How often do your dogs have their teeth cleaned at the vets?

[GiantSchnauzer]

Never. They get adequate amounts of bones/chewies. I've always been told by the vet that their teeth were in good shape.

[wolf_Q]

So far...never. Nebo will be 6 in May and his teeth/gums look good. I brush them several times a week, sometimes every day if I'm doing good. A few months ago I had a free exam at a vet I hadn't been to and I took Nebo in. She looked at his teeth and guessed he was about a year old lol. I have a scaler and have scaled his back teeth a couple of times myself, he just gets a little bit if build-up there. His teeth aren't as white as I'd like, but thats ok, they've just yellowed a bit with age. I may get a dental done on him in a few years.

Keva is only a year old so her teeth are white, I brush them when I brush Nebo's so I don't expect to have a problem with her teeth either. I'm not sure she'd let me scale them though, she's not as cooperative as Nebo. Luckily she's always chewing on something so that helps.

Sydney will be 6 in June and she could use a professional teeth cleaning. Her teeth look pretty good on the outside because I've scaled them and my mom brushes them fairly often. But the inside edges of her teeth that I can't get to need to be cleaned, she has stinky breath. But that's up to my parents to get that done.

We learned the hard way that teeth need to be taken care of...we never did anything with Reggie or Smokey's teeth until they were so bad that most of them needed to be pulled. I won't let that happen again.

[Seravieve]

Havent ever had our three's teeth done either. Zeke has some build up, and we've contemplated it, but the Vet's never suggested having it done during the yearly check ups.

They have LOTS of rubber bones, balls and such so they do lots of chewing. Bunny has always had pretty white teeth, and Eli is just a baby.. lol. His teeth are very clean as well.

We have brushed them once or twice with Beef toothpaste.. lol

[chocolatepuppy]

Lacey is the only dog whose teeth I ever had cleaned. She just turned 7 when I had it done. Her teeth are good, but she was missing a few. I brush Layla and Jake's teeth a couple times a week (no way I'd brush Lacey's, I like my fingers too much )

[K9karen]

Logan had her teethies cleaned last winter. They weren't bad, but I noticed discoloring, despite all her hard chew toys and was concerned. I just asked the vet, Pam, and she didn't seem concerned, so I'm going to wait before I do it again. . Logan's mouth structure is different than Cody's and it seems to me she collects food in her back molars. She hates the toothbrush but lets me use my finger to clean her mouth. She never has bad breath, though.

[cali]

never, their teeth are sparkling white. however Happy may need one of her front teeth pulled when she is older, its one of her very front bottom teeth, the vet said its fine now, but will likley need pulled in a few years.

[cyber-sibes]

Once. Star has always had very clean teeth, almost no tarter buildup. At 10, she finally had to go in to have a cracked molar & a cyst on her paw pad removed, so I had her teeth cleaned, too. the vet told me he might take up to 5 out, so I was glad she only needed one removed. Jack has not had his done yet, but will have a broken tooth removed when he does go in. Vet said he doesn't like to do it unless he really has to because of the anesthetic.

[kallisto4529]

When Mousse and Ginger were alive I had to have Mousse done 2 or 3 times and he was 13 when he passed away, Ginger I only had to have done once, the vet said for Cockers they had really good teeth, but they liked to chew alot and I kept them up on there chews and stuff so I think that helped. Reilly is only yr old so hopefully his will not be needed done for a while, he is still a huge chewer so there still pretty and white.

[Giselle]

Giselle came to me with already bad teeth and receding gums. Once periodontitis begins, it's only a matter of management, so she gets her teeth cleaned every once in a while.

It's very expensive. Around $400-500, if I recall correctly.

[Spiritwind]

I've never actually had any of my dogs get dentals done, however I scale their teeth pretty frequently. They are very good about it, I just lay them down on the ground a put their heads in my lap and scale the tarter off.

Collies tend to have pretty bad teeth.... and as long as I keep them scaled every few months - I have had 6-9 month old puppies with tarter build up on their back molars - as long as I scale them ever few months and/or give them knuckle bones to gnaw on they tend to be ok..

However, Ben, my 7yr old smooth collie male who lives in Ohio with my mom is having a dental done on March 20th. I was up to visit them after Christmas and was planning on scaling his teeth while I was up there, however they were to bad to work on.. he needed a full dental.. so its finally being done.

The estimate I got from my vet in ohio who is doing the dental is ~ $256. This includes everything - pre op bloodwork, IV cath., the anasethic, antibiotics if needed etc... I am HOPING no teeth will need to be removed, but we shall see... he has one incisor that might need yanked out, but other than that I THINK the others should be ok... HOPEFULLY! This will also be the first time he has ever been under any kind of anasethic so I'm kinda worried about it, but i'm sure he'll be fine.....

[slleipnir]

Mine never get theirs cleaned I recently had Zeke in for an appointment, and 2 of his molars at the back of his mouth had quite a bit of buildup. I asked if he should get a cleaning and the vet said he only has the 2 teeth needed to be cleaned and it doesn't make sense to put him under for that. So he decided to try scraping them while he's awake to see if he's tolerate it...Zeke didn't seem to mind at all. He was such a good boy. Most of the stuff to scraped off and saved getting them cleaned. I don't think he even charged me for it!

[buttercup132]

If your dogs chew lots of bones won't they not need their teeth done?
I thought I heard that when reading about raw somewhere.
I know .Sara's dogs teeth are gorgeous!

[Catlady711]

The American Veterinary Dental College has a great website. It has some terrific info on pet dental health, particularly this article here.

http://www.avdc.org/position-statements.html#cadswa

The also have links to find a certified veterinary dentist in your area and they can do things like crowns and fillings like human dentists can do for the owners that don't want teeth pulled if they can be saved.

[shepgirl]

We feed raw and the dogs chew plenty of bones so I've never had any dog's teeth cleaned, they don't need it.

[gardengirl]

After losing a dog while under, and because of the anesthesia, I try never to do anything under anesthesia unless it's absolutely necessary. So, I brush Bailey's teeth everyday, religiously. If there is ever a need for surgery, I always ask the vet to clean his teeth as well. That way, I don't put him under for just teeth cleaning. Bailey has teeth that build up tartar very quickly, and brushing them daily really keeps it under control.