Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
A dental cleaning that includes the x-rays — and an exact price before we start.
Two steps. A $49 pre-dental exam so the doctor can check your pet's mouth, assess whether they’re a good candidate for anesthesia, and give you a written estimate. Then $499 for the dental itself — bloodwork, IV catheter and fluids, full anesthesia with a technician whose only job is monitoring your pet, full-mouth x-rays, cleaning, polishing and fluoride. You will never get a bill you didn't approve first.
What it costs, in the order you'll pay it
Here is the whole structure, before you commit to anything.
Step one, a few days before. This is the visit that replaces guesswork with a number.
- Hands-on examination of your pet's mouth by a veterinarian
- Whether your pet looks like a good anesthetic candidate — the bloodwork confirms it
- A written estimate for the dental before anything is scheduled
- Your questions answered by the person who will do the procedure
This $49 is charged separately from the $499 below. We'd rather say so here than surprise you with it. It buys the one thing nobody can give you over the phone: an actual price for your actual pet.
Step two. Same price for dogs and cats. Same price whether your pet is 8 pounds or 80.
- Pre-anesthetic bloodwork
- Calming pre-anesthetic medication
- IV catheter
- IV fluids throughout anesthesia
- Full general anesthesia
- Dedicated technician monitoring anesthesia
- Ultrasonic scaling above and below the gumline
- Polishing
- Fluoride treatment
- Full-mouth dental x-rays
- X-rays reviewed by your veterinarian
- Doctor consultation on findings
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork is included. It’s drawn at the $49 exam once you decide to go ahead, and billed with that visit. Occasionally a pet’s history or condition means the doctor wants a few extra parameters — uncommon, and if it applies we will tell you at the $49 exam, not on the morning of the procedure.
Step three: extractions, only if your pet needs them
Extractions, antibiotics and pain medication are additional, and we can't quote them before the x-rays. We're not being evasive: until your pet is anesthetised and we have the images on screen, nobody can honestly tell you which teeth need to come out. Most of the disease in a dog or cat's mouth is below the gumline, where it cannot be seen.
What we will do is call you during the procedure with what the x-rays show and what it will cost before we do anything beyond the cleaning. You decide, on the phone, with the information in front of us.
We do not add to the bill without asking. The work stops until you say yes.
So what will it actually come to?
For a pet with a healthy mouth and no teeth needing removal, $548 — the $49 exam plus the $499 dental. That is the floor, and we'll tell you if you're likely to be at it.
Pets who have gone years without a dental usually need teeth out, and the total goes up accordingly.
We ran a three-month dental programme for pets over five across both hospitals and 47 procedures averaged just under $2,000 — a figure that includes the pets who turned out to need nothing at all, so it is weighted toward mouths that had been left a long time.
We would rather show you that figure now than surprise you with it later — but we want to be precise about what it is. It is an average, not a typical bill. Some of those pets cost well under it and some above, depending entirely on what the x-rays found.
$548 is the floor; the $49 exam is how you find out where your pet actually sits. You will know your number before we begin, and nothing happens without your approval.
Most people don't pay this in one go — and you don't have to
A number like this is a real amount of money for most households, and we would rather talk about that plainly than pretend otherwise. We don't run in-house payment plans, but we work with three companies that do.
- Cherry — Many of our clients find that financing part or all of the procedure through Cherry works best for them. According to Cherry, the application takes under 35 seconds from start to finish, and “Cherry performs a soft credit check which does not affect your credit score.” You can apply on your phone before you ever come in.
- CareCredit — the one most people already know. Accepted here.
- Scratch Pay — a third-party plan you apply for online.
The anesthesia question
This is the reason most pets who need a dental never get one. It's a fair worry and it deserves a straight answer rather than reassurance.
We check the bloodwork first
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork is included in the $499 — not an upsell on the morning of. It tells us how your pet's liver and kidneys will handle the anesthetic drugs, and it's how we catch the problem that changes the plan before we start.
An IV catheter and fluids, every patient
The catheter means we have immediate access to a vein if we need it, rather than looking for one in an emergency. Fluids maintain blood pressure, which is what protects the kidneys under anesthesia.
Someone watches your pet, not a screen in another room
A trained technician is assigned to your pet's anesthesia and does nothing else for the duration. They track heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen, blood pressure, temperature and breathing continuously — and they're in the room, with hands on your pet.
Anesthesia-free cleaning isn't a safer alternative
Scaling the visible surface of a tooth while a pet is held down makes the mouth look better and treats none of the disease, because the disease is under the gumline. It also can't be done with x-rays, which means the painful teeth stay in the mouth. It isn't a gentler version of a dental — it's a cosmetic procedure.
Older pets, and the thing people actually mean
When someone says "he's too old for anesthesia," what they usually mean is "I'm frightened of losing him." That's the real conversation, and we'd rather have it than talk you into something.
