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A long story, but definitely worth reading for a few minutes if you are considering a professional dental cleaning procedure for your pet.
I adopted my poodle-mix winston who was a stray at a miami animal shelter. Winston was estimated to be anywhere from 10 years old + in aug. 2010. His teeth had a lot of plaque on them, there was clearly green and brown decay in his mouth. However, he was healthy otherwise. Over the past 3 months he has continued to eat hard food, like beneful, and his energy was going up more and more every week (The first few weeks he was very timid in the house, and would sleep almost all day), and by middle october he would run on walks and play around the house with our mini dachshund. He has been groomed 2x since I got him at petsmart in south fl, where they also brushed his teeth. When I took him 2 weeks ago to banfield pet hospital located in a petsmart near my house, they recommended that though he was healthy in all other aspects he should get dental cleaning. They said it would cost $189, plus the anesthesia fee of $40. I wasn't even concerned about the cost, but rather if it would benefit winston in the short and long term to go under such a procedure, and I was extremely concerned about the physical pain and mental he may endure. I told them his appetite had been great, he maintained a healthy weight for his size (20lb) and he seemed really happy. They insisted that I do the dental cleaning, so as winston being the first dog I am solely responsible for, I decided to go ahead and do the dental cleaning.in the middle of the procedure the vet called me (While he was under anesthetic) and told me he had 4 teeth that must be extracted, but they said it would cost $37 per tooth. I told them to go ahead and extract, (I trusted the doctor's judgment that the extractions would be in winston's best interest) and I wasn't even concerned about the extra cost.
Now, after it has been done, I completely regret my decision for a number of reasons that are worth reading about. First, and least importantly, the cost ended up being over $400, which included the original dental cleaning, anesthetic, extractions, pain killers, and antibiotics. Secondly, winston had constipation for days, he didn't want to eat even soft food, and barely drank water. I felt so sorry for him seeing his trying to go the bathroom for minutes and clearly in pain as he was unable to. After a sleepless night because for winston and me, the night after the dental cleaning, I called banfield and told them how much pain he was in, as he was whimpering and pacing all night. I brought him in, and the vet casually walked in to examine winston after we waited over 1 hour, even though there was only one person ahead of us. She said that his pain was gastrointestinal and said it was normal, and she gave him a shot to ease the pain, as well as medicated to give him 2x a day to help his stomach pain, and improve his digestive system. Additionally, when I took him to banfield that next day after his cleaning, he was shaking terribly as we approached the building. The pain relief only lasted a few hours, and winston was again up all night trying again and again to go the bathroom. I asked the vet at banfield if this was normal after, and she said not to worry, and he would be fine, he is just uncomfortable. If I would have known that winston wouldn't be able to eat or drink normally for days, and be in constant pain so that he couldn't even sleep for 48 hours even with pain killers, I would not have done the dental cleaning. The vets at this banfield completely ripped me off, and misled me 100% in terms of the pain winston would have. As more and more studies show dogs can have psychological issues like depression, I firmly believe that the mental trauma winston has gone through to address a health problem that wasn't even present was a terrible experience. I blame the doctors and staff at banfield in plantation, for causing winston so much pain, and not warning me about the possibility. One of our other maltese-mix female that was found on the street as a stray and tooth in 8 years ago had one loose tooth, and our vet in sarasota said he could extract it, but at her age (Which was unknown but assumed in 2010 to also be over 10) it may cause her some pain that is not worth the results. I wish I would have not taken winston to banfield. Another point, is that if winston's teeth were that bad, then how come his energy level was great and improving, and his appetite was continually healthy day in and day out. I also had his teeth brushed when he got groomed, and gave him oral care at home with dental spray. Also, I had a panel of blood work done after the first week I got winston to ensure that winston did not have any worms, cancer, or any other type of disease that could harm his health. His blood work results showed he was healthy. If his teeth were to the point that he couldn't eat, or if other health problems showed a connection to his teeth, then of course I would understand that the pain of the dental cleaning was an overall positive decision for winston's health. But because he is an older dog, that clearly had been through a rough life, and given his drastically improved condition from when I got him a few months before, I advise a more hands off approach. I strongly suggest that anyone who is considering getting an older dog dental cleaning be warned of all the potential pain the dog may be in. I personally think that if a dog has to go through as much physical and mental pain as winston did, then the professional dental cleaning is not worth it, and any vet that tries to tell a pet owner otherwise is not advising is the pet or pet owner's best interest.
