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Permalink Reply by Lynne Cerny on February 13, 2011 at 9:38am

Have you tried TropicClean?  My rescue had very bad teeth and we were going to get them cleaned during her spay, but they couldn't because she had a reaction to the anesthesia.  The TropicClean really works good, I would at least give it a try!

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Permalink Reply by Carry Mackenzie on February 13, 2011 at 1:14pm

I have been using nutri-dent dog treats for Daisy these last 3 months nearly every day just the small size...

- She came from a puppy mill & her teeth did not look to bad to me but anyway I was surprised the other day when I looked at her teeth... It seems they have worked quite well!!!

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Permalink Reply by A & P on February 13, 2011 at 3:20pm

P & P get non anesthetic teeth cleaning twice a year, which is about $100 per dog.  Most pet boutique stores offer this service or google it.  There are a lot of blogs about this and there are haters that claim that non anesthetic cleaning isn't that effective etc. We also tried the anesthetic teething cleaning at the vet's office and we hate putting our dogs under unnecessary anesthesia.  Plus it is super expensive at the vet...about $200 per dog.  The recovery period is difficult and we didn't find that it was any better than the non anesthetic method.  Plus wet brush our dogs teeth every couple of days and they are fine.  Teeth cleaning is important so give the non anesthetic cleaning a try and keep up with the regular brushing. 

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Permalink Reply by Emily & Scout on February 13, 2011 at 10:18pm

Thanks for your input so far.  I'm trying to go online now to see if any vets in Lafayete, IN list non-anesthetic dental cleaning and am coming up empty so far.  Looks like I will have to make phone calls to see if they do it and just don't list it.  We at least are going to PetSmart next week to see if I can find anything other than plain toothpaste that will help her.  Definitely going to need a prof cleaning soon though.

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Permalink Reply by mel g on February 15, 2011 at 12:03am

Working at a vet office, I do believe that putting your pet under anesthesia is scary but safe as long as your vet takes every precaution, Scout should be fine. Doing preanesthetic bloodwork and placing an IV catheter during the procedure will ensure her safety.This month is dental month for vet offices which means most vet offices offer a discount for a dental cleaning.  We have seen patients that have gotten their teeth cleaning without anesthesia, some pets teeth turn out great but others do not. The people that did the procedure were not licensed and ended up doing more harm than good. The only advise I can give you is to make sure the place you take Scout for non-anesthetic dental is performed by a vet or done by a RVT (a registered Vet Tech) this way you can make sure that Scout teeth will come out great. Good Luck

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on February 15, 2011 at 12:30am

DO NOT DO IT! It is very dangerous and ANY AND EVERY vet you ask will be totally against it, this is not a money thing its a safety thing. You can easily (and usually fairly cheaply) get pre-anesthetic bloodwork done before she goes under anesthetic and it gives a very good idea of how she will react to the anesthetic. Anesthetic risk is actually very low and they have technicians monitoring them the entire time to make sure nothing goes wrong. The tools they use to scrape the tartar off your dogs teeth are very sharp and can easily damage her gums and teeth if she struggles the tiniest bit. When the process is done without anesthetic it often requires extreme amounts of force to hold the dogs still and it becomes a very traumatic experience, oftentimes the people doing it are not trained in proper restraint or proper dental procedures. I have seem quite a few dogs end up with broken and fractured teeth from anesthetic free teeth cleaning. And if that is not argument enough, an anesthetic free cleaning does not do all that much good, when you have it done at the vet they do a deep clean which involves getting in and around the gums as well as scraping the tartar of the dogs teeth. They also do x-rays so they can identify if any teeth need to be removed due to rotting and/or fracture or break. Teeth related issues can lead to many many health issues like heart disease so a healthy mouth can prevent many other heath problems. The only way I would even consider it is if it was a vet that was hand scaling the teeth, and if your vet won't do it, there is a reason so I'd pass altogether. Many vets will do a quick hand scale of the teeth if the patient won't get too stressed and the teeth aren't too bad. I would recommend asking your vet for advice before having a non-anesthetic procedure done by a unlicensed, untrained pet store owner.

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Permalink Reply by Cyndy Glasscock on February 18, 2011 at 9:16am

We have done anesthetized teeth cleaning with positive results. We do opt for the pre- procedure labs just to check blood chemicals, etc. We do not do this annually, but when the calculus on those back teeth gets hard it really is most effective. Our corgis are not big fans of brushing, so we do give the "dental treats" occasionally. One consideration for opting to go with anesthesia is that the vet can do a complete dental exam without causing dog stress. Oral health can give you numerous clues to other health issues... Anesthesia used selectively and after a human consult with the vet can be relatively safe, but most of all- is a good diagnostic for seeing and preventing some other health issues. At the end if the day it is a very personal decision. Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on February 18, 2011 at 1:07pm

I used to breed Alaskan Malamutes. For years I cleaned their teeth with a tooth scaler (the kind with a flat surface) every 6 to 8 months. The canines and back teeth are the ones that accumulate more tartar and with a little pressure it will pop off.  I did not scape.  They carry scapers at Dr. Foster and Smith site.  You could ask your Vet to show you how to do this and pay for the visit, or just give it a try.  Since your dog is used to your handling the mouth, you should have no trouble.  The tartar does not hurt the tooth enamel, what you are looking to do  is to get it away from the gum line, that's where it creates problems. The anesthesia, for me, would be a last resort.

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Permalink Reply by Amber Markley on February 18, 2011 at 1:35pm

I am from the new school on this one.  They are finding out that gum/tooth disease is one of the leading factors in cardiac/peripheral vascular disease in humans, and so in dogs also.  Your mouth has TONS of bacteria in it.  Your gums are obviously very vascular (have a great blood supply).  Bacteria very easily gets into the blood stream and travels to other organs.  A healthy mouth is essential to a healthy body.  In all my years of having numerous dogs, not one has had a problem with the anesthetic for a mouth cleaning.  I always opt to do the pre-bloodwork though, just to be safe--even if it's a young dog.  Now, that being said, my parents have had one dog that had his cleaned around age 7 that got pancreatitis from it, and so the vet opted to never put him under again.  He however, is now 13 and doing great still.

So it's a personal decision.  One I feel is worth it for the life of the pet.  That being said, I do however INSIST that the vet give them a dose of antibiotics 4 hours before--the cleaning releases a HUGE amount of bacteria into the blood at once, and that can cause infections of heart valves.  We kinda went back and forth on it, but I won.  To keep the teeth clean in-between cleanings, I use the C.E.T. chews.  They are rawhides with the chlorhexadine on them.  The dogs LOVE them, and I do notice a difference.  You can get them only at a vet.

Jen Markley (I'm using my daughter's account)....

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Permalink Reply by Vee Luther on February 19, 2011 at 11:35am

Actually, you can get those chews onlne much cheaper than most vets sell them...amazon.com for one place

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on February 19, 2011 at 3:09pm

Awesome!  Thanks for the info....I've looked before but could never find them anywhere but the vet.  I'm all for saving money as long as they are the same thing!

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