How much does a dog dental cleaning cost?
A dental cleaning usually costs about $500 per cleaning, including anesthesia, when no teeth need to come out. That is the middle of the prices we collected and checked. The lowest price with bloodwork included was about $400, at Banfield, and the highest was about $2,100, at a university hospital. Prices clinics post had a middle of about $450; prices people shared from their own vets had a middle of about $750. If you're reading this with an estimate in your hand, here is what it should include and why yours may differ.
A professional dental cleaning is the visit where your dog is put under general anesthesia and every tooth is examined and X-rayed. Tartar is scraped off above and below the gumline, then the teeth are polished. Vets call that scraping scaling, and some call the whole visit a comprehensive oral health assessment and treatment (COHAT for short).
is the middle of 27 prices for a cleaning under anesthesia with no teeth pulled, from 11 states. They come from Banfield, nonprofit dental programs, one university hospital and prices people shared online from general practices. The low is Banfield's posted $409 in Houston, bloodwork included; Banfield's pages do not say whether dental X-rays are in that price. The high is Colorado State University's posted minimum of $2,050, with a 3D scan and full-mouth X-rays included. The table rounds both, to $400 and $2,100.
Does my dog really need a cleaning, and does it have to be now?
Most dogs need one sooner or later. Cornell’s veterinary college says 80 to 90 percent of dogs over age three have some gum disease. According to the American Veterinary Dental College, that disease eats away the bone that holds each root, until teeth loosen and hurt.
The same college calls a cleaning under anesthesia, with X-rays of every tooth, the only way to prevent gum disease or catch it early. The American Animal Hospital Association strongly recommends full-mouth dental X-rays for every dental patient. In one study it cites, 28 percent of dog teeth that looked normal turned out to have important problems on X-ray.
How fast it moves in any one dog is a question for your vet, so ask how long a wait is safe. For a first cleaning, the hospital association’s guidelines name age one for small and medium dogs and age two for larger breeds. Getting a second opinion before you book, with an awake exam and a second written estimate, is a normal step.
Why did my vet quote more, or less, than this?
Who does the cleaning moves the price most. The prices clinics post had a middle of about $450. The prices people shared from their own vets had a middle of about $750. If your only nearby option is an independent general practice, $750 is the closer comparison.
Posted prices come mostly from Banfield and nonprofit programs. Banfield posts $409 to $580 at the four locations in our prices, with bloodwork in the price. Those pages never say whether dental X-rays are in it, and Banfield’s dental page warns the price can go up when X-rays are needed. A call to your location settles it.
Five nonprofit and low-cost clinics post $225 to $704 with dental X-rays built in. Bloodwork is billed on top at those clinics or not mentioned, which is why the cheapest of them sit below our $400 low.
Prices people shared from independent practices spread widely. In the Denver area they ran from $500 at a Longmont dental practice, X-rays and bloodwork included, through $750 and $775 to $1,000. Around Atlanta they ran from about $450 to about $1,000.
The top of the range is a different kind of practice. Colorado State University’s veterinary hospital posts a minimum of $2,050, with lab work, a 3D scan and full-mouth X-rays included. A board-certified veterinary dentist near San Francisco posts $2,200 to $2,800 before the consult and bloodwork.
For a dog of 45 to 80 pounds, size moves the price little. Banfield posts one price for every dog. Home Fur Good, a nonprofit clinic in Phoenix, adds $44 over 60 pounds and $55 over 80, so a dog at the heavy end of that range can already pay more there.
A 2025 CareCredit survey of all 50 states gives a national average of $388 for a dog teeth cleaning, with state averages of $307 to $702. It appears to count the cleaning line alone, without anesthesia or X-rays, which would explain why it sits below our $500. Banfield’s dental page puts cleanings at $300 to $700 in general, and says the price can rise for X-rays or extractions.
If you want to know what Embrace’s policy would pay on a dental visit, our guide to pet insurance that covers dental works through its terms. Our guide to whether pet insurance is worth it takes up the bigger question.
What should the estimate include?
Here are the lines a full cleaning estimate should carry. The ones marked often missing are what to check first when a quote looks low.
- A visit or consult fee. Colorado State’s hospital charges $237 on top of its cleaning price, and the Lehigh Valley Humane Society charges $46. Often missing.
- Bloodwork before anesthesia. Helping Hands in Orlando charges $256 for it, and Lehigh Valley charges $86, required for dogs over ten. Often missing.
- Anesthesia and monitoring, with fluids through a vein.
- Full-mouth dental X-rays. Home Fur Good charges $38.50 to $66 for them on top of the cleaning. The Humane Society of Manatee County takes them only if a tooth has to come out. Often missing.
- Scaling above and below the gumline, then polishing. The dental college calls the part under the gum the most critical part of the cleaning.
- A full exam of the mouth and a chart of every tooth, done while your dog is asleep. Cornell says a thorough exam with dental X-rays is only possible under anesthesia.
- Medication to take home, if your dog needs it. The Manatee County clinic lists up to $25 for antibiotics and up to $25 for pain medication. Often missing.
- Extractions. Only one price in our sources, a Florida nonprofit’s, covers minor extractions; the rest leave them out.
When one quote is much lower than the rest, check it line by line against this list before comparing totals. We left out clinics that clean with no dental X-rays at all, because the hospital association strongly recommends full-mouth X-rays.
Should the X-rays show a tooth that has to come out, the visit turns into a dental with extractions. Our dog tooth extraction cost guide puts that visit at about $900 and covers how that price is set.
Is a cleaning without anesthesia a safe way to save money?
Some clinics offer a cleaning while your dog is awake, for less. The American Veterinary Dental College says removing tartar from the visible surfaces has little effect on your dog’s health; the effect is cosmetic. It says cleaning under the gumline, where gum disease is active, is impossible in a dog that is awake.
