Have you ever had your dog's teeth cleaned?

[WatchYourStep 0]

After the last vet appointment the vet said I should get Roxton's teeth cleaned. He's 3.5 years old and we haven't needed to do it yet.

The vet said that they use an anesthesia on the little guy. Has anyone ever had their dog's teeth cleaned where the pup was knocked out? Any ill effects afterwards?

He was put under when he got the boys clipped and that went ok, but I'm just a little nervous putting him out for a tooth cleaning.

Thanks

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[peregrinerose 0]

I have a greyhound, and greys have horrible teeth. Mine ended up having to get 4 removed completely they were so rotted out. Greys also tend to not do well with anesthesia, but mine had no problems, was back to normal by the time I picked him up from the vet.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[WatchYourStep 0]

Thanks.

Did you wait a long time before the first cleaning or did you maintain them well and they just fell out?

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[skycuffs 0]

Be real careful and make sure you know and trust your vet. Also make sure the dog needs it before you do it. We owned a bassett hound that was 7. She had been going to the same vet for at least 6 of those years. The vet suggested that Lady get her teeth cleaned. On Friday, July 6, we took her in. She was extremely drugged when we brought her home that evening. Sat and Sun followed with her still not acting the way she normally did. Monday morning she went outside to her favorite spot and went to sleep. She never woke up.

Be very careful. It was really hard losing our dog because of a teeth cleaning!

[warpedskydiver 0]

I did it myslef with a toothbrush, of course it was Rainbo's toothbrush but what the hell right?

Hey I rinsed it!

[peregrinerose 0]

Ours was a retired racer, so had mushy food and no dental care for the first 5 years of his life. It's kind of a given with greys that they come this way and need at minimum a cleaning and often some teeth removed.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Katzeye 0]

Only 3.5? Hell, start brushing his teeth. My rottie is 13 and has never had a tooth cleaning. His teeth are fine.

I get them soup bones from the local supermarket about once every other month and they clean their teeth themselves chewing on those.

I would brush his teeth, but he was adopted and never got used to it. Now the little one loves it, but only with human toothpaste. go figure.

Is a chicken omelette redundant?

[klafollette 0]

We have 2 Portuguese Water Dogs, and we've had their teeth cleaned every 2 years. We know we should brush their teeth regularly but give up since it is a real challenge. Reading this post makes me want to give it another try. We give them nylabones to chew on which seem to help keep the plaque down.

They've had no major problems with the cleaning procedure. Some vets will give you some options like giving IV fluids afterwards. We get that. They're a little lethargic for a day, and one had a bit of a cough for a few days from the intubation tube, but that's about it.

Any good vet will tell you to have a blood test done before the procedure to make sure they don't have anything going on that would put them at risk from the anesthesia. We usually schedule their cleaning shortly after their shots and physical, so we can just get the blood drawn once and have all the tests done for their physical and cleaning procedure.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Uncooked lamb bones work the best, crunchy milk bone stype biscuits are good too.

Say no to canned food or moist foods, it is not good for your dog.

If you are going to feed wet food just grind the damned meat yourself and add veggies, rice etc.

[jdthomas 0]

Jeremy
it's the norm to put the dog under for this process, We don't like to sedate our girls either but we are very lucky that our vets are also our family memebers and we get to take part in the health care of the dogs.
I brush the girls teeth and they have thier own tooth paste for dogs and tooth brushes. they both enjoy it and this keeps the cleanings at a min.
Joe

www.greenboxphotography.com

[Icon134 0]

hooray for dry kibble and nylabones (as well as other types...)

the vet usually suggests that I get Karma's teeth cleaned but I do it at home with a finger tooth brush (and some kind of meat flavored paste) and I also feed Karma dry kibble and give her "bone's" to knaw on... all of which helps keep her teeth relatively clean.

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[Rick 67]

My wife performs this procedure quite often. Some people do not realize their pets teeth need cleaning and let them get really bad. Tartar build up on the teeth can lead to other problems down the road. I would say if your vet suggested it and you trust them then you should have it done.

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[tkhayes 126]

If your dog will let you, then do it yourself. Go to a dentist and ask for a couple old scrapers and picks, they usually have ones that they broke one end off or somethng like that.

GENTLY scrap the brown stuff and the white tartar off their teeth. My dog would just lay there and let me do it, albeit a bit at a time.

You really only need to worry about the really big bad chunks of buildup. The rest is simply taken care of with a tooth brush once in a while.

Putting dog under for tooth cleaning is kind of radical, and can be dangerous. animals can die while under, so it is always a risk.

[shropshire 0]

We (well, when I say we, I mean She) cleans both of our dogs teeth.... Go a Toothbrush and some Doggie paste..... They love it.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Conundrum 1]

Our dog was put under for his cleaning. He was just fine afterwards, spunky like normal.

The $550 bill was a little irritating, though.

