cost of dental work

When Otto was at the vet a few weeks ago (colitis) the vet looked in his
mouth and said that his teeth were in bad shape, he needed a cleaning and
there were at least two that would probably have to be pulled. He said that
once Otto was over his colitis I should make an appointment for the dental
work. I called today to find out about setting that up and I asked for an
estimate. They said they'd need to do blood work first, and then the
following day they'd do the actual cleaning/extraction/whatever. The vet
said it would run $350-$400. That seems awfully high to me. In 2004 Tiger
had her teeth cleaned and had two pulled, but I think they did that while
she was already under for her tumor removal, and that whole package cost
just under $1,000 I think, maybe just under $900. I imagine the bulk of
that fee was her operation and not the cleaning/extraction. That vet also
said they don't charge any additional fees for extractions. The price of
the cleaning/anesthesia was for whatever needed to be done.

I really didn't care for that vet's office which is why I've been going to
the current one (with the $350-$400 estimate). Also, she said that estimate
includes one extraction and additional ones are $45 each.

I made the appointment for the bloodwork for next Wednesday but I'm
wondering if I should go back to the other vet or not. Does $400 sound like
a lot for bloodwork and cleaning/extraction/anesthesia?

--
Liz