Age on its own isn't a disease. A ten-year-old dog with clean bloodwork and a healthy heart is often a lower-risk anesthetic patient than a four-year-old with an untreated problem — and a mouth full of infected teeth is doing measurable harm every day it's left. We'll examine your pet, run the labs, and tell you honestly whether we think the procedure is a good idea. Sometimes the answer is no.
And we don’t turn pets away for being old. Patients over ten, advanced periodontal disease, mouths needing full extractions — that is precisely the group that needs the work most, and those are the cases we do.
Early drop-off, and someone here for the days after
Dentals are Monday through Thursday. Drop off between 7:30 and 8:30am on your way to work and your pet is usually home the same afternoon — we open early on purpose, so a dental doesn’t cost you a day off.
The part most practices don’t think about is what happens next. The days after a dental are when you have questions — is that swelling normal, should they be eating yet, is that much drooling expected. We’re open six days a week, until 6:30pm. And if something worries you on a Sunday, our sister hospital in Dunedin is open seven days — call (727) 738-2273. Same owner, same protocols, and they can see your pet’s records, so you are not starting from scratch with a stranger.
☎ Call (727) 592-1816 Reopens Mon–Sat 7:30am Request an AppointmentDoes your pet need emergency or urgent dental care?
A painful tooth is treated as urgently as any other problem — a broken tooth, a swollen face, bleeding gums, or a pet who has suddenly stopped eating should not wait for a routine opening. Call us and we’ll get your pet in during our hours.We’re closed right now — send the form below and we’ll be in touch when we reopen, Reopens Mon–Sat 7:30am. What happens then is the same either way: examined, given pain relief, and treated once we know what we’re dealing with. You’ll have a written estimate before anything is done, including any x-rays — the only way to see below the gumline, where the cause usually is.
☎ Call (727) 592-1816 Reopens Mon–Sat 7:30am Request an AppointmentHow to compare dental quotes
Dental quotes are hard to compare because what is included varies so much. Here is exactly what ours includes — and the questions worth asking wherever you take your pet.
| Ask every practice | Community Animal Hospitals | Anesthesia-free cleaning |
|---|---|---|
| What's the total price? | $49 exam + $499 dental, both published | Not a comparable procedure |
| Are full-mouth dental x-rays included? | Yes, always | Not possible |
| Is pre-anesthetic bloodwork included? | Yes | No anesthesia, so no pre-anesthetic bloodwork |
| Is there a separate fee for the veterinary exam? | Yes — $49, and we say so up front | Not part of the procedure |
| Can disease below the gumline be diagnosed? | Yes — full-mouth x-rays and probing under anesthesia, on every dental | No — not without anesthesia and x-rays |
| Can disease below the gumline be treated? | Yes | No — you cannot treat what you cannot diagnose |
| Does a technician monitor anesthesia the whole time? | Yes, dedicated | N/A |
| Will you call before doing extractions? | Always | N/A |
| Do you decline older pets or difficult mouths? | No | N/A |
| Open if there's a problem afterwards? | six days a week | N/A |
Start with one question
If you’re calling around, ask this one first: “Do you have a dental x-ray machine, and do you take a full set of x-rays on every dental, at no extra charge?”
It sorts things quickly. Most of each tooth sits below the gumline, where nothing can be seen by looking — so without x-rays that part is neither diagnosed nor treated, and the tartar you can see is generally the smaller half of the problem. If the answer is yes, keep asking. Ask what else is included, and what is billed separately:
- Pre-anesthetic bloodwork
- An IV catheter, and fluids throughout anesthesia
- Calming medication before induction
- Someone whose only job is monitoring your pet
- Full-mouth x-rays — and who reads them
- Polishing and fluoride
- The examination itself
- Extractions: what they cost, and whether you’ll be called before any are done
Ours are answered on this page, in writing, before you commit. The veterinarian who does the procedure is the one who examines your pet beforehand and talks you through the findings afterwards, and if something worries you on a Sunday, our sister hospital in Dunedin is open and can see your pet’s records — call (727) 738-2273. For a twelve-year-old with a heart murmur, that is invaluable. For a healthy young dog, it is what keeps them from becoming the twelve-year-old with the difficult mouth.
Does your pet actually need a dental?
By three years old, most dogs and cats have some degree of periodontal disease. The signs are easy to miss because pets don't stop eating — they just eat around the pain.
Bad breath
The single most common sign, and the most commonly dismissed. Healthy mouths don't smell. "Dog breath" is bacteria and infection, not a personality trait.
Red or bleeding gums
A thin red line where the gum meets the tooth is gingivitis. It's reversible at that stage. Left alone it isn't.
