Before you consider anesthesia-free dental cleanings....
February is dental health month, and even though we are only 1 day in I keep seeing people touting anesthesia free dental cleanings. I found this article today (and the Dr. interviewed is actually a Dr. we used to refer many of our clients to). It is an excellent article explaining the risks of anesthesia-free and why you are actually doing more harm than good despite the fact that your dog's teeth look squeaky clean after. I have seen dog's come into our vet with broken teeth, severe infections, and abscesses due to anesthesia-free cleanings. Please read this article and educate yourselves (and pass it on to friends). It really is a BAD BAD BAD BAD idea.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2007%2F05%2F...
quick summary: "Remember that the real culprit in dental disease is not the tartar you can see but the bacterial growth you can't see: under the gums, in gingival pockets and in the bone. It's not possible to properly examine a pet's mouth while he or she is awake, let alone actually probe gingival pockets and detect infection in the bone. Scraping off the visible tartar may make the teeth prettier, but it does nothing for the pet's health. And if it stops an owner from getting proper dental care for a pet who needs it, masks a serious dental problem, causes aspiration pneumonia or seeds the bloodstream with oral bacteria, how is this a good thing? How is this safer than anesthesia in the hands of an expert?"
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I also want to note that in many states (including California) anesthesia-free dental cleaning IS ILLEGAL! Dentals are not allowed to be done unless under the direct supervision of a veterinarian. So not only are you risking your pet's health, you are paying somebody who is breaking the law.
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on
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Thanks for posting on this, Melissa!
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Permalink Reply by steve smith on
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Thanks this needs to be posted more often
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Thanks for the info, Melissa!
Now, I have a question for you.
None of the dogs my parents ever owned had dental cleanings that I am aware of, and none had dental problems crop up either. We did have one dog who lived to 16 who developed some bad teeth, but she was, well, 16.
My vet (not the ones my parents use) has never mentioned dental cleanings either. Maddie is a dream on the vet table and he will scrape any bad spots (not a cleaning, just a five-second procedure).
My cat lived to almost 17 and never had dental cleanings.
So I guess my question is, how necessary is this? Seems to me anesthesia is a moderate risk to anyone, and especially as dogs age (the point in life where they might benefit by the cleaning) it becomes riskier.I have heard other people say they get their dogs' teeth done regularly. Just curious as to the prevailing thought on this in the actual medical literature.
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Here's my view. In all my life I have only had 1 cat who needed a dental cleaning, and that was only one time. He could certainly use a cleaning now, but at 17 1/2 and with thyroid and kidney issues my family has taken the stance that really it won't be worth it to put him through that at his age. As the article says, wild animals very rarely have problems with tartar due to their diet. If you have a dog that likes to chew or is eating a good diet, then most of the time they will never need their teeth cleaned because the action of chewing is doing an adequate job. Franklin has PERFECT teeth (except the one he broke!) and will likely never need a dental because he is a chewer and I give dental treats, dental chews, and used to give raw knuckle bones, these all keep his teeth clean. So this is where your vet comes into play, if your vet says your pet needs a dental, ask what stage they would stage the disease, stage 1 could probably get by with at home care (tooth brushing, dental food, etc), while stage 2-3 or more will definitely need a professional cleaning. Signs such as bleeding gums when probed, bad breath, or mobile teeth would need a cleaning. A good, honest vet will not tell you your dog needs a cleaning unless it really needs it. If you think your dog's teeth look great and your vet says it needs a cleaning I'd go for a second opinion, or ask what stage and WHY they think it needs done.
On a different note, you don't want to get your dog's teeth cleaned just because. The power tools used in dental cleanings often cause slight damage to the teeth and leave microscopic scratches even with polishing so what tends to happen is once a pet gets a dental once, the tartar builds up faster if you don't stay on top of it and you may find they will need an annual or biannual dental after that even though they went 8 years the first time. But dentals have been shown to reverse some heart murmurs, kidney disease, and of course infection so its not something you want to put off if your vet says your pet really needs it. You can generally tell when they need it because you will see the gunk on their teeth, their gums will bleed if you poke them, and they have bad breath.
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Thank you, that's very helpful and explains why my vet has never mentioned anything.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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My dentist is strongly recommending 2x daily cleaning with a water-jet tool (for us, not the dogs). We've had one, on her recommendation, using it on a low setting (2 on a 1-10 scale) like she insisted, and it didn't seem to be doing much, so we quit. Now, she says to turn it up full blast, new research indicating that's OK, just plain water, no additives, with special attention to the gaps between the teeth, and you want to squirt down into the groove between tooth and gum.
She insists this is far and away the best thing you can do for your teeth.
Also that chewing tobacco is one of the very worst (it's not among my vices).
So look at those water-jet appliances, carefully choose the best. If it seems expensive, visualize yourself, like me, looking at $1100 for two re-crowns -- and that is WITH very good dental care insurance.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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I'm sorry Melissa, but I have to disagree on the basis of my own experience. This article is what I call "aughfulizing". I don't doubt that you have seen the results of botched teeth cleaning and that is indeed sad. There are plenty of people who don't know what they're doing and do more harm than good for a fee. For a lifetime I scaled my own dog's teeth, usually every 8 months or so and they all lived into old age with no loss of teeth and no ill effects from my superficial removal of the tartar. They were used to it much as they were used to nail clipping and would put their head in my lap while I pried loose any tartar. I no longer can see well enough to do this, but would not have my dog put under anesthesia unless there was a very real problem because, again in my personal experience, I've seen dogs dead, or very near miss death, because of anesthesia and that worries me more. I would recommend taking this article with a grain of salt.
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Hand scaling in and of itself is not the problem, the problem is when owners go to their vet, their vet says their pet has advanced dental disease, and the owner then opts for an "anesthesia free" dental. This is not the same as a simple hand scale to remove some tartar buildup in a mouth that only has stage 1 dental disease. Vets do hand scale teeth quite often when appropriate, but when an anesthesia dental is recommended, no amount of hand scaling of the crown will address the issues under the gums. I myself have hand scaled Franklin's teeth, but it is to remove tartar off of one tooth, not calculus in the entire mouth. Its the people who opt for anesthesia fee dentals when their vets recommend anesthesia dentals which need to read this article. It wouldn't be illegal if it was a good idea and safe and healthy. In California it is most definitely illegal.
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In the case you describe, I totally agree. Thanks for clarifying your point.
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Permalink Reply by Emily Trupiano on
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Oh god! I didn't even know anesthesia free dental cleanings existed--besides using a toothbrush and toothpaste at home!
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