Ps: I do not suggest going to the banfield pet hospital in plantation, fl, as they showed no individual interest in winston, they had slow service, and I misguided me in how to care for winston. I do not know how other banfield pet hospitals are, I only hope they are much better.
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I'm in Hollywood Fl. I read so much bad on here. I may cancel her dental appt tomorrow. I see a lot of neglegence !
Why? You won’t do anything to improve your service. It’s t3n years later and you are still maiming and killing animals.
OH trust me I used to work for Banfield and they DID a LOT of things that WERE NOT NEEDED just to make a buck! It mad me SICK ... I am so sorry to hear of poor Winston's pain!
I would like to see that stopped. They killed my dog too.
I worked for an animal hospital hospital (not a Banfields) for many years and HATE Banfields for a variety of reasons I wont go into now but from what I've read they did the right thing. Let me explain why I feel this way.
Firstly I understand your concern because of the dogs age but chances are the teeth would have gotten worse and even abcessed at an even older age and cause many more problems then just discomfort. Secondly if the dog had never received a professional dental cleaning in the past of course he's going to be timid going back to the vet and of course he's going to experience discomfort after the procedure, who wouldn't? As for the constipation have you ever had surgery? Certain anesthesia and pain meds can cause constipation plain and simple.
I had experience with clients that refused dental cleanings and/or extractions because an animal was older and we always obliged by their wishes and in many of those cases a year or two went by and the animal would be brought back with horribly abcessed gums and teeth and had very difficult recoveries not to mention a few even went as far as to have sepsis of the blood. Its a hard call to make I know but NOT tending to your animals dental needs is never the right answer.
I have had the same thing. I have Banfield insurance and get a "free" dental cleaning once a year. It is not free, never has been free. Every cleaning the vet said more teeth needed to be pulled. This time is is $440 for three teeth. I don't have it but too guilty to say no. I said yes and then talked to people here at work about it. They said if the dog had not been showing any pain and had been eating all right, there was no reason to pull the teeth. They convinced me to call back and tell the vet not to pull the teeth. Within 20 minutes I called back and those teeth were already pulled. So I'm paying $440 for 20 minutes of work? I feel so taken advantage of. I'm cancelling the insurance and never taking my dog there again. I would not recommend Banfield to anyone!
I had a little Scottie. She was playful and running around the day before her dental cleaning at Banfield. After her teeth were cleaned she couldn't walk, or stand. I took her back to Banfield and the Vet said she was "playing" us & had arthritis. For one year our little Scottie lost weight and shuffled when she walked, and fall over. She never barked again. I know without a doubt that something happened to my dog during the procedure. Sadly, she became so sick that we had to put her to sleep. My heart is broken. I feel Banfield was negligent and cause the death of my dog.
I will never bring my pet to Banfield again. I brought my dog to them back in 05 and they determined he had struvite crystals and placed him on Urinary SO. They make everything sound so critical and that certain procedures must be done for accurate readings. For example, for his urinalysis, they needed a sterile sample - which required them sticking a needle in his bladder to get the sample. He had this done twice, the latter was done after he was placed on the new food, in which they determined the crystals had dissolved. I was also told my pet had to be on this food for the rest of his life. They gave me a medical "card" which I had to show each time I purchased the food. The card is only good for a year, after which you have to keep visiting the vet, which makes no sense whatsoever when I've been told he has to be on this expensive food. I ended up finding a few other vets that sell me the food for him. Trust me, NO ONE is trying to spend almost $30 for 6.6 lbs of food and that's the cheapest bag!
A friend of mine had a Boxer that cut himself on glass and when he brought his pet there, they wouldn't even look at his dog because he didn't have $300+ for treatment.
I'm really surprised they still exist...
I recently brought my 3 year old beautiful Chihuahua to Bansfield for a "Dental Cleaning" that also turned out to be well over 400 dollars, and due to this I was forced to sign up for the plan. He went in for a dental cleaning, and came home w/7 teeth missing (6 of them in the front). They contacted me after the x-rays and advised me that that they would need to extract 3 teeth, I was very hesitant to allow them but they convinced me by telling me he would become very sick if I did not. When I showed up to pick him up he had 7 teeth missing. They said 4 "fell out" during the cleaning. My dog is only 3! How is this possible? We take excellent care of him. I really believe they did this so it was unaffordable and I would need to sign up for the plan. This only seems to happen to people that are not on the wellness plan. Bansfield purposely runs the bill up in hopes that the customer will have to sign up for the plan. They kept pushing the plan on us and we kept saying No. The funny thing is my other Chi went for a cleaning a few weeks ago and they did not even offer us the xrays, she also did not have any issues. She is ON THE PLAN!
