Focus on Pet Dentistry

We practice the highest standard of care for all dental procedures

We now know that dental health plays in the overall health of our dogs and cats. The latest statistics say that approximately 75% of all dogs and cats over 3 years of age suffer from dental disease and we want to help put an end to that! Dr Robert Kay and our team of vets take great pride in having a full suite of the latest dental equipment to make sure you pet gets the best in pet dentistry! This includes using a nerve blocks for any necessary dental extractions. We take x-rays of any concerning teeth during the dental procedure so we can pick up any root disease that may be hidden by otherwise healthy looking gums. We take our role seriously and do our best to show you how to look after your pet’s teeth long term. Our dentals are ‘day procedures’ and require a general anaesthetic and hospitalisaton for the full day to allow us to monitor your dog or cat’s comfort prior to, during and then after their procedure.

Fear Free Certified Professional

Vet Dentistry Rockdale

Lift your dog’s lip or look inside your cat’s mouth, and the teeth tell you most of the story. Brown tartar along the gumline, a smell that has crept in, a back tooth you would rather not look at twice. That is the part a real dental sorts out, and at Rockdale Veterinary Hospital we do the whole job in one building at 335 Forest Rd in Sydney’s St George area. For pet owners looking for vet dentistry, Rockdale and the suburbs around it have a clinic that cleans below the gumline, takes dental X-rays and lifts a bad tooth in the one visit, rather than handing you a referral. The same care reaches neighbours booking vet dentistry in Bexley and vet dentistry in Kogarah. We are a fully equipped animal hospital for dogs and cats, family-owned since 2022. Call us on 02 9123 6888 and we will book your pet’s dental check.

What a Proper Pet Dental Actually Involves

A real dental for a dog or cat is more than a scrub of the tooth surfaces you can see. Here is what the day looks like with us. It starts with an examination and a frank conversation about your pet’s mouth, then a pre-anaesthetic health check so we know your animal is fit for the procedure. With your pet comfortably under general anaesthetic, we scale away tartar above and below the gumline, where the disease that matters actually sits, and polish every tooth. We take dental X-rays, because most of each tooth is hidden under the gum and a root problem will not show on the surface. If a tooth is too far gone to save, we extract it and carry out any minor oral surgery the mouth needs, with pain relief throughout. Your pet then recovers under our nurses’ care and heads home the same day. That covers the great majority of dogs and cats. The work is done in-house by Dr Robert Kay and the veterinary team. For the genuinely complex cases, advanced oral surgery, orthodontics, or root canal and other endodontic work, we refer to a veterinary dental specialist, so your pet sees the right hands for the job rather than us pushing past our limits.

Routine Dental Clean

$720
  • Price includes dental charting and a full mouth scale and polish under general anaesthetic
  • Day procedure available Monday-Friday
  • Any extractions required would incur additional charge that would be discussed with you prior to the procedure
Call to book your FREE dental check today

What Does a Dog or Cat Dental Cost?

This is the question we hear most, and the honest answer is that it depends. The grade of dental disease, the number of teeth that need to come out, and how many X-rays the mouth calls for all change the figure. So rather than a guessed price, you get a clear estimate after the dental assessment, before anything goes ahead. For insured pets the cost lands lighter. We bill most pet insurers directly, so you pay only the gap rather than fronting the whole amount and waiting on a refund. We keep our pricing accessible on purpose, because a dog or cat in dental pain should not wait on a bill the family cannot plan for.

Delta qualified trainers

Why the Clean Happens Under Anaesthetic, and How We Keep It Safe

People sometimes ask whether the anaesthetic is really necessary, and the straight answer is yes for a clean that does any good. You cannot scale beneath the gumline, probe each tooth or take an X-ray in a mouth that is awake, and a conscious dog or cat will not hold still for the fine work where the real disease hides. A surface scrape on an awake animal looks tidier but leaves the part that matters untouched, which is why we do not offer it. Safe and monitored is the whole point. Before anaesthetic we run a health check and bloodwork to confirm your pet is a good candidate. Through the procedure your animal is on intravenous fluids, with a nurse monitoring their vital signs and pain relief given as needed. Our entire team is Fear Free certified, so the lead-up is calm too: we do not scruff cats or muzzle dogs, and we reach for gentle handling and calming medication to take the edge off before your pet ever reaches the table.

Spotting Dental Trouble Early in Your Dog or Cat

Dental disease is one of the most common problems we see, and it is easy to miss because pets are good at hiding a sore mouth. As a general guide, the signs worth a check are bad breath, yellow or brown tartar on the teeth, red or bleeding gums, dropping food while eating, pawing at the mouth, and going off harder food. None of these is proof on its own, but any of them is a fair reason to book a look. It is worth treating, and not only for comfort. Untreated dental disease is genuinely painful for an animal that cannot tell you, and the infection in a diseased mouth can affect other organs over time. Catching it earlier usually means a simpler procedure and fewer teeth lost, which is the case for a check rather than a wait.

veterinary care

The Vet Doing Your Pet’s Dental Work at Rockdale Veterinary Hospital

The dentals here are led by Dr Robert Kay, owner and head vet. He is a Royal Veterinary College graduate with more than 20 years in practice and Fear Free qualified, working alongside a team of skilled veterinary nurses who handle the monitoring and after-care. That experience is what lets us read a dental X-ray, judge which teeth can be saved, and do the extractions and minor oral surgery in-house with confidence. Rockdale Veterinary Hospital is a family-owned practice, and around half of the pets we see come to us on a friend’s recommendation. Every patient gets an unhurried 30-minute standard consultation, with separate dog and cat consulting rooms so a nervous animal is not waiting nose-to-nose with the species it likes least.