The college also names the risks. A dog that moves its head during scraping can be hurt by the sharp instruments, and a complete look at the mouth is not possible while it is awake. The American Animal Hospital Association calls anesthesia-free dentistry unacceptable, because it has not been shown to clean as well as a cleaning under anesthesia.
We left awake cleanings out of our prices for that reason. The anesthesia is a real part of the cost, and it is also what makes the X-rays and the cleaning under the gum possible.
If anesthesia worries you, the checks before it are where your vet looks at the risk for your dog. The hospital association calls for an exam before anesthesia, with lab work chosen for your dog. It is worth asking what your vet’s check includes, and whether recent bloodwork from another visit can count.
Cost by procedure type
Where these numbers come from. 27 prices. They come from the prices we gathered in September 2026 for our tooth extraction guide, and none were newly collected for this page. Every one was re-checked at its source on September 30, 2026, and one clinic page could not be reached that day. They come from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas. 14 are posted: one university hospital, four Banfield locations and nine nonprofit or low-cost dental programs. 13 are prices people shared online from general practices in Colorado, Georgia, Arizona, Florida and Oregon: 11 quotes and 2 paid bills. Every price is for a cleaning with no teeth pulled; awake cleanings were left out. 8 state that dental X-rays are included, three of them full-mouth; Banfield's four list X-rays only on its corporate page. 11 state that bloodwork is included; the rest bill it separately or do not say. One, a Florida nonprofit's, also covers minor extractions.
| Procedure | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental cleaning under anesthesia · a cleaning with full-mouth dental X-rays and bloodwork, no teeth pulled; a dog of 45 to 80 pounds where a clinic prices by size | $400 | $500 | $2,100 |
The row covers anesthesia, the cleaning and polishing, with no teeth pulled. Only 5 of the 27 prices state that bloodwork, anesthesia and X-rays are all included, and four of those are Banfield, whose location pages do not confirm the X-rays. The $2,100 high is a university hospital's posted minimum with a 3D scan included. A board-certified veterinary dentist near San Francisco posts $2,200 to $2,800 before a $225 consult and $200 to $400 of bloodwork, so that price is not in the table.
How we collect these estimates: where each price comes from, and which ones we leave out and why.
Would insurance have covered this?
Embrace treats dental signs your dog shows before the policy starts, such as tartar, plaque, gingivitis or gum disease, as pre-existing. Under its terms, gum disease and other dental illness are then excluded until those signs have been treated as recommended and the exclusion has run out. Embrace's documents we read do not say how long that exclusion runs. Looking ahead, Embrace covers a new dental illness, such as gum disease or a tooth that has to come out, up to $1,000 a year.
The cleaning itself is a different matter. Embrace's terms say a cleaning is not covered, even when it is done to treat a dental illness. The figures below assume a 90 percent plan with a $500 deductible not yet met, and this bill returns nothing. With the deductible already met it still returns nothing, because none of the $500 is eligible.
Embrace pays cleanings back through Wellness Rewards, an optional add-on it says is not insurance. You pick $300, $500 or $700 a year, with no per-item limit, and a cleaning is one of the items it lists. On the pages we read, Embrace gives a price only for the $300 tier, $22.92 a month or $275 a year, and the add-on is not offered in Rhode Island.
The wider question, answered across every bill we have priced: Is pet insurance worth it for a dog?
Questions owners ask
Will pet insurance pay for my dog's teeth cleaning?
Not an Embrace accident and illness policy, which is the one we have read. Its terms say a cleaning is not covered, even when it is done to treat a dental illness. Embrace pays cleanings back through Wellness Rewards, an optional add-on it says is not insurance. What its policy can pay for is a new dental illness a cleaning finds, up to $1,000 a year.
Can brushing at home replace the cleaning?
Not fully. The American Veterinary Dental College says cleanings under anesthesia are still needed to prevent gum disease or catch it early. Cornell's veterinary college calls daily brushing with a veterinary toothpaste the mainstay of home dental care. Products that carry the Veterinary Oral Health Council seal reduce the severity of gum disease with regular use, according to the Council.
What if the vet finds a tooth that has to come out?
Then the visit becomes a dental with extractions, and the price rises. Our tooth extraction guide puts that visit at about $900, the cleaning and dental X-rays included. It is worth asking beforehand whether the clinic will call you once the X-rays are read. Both local and general anesthesia are used to control the pain, according to VCA Animal Hospitals, which runs clinics across the country.
Sources
American Animal Hospital Association, 2019 AAHA Dental Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats · American Veterinary Dental College, position statement on dental scaling without anesthesia, and pet periodontal disease pages · Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Riney Canine Health Center pages on periodontal disease and home dental care · Veterinary Oral Health Council, accepted products · VCA Animal Hospitals, oral surgery in dogs · Colorado State University Veterinary Health, Dentistry and Oral Surgery pricing page · Aggie Animal Dental Center (Mill Valley, California), dental cleaning pricing · Banfield Pet Hospital, pet dental care page · CareCredit, 2025 Average Procedural Cost Study, dog teeth cleaning article · Price data: 68 dental cleaning prices, drawn from the prices we gathered in September 2026 for our tooth extraction guide, none newly collected (one row already judged and left out there was added to this dataset on September 30). 29 are posted on a university fee schedule and clinic price pages and 39 are owner reports online (33 quotes, 6 paid bills). Every one was re-checked at its source on September 30, 2026 (two could not be confirmed that day), and 27 were used after exclusions, each for a cleaning with no teeth pulled · Embrace Pet Insurance policy terms (V6), dental coverage page and Wellness Rewards pages, checked September 2026