Brown or yellow buildup
Tartar you can see is generally the smaller part of the problem. What's below the gumline is what causes tooth loss.
Chewing on one side, or dropping food
Pets rarely stop eating from dental pain. They compensate — and owners often only notice the change in hindsight, after the teeth are treated.
Pawing at the face, or shying from being touched
Especially around the muzzle. Frequently mistaken for a behaviour change in an ageing pet.
A loose, broken or discoloured tooth
A fractured tooth with the pulp exposed is painful and usually infected. This one shouldn't wait for a routine appointment.
Not sure whether your pet needs a dental? Send us a photo.
Lift your pet's lip, take a picture of the teeth and gums, and send it over. One of our veterinarians will look at it and tell you honestly whether we think it's worth booking — including if we think it can wait. No charge and no obligation.
Common questions
Is the $49 exam on top of the $499, or included in it?
On top. They're two separate visits — the $49 exam happens a few days before, and the $499 covers the dental itself. So a pet who needs no teeth removed comes to $548 in total.
We charge for the exam because it's a real appointment with a veterinarian, and because it's the only honest way to give you a price. Anyone quoting you a firm total for a dental over the phone, before anyone has looked in your pet's mouth or taken an x-ray, is guessing.
What will the whole thing actually cost?
$548 if your pet's mouth is healthy and nothing needs to come out. More if teeth need extracting, and how much more depends entirely on how many and which ones — that's what the x-rays tell us.
What we can promise is the sequence: you pay $49, you get an examination and a written estimate, and then you decide. During the procedure the doctor calls you from the x-rays with an exact figure before doing anything beyond the cleaning. You will not get a bill you didn't approve.
Why does my pet need anesthesia for a teeth cleaning?
Because the part that matters is under the gumline, and no animal will hold still for that while awake. Anesthesia is also what makes dental x-rays possible, and x-rays are how we find the painful, infected roots that look perfectly normal from above. Cleaning only what you can see treats the appearance of the problem.
How long will my pet be here, and what days do you do dentals?
Dentals are Monday through Thursday. Drop off between 7:30 and 8:30am on your way to work and your pet is usually home the same afternoon.
The hospital itself is open six days a week, which matters most in the days after — if something worries you on a Sunday, our sister hospital in Dunedin is open and can see your pet’s records — call (727) 738-2273.
Will you call me before doing extractions?
Yes, always. We call you once we have the x-rays, tell you what we're seeing and what it will cost, and wait for your decision. Nothing is added without your say-so.
My pet is over ten. Will you still do it?
Yes. Pets over ten, mouths with advanced disease, and cases needing full-mouth extractions are exactly the patients who most need treatment — and they are cases we handle routinely.
What if my pet is old, or has a heart murmur or kidney disease?
Tell us — it changes how we plan the anesthetic, not necessarily whether we do it. We examine your pet and run bloodwork beforehand precisely so we're making that decision with information. If we think the risk outweighs the benefit, we'll say so.
How often should this be done?
It varies enormously. Some pets need annual cleanings; some small breeds need them more often; some go years. We'll tell you what we saw and give you a realistic interval for your pet rather than a generic one.
Why is it the same price for a cat and a large dog?
Because the work is the same work. A cat's mouth has thirty teeth and a large dog's has forty-two, but every one of them gets cleaned, probed and x-rayed either way, and the anesthesia is monitored the same way for the same length of time. Charging by body weight would mean charging you for your pet's size rather than for what we actually did.
Does my pet need to be up to date on vaccines before a dental?
Dogs need a current rabies vaccine and a current heartworm test. Cats need a current rabies vaccine. If any of those are out of date, that’s not a problem — they can be updated at the $49 pre-dental exam, so it’s one less trip.
Do you take payment plans?
We don't run plans in house, but we work with Cherry, CareCredit and Scratch Pay. Many of our clients find that financing part or all of the procedure through Cherry works best for them. According to Cherry, the application takes under 35 seconds from start to finish, and “Cherry performs a soft credit check which does not affect your credit score.”
You can apply before you book, so you know exactly where you stand. Call us and we'll text you the link.
Can my pet stay overnight afterwards?
We do not provide overnight care. For most procedures your pet goes home the same day — home is quieter, and you are the person who notices first when something is not right. You will go home with written aftercare instructions and a number to call if anything worries you.
If your pet does need overnight monitoring, we will say so and refer you to a 24-hour facility that can give it. That is a judgment made on the day, about your pet — not a policy.
Book a dental consultation
We'll examine your pet's mouth, tell you what we find and give you the full cost before you commit to anything.
Open 7:30am–6:30pm, six days a week · Walk-ins welcome
Where we are
5895 54th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Serving St. Petersburg · Gulfport · Pinellas Park · Seminole · Bardmoor · Tyrone Square · South Pasadena · Kenneth City · Lealman