[peregrinerose 0]

$550?!? Holy crap. For cleaning alone it was $100 at my vet, another $100 for the removal of 4 teeth. Did they use a diamond studded platinum toothbrush on your dog or something??

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Cornholio 0]

I've heard horror stories about dogs getting anesthesia and then not waking up or having complications later. So I made sure before taking my dog into getting her teeth cleaned when she was around 3 years old. There's really two types of anesthesia - IV and gas. IV is a little more dangerous as there's just a best guess on what the dog needs to be put to sleep. Plus it takes a while (day or more) for the effect to wear off. Your vet should be able to do a pre-screening blood test to check for any possible side effects of the drugs they will be giving your pet. The other option is Gas, which is what I insist on when any of my dogs go under. The greatest benefit is that the recovery time is much quicker since once the gas is removed the animal wakes up shortly after that. So go with Gas and the pre-test screening. I'd refer you to my vet if you were in my area - she's great!

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
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[Conundrum 1]

Quote

$550?!? Holy crap. For cleaning alone it was $100 at my vet, another $100 for the removal of 4 teeth. Did they use a diamond studded platinum toothbrush on your dog or something??

They said it was the cost of the anesthitic to put him down. I dunno, but I was a little pissed.

[opurt 0]

After the dog's teeth are cleaned, his breath is odorless and his teeth are brilliant white.

Now the question is, how to maintain that level of cleanliness?

A most excellent solution is Petrodex Dental Chews (just Google "Petrodex Dental Chews" if the link doesn't work).

These are sweetened strips of rawhide which clean the dog's teeth as he/she is chewing on the strip. My last dog had terrible teeth, and got an under-anaesthesia teeth cleaning. Afterwards, the Petrodex worked very well in keeping his teeth clean for a long time.

Be advised - there is a choking hazard with any rawhide product, especially with dogs which are unused to them. So watch them when they are chewing. They wind up consuming the chew in 15-30 minutes or so.

Dogs who like chewing on rawhide and related are going to have better teeth. I know Science Diet has a prescription dog food which is designed to clean dogs' teeth. I used that too. Can't hurt to mix it in with the dog's regular food.

Perhaps even you might want to try this approach before the teeth cleaning. But if his teeth are really bad, the dog is young and strong, and the chances of injury/death are quite minimal. So, it's a cost/benefit equation. If the teeth are bad, I'd recommend doing the anaesthetic teeth cleaning, and then instituting a rigorous oral hygiene program like the one I mentioned.

[flyangel2 2]

Blood work is mandatory at the clinic I work at before any animal is "put under". Good thing, cause this morning we discovered low Albumin levels on a dog before his surgery.

I have three dogs and have to do dentals on two of them once a year. They all eat the same food, and chew on the same bones, and I brush all their teeth the same way. The reason why two of the three need dentals is because of genetic, just like humans.


Most periodontal infections begin simply enough. Plaque - which is composed of bacteria, salivary proteins and food debris - builds up in the space between the teeth and gums, causing irritation, redness and swelling. Eventually, pockets form and deepen, allowing bacteria to damage the tissues that hold teeth in place.

At this stage, bacteria from the oral infection have a clear path to the animal's bloodstreamand vital organs. The organs with the hightest blood flow are the most susceptible to infection : Lungs, heart, kidney, liver and even the brain. Damage to these organs caused by infection can shorten the lives of dogs and cats.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

$550?!? Holy crap. For cleaning alone it was $100 at my vet, another $100 for the removal of 4 teeth. Did they use a diamond studded platinum toothbrush on your dog or something??

Our vet wants to charge about $800.
Uh, I don't think so.

[Rick 67]

Quote

Quote

$550?!? Holy crap. For cleaning alone it was $100 at my vet, another $100 for the removal of 4 teeth. Did they use a diamond studded platinum toothbrush on your dog or something??

Our vet wants to charge about $800.
Uh, I don't think so.

WOW that is expensive. The vet that my wife works at charges $100 but he is cheap the girls that work there keep trying to get him to raise the prices

You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

[bkdice 0]

my boy is nearly 15. he went in a few months ago (to a dentist - not the regular vet) for a cleaning, and to have some bonding done on a chipped tooth. i only recently learned that dogs can have all the same procedures as people. just as pricey too!

i brush my dog's teeth 4 x a week. he's only needed a professional cleaning 3 times in his life. some may need it more, some less.

[marcandalysse 0]

alysse brushes bianca's teeth everyday. bianca loves it, the toothpaste is chicken flavored!
Plus there are these green chlorophyll type chewies that are supposed to be good for teeth.

I had several dogs while growing up, they didn't have all that stuff back then and its pretty funny watching bianca happily getting her teeth brushed...

marc

"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

[jtval 0]

I brush my dogs teeth on occasion.
looks like i'll be more vigilant with it.



'chelle,
$550? Whoa, Did you dog at least get laid?

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