Hours, Booking and Finding Us From Rockdale

A dental is planned care, so the first step is a check, and you can book one by phone on 02 9123 6888, by email at team@rockdalevets.com.au, or online any time. We are here 7 days a week: 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm Saturday, 10:00am to 3:00pm Sunday, and closed on public holidays.

You will find us at 335 Forest Rd, Bexley, a short, ordinary drive from Rockdale and the neighbouring suburbs in Sydney’s St George area, the same clinic owners reach for vet dentistry in Hurstville, vet dentistry in Arncliffe and vet dentistry in Earlwood, with parking at the door. We are not a 24-hour hospital, so for an after-hours emergency between visits, Veterinary Specialists of Sydney handle it at 106 Parraweena Road, Miranda, on 02 8376 8767.

Book a Dental Check for Your Rockdale Pet

A dog or cat with a sore mouth rarely gets better on its own, and the sooner the teeth are checked the smaller the job tends to be. Book a dental check on 02 9123 6888 or online, and we will start with a proper look and a clear plan for your pet.

Questions Rockdale Pet Owners Ask About Dental Care

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We take dental procedures very seriously. We use the latest in recommended anaesthetic techniques and monitoring and have all of the latest dental equipment at our finger tips to make the dental treatments as quick and effective as possible.

Prior to the day of your pet’s dental procedure, one our team members will give you a call to remind you of your pet’s dental treatment date, admission time and to answer any questions you may have. A text message and email will also be sent as a helpful reminder as well. The main points to remember are to:

  • Withhold food on the day of the procedure;
  • Water is ok up until you leave the house to come to the clinic;
  • Take your pet for a short toilet walk prior to arriving at the clinic;
  • Arrive at the clinic at your scheduled appointment time.

When you arrive at the clinic, one of our nurses will explain the procedure for the day and take you through some paperwork, including a consent form for you to sign. During the pre surgery consultation with out nurses, you will be offered the choice of performing a blood test. The blood test is designed to pick up any internal health concerns that may affect the anaesthetic. The test includes a check of the liver and kidney values, blood glucose level, electrolyte levels, overall protein level, and overall red blood cell count.

All dentals are performed under closely monitored anaesthetics. Our vets have all undergone further training in veterinary dentistry. We are backed up with a full dental suite in clinic and use the latest techniques and equipment when performing extractions. We are excited to have the ‘vet tome’ at our fingertips – the latest tool in reducing pain during extractions.

We use high-end digital dental x-rays to inspect the tooth roots where we have a concern about the health of a tooth. That way we can confidently confirm if a tooth needs to be extracted. In cats, we routinely x-ray every tooth because we know there is often as much disease below the gums as there is on the crown (the visible part of the tooth). That way we make sure we don’t miss any hidden painful roots.

We take anaesthetic monitoring extremely seriously and are proud to offer the highest level of monitoring care for you pet. We go above and beyond the accepted standards to include:

  1. monitoring of oxygen levels via an spO2 probe (called pulse oximetry)
  2. a continuous ECG trace to track the heart’s rhythm throughout surgery;
  3. blood pressure monitoring – this is the key to a successful recovery;
  4. carbon dioxide monitoring to ensure the lungs are able to blow off all harmful gases;
  5. patients are warmed with a ‘bare hugger‘ to prevent deleterious cooling;
  6. all patients receive intravenous fluids to ensure hydration remains perfect;
  7. we use the most modern anaesthetic machines and drug protocols.

Patient comfort is also key and again we go above and beyond! We ensure all patients are kept as comfortable as possible with a combination of local anaesthetic pain relief, opioid pain relief and anti-inflammatory pain relief.

Patient comfort is our priority! All animals that have 1 or more teeth extracted during their dental treatment will receive an oral nerve block during the dental procedure as well as strong pain relief in hospital with us. We then send all patients home with further pain relief to be given over the 3-7 days following surgery. Most cats and dogs recover extremely quickly from dental procedures and are comfortable within 24 hours after surgery. However, if you feel that your fur child still seems uncomfortable then we always encourage you to contact us for any further advice on providing additional comfort.

We provide a complimentary visit with one of our nurses or vets following all dental procedures. This appointment occurs 3-7 days after surgery. During the appointment we will further ask you how you think your pet is recovering and then perform a basic health and dental recheck to ensure we are happy with how you fur child is recovering.

It is cosmetic only. Without anaesthetic we cannot clean below the gumline, probe each tooth or take X-rays, which is where dental disease actually sits, so the mouth looks better while the real problem is left untouched. A proper clean and assessment is done under safe, monitored general anaesthetic, and that is what we offer.

The common signs, as a general guide, are bad breath, brown or yellow tartar, red or bleeding gums, dropping food, pawing at the mouth or avoiding harder food. Any of these is worth a dental check. We will examine the mouth and tell you honestly whether a full dental is warranted or whether it can safely wait.

Only the ones that need to come out. We always X-ray and assess first, save what can be saved, and extract a tooth only when it is too diseased to keep. You get a clear estimate covering any extractions before we begin, never a bill you did not see coming.

Yes, both. Scale-and-polish, dental X-ray, extractions and minor oral surgery are all carried out in-house by Dr Robert Kay and the team. Where a case needs advanced oral surgery or root canal work, we refer to a veterinary dental specialist so your pet gets the right care.
Fear Free Vet Visits
Dentistry for Dogs and Cats
Post Surgery Care