A Guide to Pet Dental Insurance (2025)

If your pet has bad breath, difficulty eating, or a loss of appetite, these could indicate possible dental issues.1 Dental care is an important part of your pet’s overall health and well-being. Dental issues can become more serious and cause more expensive health problems if you don’t address them.

Pet dental insurance can cover common issues such as tooth extractions, treatment for gingivitis, and root canals. Add-on wellness plans are also typically available to help cover routine cleanings.

Here’s what you need to know about pet dental insurance and what to keep in mind when comparing quotes.

What pet dental insurance covers

Dental coverage can vary widely among pet insurance companies. Some pet insurers offer extensive coverage for incidents like a chipped tooth and illnesses like gingivitis.

Common dental issues that pet dental insurance covers include:

• Broken or fractured tooth

• Gingivitis

• Periodontal disease

• Tooth extractions

• Root canals

Many pet insurance companies offer wellness plans as an add-on to a base insurance plan. Wellness add-ons often cover routine dental care, such as regular cleanings.

Common dental diseases in pets

Dental disease, also known as periodontal disease, is one of the most common medical conditions, affecting more than 80% of dogs and more than 50% of cats older than 3 years.3 Periodontal disease can occur when a bacterial infection causes inflammation of the tissue and bone around the teeth.1

Other issues that have a higher likelihood of occurring include gingivitis, which is inflammation of the gums, and abscessed or infected teeth.

The table below provides cost estimates for treating dental illnesses and injuries.

What pet dental insurance doesn’t cover

Most pet dental insurance policies don’t cover the following:

• Routine dental care: This includes regular dental cleanings for your pet’s teeth. If you want coverage for routine care, many pet insurance companies offer wellness plans that you can buy as an add-on to your pet insurance policy.

• Cosmetic procedures: This includes orthodontic treatments such as caps, implants, or filings.

• Pre-existing conditions: This includes any dental diseases that presented before your pet’s policy came into effect.

Best pet dental insurance

Many of the best pet insurance companies cover dental care, including ASPCA, Embrace, and Healthy Paws. Here’s what you need to know about their pet dental coverage.

ASPCA

ASPCA Pet Insurance has three health insurance plans which offer different dental insurance coverages.

• Complete Coverage: This includes accident and illness coverage that includes dental illness treatments, such as:

  • Cancerous oral growths and tumors

  • Gingivitis

  • Periodontal disease

  • Prescription medicine

  • Scans

  • Stomatitis

  • Teeth cleanings when they’re prescribed to treat a dental illness or disease

  • Tooth abscesses

  • Tooth extractions

  • Treatments

  • X-rays

• Accident Only: This plan provides coverage for the extraction of injured teeth.

• Preventive Care Coverage: This is available as an add-on to a base plan. It covers routine teeth cleanings for dogs and cats. And it offers some coverage for an annual wellness exam to help catch any dental issues early on.

ASPCA doesn’t cover the following:

• Cosmetic, endodontic, or orthodontic services

• Pre-existing conditions

• Routine dental care

Embrace

Embrace offers dental illness coverage in its Accident and Illness Insurance plan for up to $1,000 per year for coverage of the following:

• Broken, chipped, or fractured teeth

• Extractions

• Gingivitis

• Periodontal disease

• Root canals and crowns

• Stomatitis

Embrace pet insurance doesn’t cover the following:

• Annual dental exams

• Dental chews

• Dietary dental supplements

• Pet toothbrush or toothpaste

• Routine dental care

• Teeth brushing by a vet or groomer

Healthy Paws

A Healthy Paws pet insurance plan provides coverage for the following dental issues:

• Broken or chipped teeth due to outside accident or trauma to the mouth

• Dental malocclusion

• Dentigerous cysts

• Reconstruction of teeth if injured in an accident

• Stomatitis

• Tooth extraction

The policy excludes:

• Extractions and reconstructions from dental disease

• Periodontal disease and other issues due to the lack of preventive care

• Pre-existing conditions

• Retention of deciduous teeth

• Routine dental healthcare

How to find pet dental insurance 

When looking for pet dental insurance, consider the following tips:

Is pet dental insurance worth it?

Whether pet dental insurance is right for you depends on your pet and your unique situation. Accident-only pet insurance costs an average of $17 per month for dogs and $10 per month for cats. Accident and illness policies cost $56 per month for dogs and $32 per month for cats, on average.4 Wellness add-ons typically cost less than this, but it depends on the insurer.

Weigh these costs against some common dental procedures to decide if pet dental insurance makes sense for you. A teeth cleaning costs $707 on average, treatment for dental disease or periodontitis averages $768, and emergency surgeries or hospitalizations could run into the thousands.5

Pet dental insurance FAQs