In the 7+ years I've been working at the vet hospital I've only seen 2 animals die under anesthetic, and neither was a dentistry, but major surgery instead. In both cases they were high risk to start with and the owners were made aware of that prior to surgery.

With any anethsetic there is always a risk. Even in human medicine just getting your tonsils out has a risk, although a small one. However todays anesthetics are much safer than the ones from years back. They use small amounts of several different ones and a bit of gas (as opposed to the old fashioned way of a whopping dose of just one injectable). Most vets do lab work prior to any surgery/dentistry, some even require it, to make sure they are aware of any health problems beforehand that would affect which drugs they choose to use.

I've had several of my own cats' teeth cleaned and had no problems and would not hesitate to have them done again if they need it.

While we all worry about our pets when they are away from us and especially when going under anesthetic (vet workers included) the damage caused to the heart, liver, kidneys from bacteria in the bloodstream from bad teeth, FAR outweigh the very slight risk of a dentistry done by a licensed vet.

Rest assured that your vet can take care of your furbaby. If you have any questions or concerns about the procedure, call the vet before the dentistry and express them to him. Part of his job is to help make you more comfortable that you are doing the best thing for the health of your pet.