What is actually included in a dog dental cleaning quote?

A dog dental cleaning quote usually covers the cleaning and little else. In our survey of 56 published prices, collected in October 2026, only 6 of 45 providers say their base price includes dental x-rays, and only 4 include pre-anesthetic bloodwork. The median base price is $409, and the lines outside it can more than double the bill.

Prices vary by clinic, by region and by what the fee covers. This is cost research, not veterinary advice. Ask your own vet for a written estimate before you book, and ask what it includes.

What does a routine dental cleaning price cover?

The cleaning itself: scaling tartar off the teeth, polishing them and examining the mouth. That is the one line every provider in the survey prices. Almost everything else is a separate line, a separate package, or a question the published page does not answer.

Across the survey the median routine price is $409, with the middle half between $304 and $468. Who quotes you moves that most. The 13 nonprofit prices have a median of $225 and the 30 Banfield hospital prices a median of $433.

So before asking whether a figure is high, ask what it is a figure for. A $500 quote that covers x-rays and bloodwork can cost you less than a $376 quote that covers neither.

Are dental x-rays included in the price?

Usually not, or the page does not say. Only 6 of the 45 providers counted in the survey state that their base price includes dental x-rays. Three say plainly that theirs does not.

Humane Society of Utah’s St. George clinic describes its $250 Level 1 as a cleaning under anesthesia with no x-rays. The Texas Coalition for Animal Protection, which starts at $165, does not perform x-rays and refers pets to a specialist when it thinks they are needed.

Where x-rays are itemised, they are a large line. Animal House Veterinary Clinic in Nashville lists full-mouth x-rays at $276 against a $376 cleaning. Quick Fix Veterinary Clinic in Michigan does not take full-mouth x-rays at all and charges $35 for each individual tooth that needs one.

The providers that include x-rays are Animal Humane Society in Minnesota, Texas Humane Heroes, CSNIP in Michigan, The Pet Advocate Vet in California, Pet Dental Clinic in Colorado and Rocket City Veterinary Hospital in Alabama. Their routine prices run from $225 to $700, so including x-rays does not by itself make a quote expensive.

Is pre-anesthetic bloodwork included?

At 4 of the 45 providers. Pet Dental Clinic in Loveland, Colorado includes it in a $500 price that also covers full-mouth x-rays, and The Pet Advocate Vet in Tracy, California does the same at $700. Rocket City Veterinary Hospital includes it in its $370 Grade 1 price, and Humane Society of Manatee County in Florida in its $575 price.

Elsewhere it is a separate line, where it is priced at all. Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic in Indiana lists bloodwork at $90 for dogs 8 years and older, and Quick Fix Veterinary Clinic lists it at $75. Animal House in Nashville sells it inside a $388 package with an IV catheter and fluids.

Some low cost providers do not offer it. The Texas Coalition for Animal Protection suggests owners of pets over 5 consider having bloodwork done at their own vet first. Whether your dog needs it is a medical question for your vet; what it costs is a question to put on the written estimate.

How are extractions priced?

Four ways, and they are hard to compare. Some clinics price by level or grade, some by how many teeth come out, some per tooth, and a few fold simple extractions into the cleaning price. Each model can make the same dog cost a different amount.

Level pricing is the most common model among providers that publish extraction prices at all. At the five in the chart, the most involved level costs between 1.3 and 3.4 times the routine price. Humane Society of Utah goes from $250 to $850, and Animal Humane Society from $556.50 to $1,446.90.

Three providers fold simple extractions into the base price: CSNIP, Quick Fix Veterinary Clinic at $400 to $500, and Humane Society of Manatee County at $575. All three charge separately for harder extractions.

Animal Humane Society says its dental pricing is based on the severity of dental disease and the amount of extractions needed. That is the reason most clinics quote a range, and the reason to ask what each level costs before the day.

What other fees appear on a dental bill?

An exam or consultation first, and medication after. Banfield states that an office visit fee is charged on top of every service at its hospitals. Lehigh Valley Humane Society charges a $46 consultation, CSNIP $40, and Texas Humane Heroes a $30 dental exam.

Sheets Pet Clinic in Greensboro, North Carolina lists a pre-dental exam at $68, or $47 if done at the time of surgery. Humane Society of Manatee County in Florida adds up to $25 for antibiotics, and the Texas Coalition for Animal Protection requires a 5 day course at $15.

None of these is large alone. Together they explain why the figure on the page and the figure on the invoice differ, even at clinics that publish their prices in full.

How do you compare two dental quotes?

Line up the same items on both. The two published price lists below are from providers in our survey, and the lower headline price produces the higher total once the same lines are added.

Neither page is cheap or dear on its own terms. Animal House publishes each line separately and says its estimates may not include diagnostics, bloodwork, medications, an IV catheter or a cone. Pet Dental Clinic bundles three lines into one price. The only fair comparison is line by line.

The same holds between regions. The same Banfield cleaning is $380.95 in Bossier City, Louisiana and $491.95 in Brooklyn, New York. In our sample, Banfield hospitals in the Northeast charge more than those in the South for the same service.

When is a higher quote reasonable?

When it covers more lines, when it is for a higher level, or when you are in a higher priced area. A quote above the $468 upper quartile is not unusual if it includes x-rays and bloodwork, because the quotes it is being compared with often do not.

It is worth questioning when it covers the same lines as a cheaper quote in the same area. Ask for both in writing, check they list the same items, and ask whether the price is for the routine level or already assumes extractions.

Our guide to judging a spay or neuter quote applies the same test to surgery prices.

What should you ask before you agree to a dental cleaning?

Five questions turn a headline price into a comparable total. Ask them of every clinic you are comparing, and ask for the answers in writing.

1. Does this price include full-mouth dental x-rays?
2. Is pre-anesthetic bloodwork included, and if not, what does it cost?
3. Which level or grade is this quote for, and what does each higher level cost?
4. How are extractions priced: by level, by number of teeth, or per tooth?
5. Is there an exam, consultation or visit fee, and are take-home medications included?

Then compare the totals. The full price sheet, with every provider, city and source link, is on the dog teeth cleaning cost survey linked above, along with the state by state Banfield figures.

Prices were collected on 1 October 2026 and change without notice. This page is about price, not about whether your dog needs a cleaning, x-rays or extractions. Your own vet is the only person who can tell you that.