I agree totally, they extracted 7 of my dogs teeth for $411. He had a cleaning there less than a year ago as well as exams. Why did this go without mention if it is true at all. It's a money making proposition. There is always an up charge!
I will Not renew membership
I am skeptical to bring my dog in for teeth clean tomorrow. Glad I read this. I want to see my dogs teeth X-ray before they start saying they need to remove teeth.? Why do our dogs have to be at the vet for 12 hours just for cleaning? They do 5 dogs a day.
Also ask if the vet has a breathing machine for oxygen if needed.
Some vets don't !
Priscilla my 9 year old Yorkie died during a routine dental cleaning on 2/2/18, Banfield of Apex NC, we are destroyed as a family
I heard about this and my heart goes out to you and your family. So heart-breaking! Such a beautiful girl!
Mine died just before Christmas 2020. After a dental cleaning. They have offered us $2500 but we must agree not to sue. I want them to stop uneccessary procedures. What should we do? Have you spoken to an attorney?
My Cameron was a Yorkie and passed away also. I took off my other dogs off the plan. I’m so sorry about the loss of your baby. 😢
Banfiwld dental cleaning is a scam
Banfield dental cleaning is a scam
They charged us $150 and said one of the values on the 12 different values on the blood results was a few points above the range
This is the modus opernda of banfield. Get suckers enrolled on a dental plan. On their annual visit deny them their privileges once one of the values is over the range. Ironically even the doctor agreed that the value was very low. However a non medical profession the manager of bam field determined the rules of engagement
Absolutely, and the employees have quotas. Pitch those Wellness plans! Something like 2 million enrolled nationwide with 1200 or so clinics, dental cleanings (Code for Extractions) resulting in hundreds of dollars on top of the wellness plan, often pulling 4-7 teeth that the dog needed to be healthy. Next year at dental cleaning, pull some more. The Vets probably never dreamed they went to Vet school to have that be their mainstay. The must have dreams about piles and piles of dog’s teeth. Many Vets employed at Banfield are from other countries. That is not random. It is intentional I have read, intended to mold them into the Banfield expectations, which is rushing through dental cleanings all day everyday, (no lunchtime if you want to meet quota) to pull those teeth. Poor animals being abused to make the upper management of Banfield and Mars Corp rich. 😪😪😪
I regret getting enrolled in banfield dental plan. Also, the nurse or physician Asisstant was sooo rude, unbelievable
I an very surprised and sad to hear about your experience. I can say that not all Banfield locations are like this. I have been taking my animals (5 dogs, 4 cats over the years) to Banfield for almost a decade and have had nothing but a wonderful experience. They are compassionate and really care for all of my animals. All of my pets are on Wellness plans which I find have saved me a lot of $$ over the years.
I am very glad that you’ve had no problems.
After the negligence that caused the death of our dog, I started searching the internet and found far, far too many instances of neglect and discovered from former employees that there are quotas to be met and that the amount of dogs seen is a priority over the Quality of care. Your animals may be healthy. Many Banfield Vets lack training in surgery and diagnosis of illnesses. I’ve read that those dental cleanings are rushed through to get to the reason animals are there, which is to have teeth removed. Many, many unnecessarily removed teeth, to meet the dollar amount quotas required of the Vets everyday! Making a certain amount of money to keep their jobs! If it isn’t in procedures, it in medicine or the haha prescription” Royal Canine” dog food. There is nothing prescription about it. It is just the brand Owned by Mars Candy Company, the financially huge owners of Banfield Pet Hospitals.
My Cameron passed away after a dental cleaning and tooth extraction. At least you baby got medication after to take when he got home. They didn’t give that for Cameron and he was in so much pain the next morning. I was about to take him back and he passed away that morning. I hate Banfield. They said was perfectly normal not to be given medication for pain. That a shot was sufficient.
I have taken 2 dogs to separate Banfield locations (one pet in Northville MI, and the other pet in Rochester Hills MI) for teeth cleaning and at both locations they called me while my baby is under anesthesia to tell me that my dogs had a broken tooth and it needs to be extracted. I find this to be a very suspicious act on Banfield’s part. I always ask the pet groomers to clean their teeth as well on a regular basis.