Preventing dental disease is significantly less expensive than treating it. Understanding the economics of dental care motivates investment in prevention that improves welfare and reduces lifetime costs.
Dental care economics make prevention the rational choice from both welfare and financial perspectives. The cost of daily brushing and annual exams is a fraction of the cost of treating advanced dental disease. More importantly, prevention eliminates the chronic pain that animals experience while owners are unaware of the problem. Framing dental prevention as both a welfare and financial investment helps owners who might otherwise deprioritize it for cost reasons.