Benefits like pet dental coverage can get a little complicated, which is why we have created this guide to help make things as clear as possible.
When it comes to pet dental coverage, not many pet insurers will include this benefit in their cover. And if they do, this will be at an additional cost to your monthly premium. This is because most pet dental procedures are classified under vet visits or routine care.
Read: Help Your Budget With Pet Insurance In 2026
With Oneplan, three of our pet healthcare plans include cover for vet visits and routine care (we also have a Pet Med Booster Benefit which can be added onto 4 of our pet healthcare plans). So, what does this mean? We unpack everything you need to know in just a bit. For now, we wanted to give you just a few reasons as to how we provide pet insurance that is built on quality and created with your pet in mind.
Why Oneplan Pet Insurance?
Before we get into how pet dental cover works with us, here’s what makes our cover cuddle-worthy:
- We pay you before you see the vet using our unique and simple claims system and Oneplan Claim Card
- We give you the freedom to go to any vet of your choice
- We include incredible day-to-day care benefits for vet visits and routine care
- We let you access your insurance policy from the palm of your hand
Oneplan pet insurance and pet dental cover benefits
Right then, now that we have covered our bases, let’s sink our teeth into how our pet dental cover works.
What is routine care?
If you have chosen either our Pet Primary Plan, Pet Classic Plan or Pet Super Plan, or have chosen to add on our Pet Med Booster Benefit to help cover the bills of pet healthcare, then you will notice that these plans include cover for vet visits and routine care.
Routine care is also known as preventive care for your pets and includes cover for vaccinations, deworming, flea control, dental scaling and polishing, nail clipping, anal gland expression and voluntary sterilisation.
Basically, having this kind of benefit included in your pet insurance plan is thought to encourage more regular check-ups with your vet and improve your pet’s health and wellbeing. You know what they say, prevention really is better than cure.
What is included under vet visits?
Vet visits refer to consultations, blood tests, X-rays and medication prescribed and performed by your vet (registered with the SA Veterinarian Council).
Learn more: Pet Insurance Policy Talk: Vet Visits vs Routine Care
Why is dental care important for my pet?
The same way that you need to regularly see your dentist for a check-up (although many of us don’t do this), your pet also needs to see your vet to ensure his or her teeth and oral health is in good shape.
Proper dental care will prevent your pet from developing a large variety of dental health risks and issues, such as gum disease (a result of bacteria build-up in the mouth). Dental disease can be exceptionally painful for your pets to deal with and can impact their overall health and even lead to organ damage as bacteria in the plaque can enter your pet’s bloodstream and spread to the heart, kidneys and liver!
Which is why looking after your pet’s teeth is so important and having pet insurance that helps cover these bills will be a huge help in doing so.
What are the most common pet dental treatments?
There are a number of different dental treatments your vet might perform. The most common of these include scaling and polishing. This is basically cleaning your pet’s teeth regularly to ensure they remain in good health and to prevent periodontal disease from occurring.
Because our pets can’t talk (no matter how badly we wish they could), you need to ensure you stick to a routine healthcare schedule with your vet in order for him or her to detect, treat and prevent any underlying health concerns before they develop into something more serious and expensive to treat.
Another common dental procedure is extractions. This is when the teeth have to be removed due to a root abscess, they are rotten or broken.
What do dental procedures cost?
The cost of these procedures will vary depending on the severity of the dental condition and/or the vet performing it.
Scaling and polishing typically cost as much as R4000 when X-rays and blood tests are included. However, if your vet needs to perform additional dental procedures, then scaling and polishing will be done at the same time and the cost will vary as a result of the shared anaesthetic costs.
Tooth extractions can cost anywhere between R1 000 to R10 000, depending on severity and the number of teeth that need to be extracted. In some cases, such as in the case of an older pet, your vet might have to ensure additional precautions are in place as elderly dogs run a higher risk of complications during medical procedures.
How does pet insurance cover work for dental care?
Scaling and polishing will be covered under our Routine Care benefit. Extractions and other dentistry are covered under Vet Visits.
Keep in mind that pet dental procedures are excluded from Illness Cover.
However, if dentistry is required as a result of an accident – for example, Bruno is involved in a fight with another dog or is hit by a car and his jaw and teeth are broken as a result, meaning that some teeth need to be removed to fix his jaw, then the required surgery will be covered under Accident Cover.
Learn more: What is a Pet Accident Plan? And what do they cover?
Got any more questions? Hit us up through our smart Oneplan App.
Yours in quality pet insurance,
Oneplan
