but for some reason he is only showing it now. It has probably just worsened beyond what he can hide.

It is a tricky one, and it sure is expensive. We did it without insurance too, so I feel your pain. We also had to travel to Melbourne and stay a couple of nights. A big palaver. But in the end I was glad we allowed him to keep the tooth.
Click to expand...
Do you recall what it cost? We're looking into taking a loan, but haven't heard from the vet or from Guelph regards to the procedure or price yet.... Guelph can only tell me that the average patient has a bill of about $3,500 because they don't leave anything undone.
So he will probably get some light scaling done and a cap on the tooth before they release him
 
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