Clean Teeth

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Originally Posted by Orangutango

Winston is the only one of my dogs who has ever had his teeth cleaned by the vet, and only because he had a bad one that we thought might need to be taken out (it didn't, fortunately, and it's in good shape now) due to conditions previous to living with us. The others have no need for it and probably never will with good upkeep and such. I don't believe most dogs should have to get their teeth professionally cleaned ever as long as you take care of them.

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The day I will have such beliefs will be the day I call my dentist and tell him, I no longer believe my teeth need cleaning. Not that I consider going to the dentist ever an event of joy.

Until that time, I will take seriously any recommendation by the Vet that one of my dogs needs its teeth professionally cleaned:

Association of periodontal disease and histologic lesions in multiple organs from 45 dogs.

DeBowes LJ, Mosier D, Logan E, Harvey CE, Lowry S, Richardson DC.
Department of Clinical Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506, USA.

J Vet Dent. 1996 Jun;13(2):57-60

In the forty-five dogs studied, an association was found between periodontal disease and histopathologic changes in kidney, myocardium (papillary muscle), and liver.

Dragondawg, don't think it hasn't been brought up at the vet's office. We've asked him many times if he thinks they should have their teeth cleaned, and each time he's said no. If they needed it done and our vet agreed, of course they'd have their teeth cleaned.

mousse and ginger both had there teeth cleaned by the vet, only twice for them both and i had it done when they were having other surgical things done so they were only put to sleep once. The vet and I both tried to keep that down. They always had things to chew on and it helped alot, only when they started getting a little bit of inflamtion was it time to be cleaned.

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Originally Posted by Orangutango

Dragondawg, don't think it hasn't been brought up at the vet's office. We've asked him many times if he thinks they should have their teeth cleaned, and each time he's said no. If they needed it done and our vet agreed, of course they'd have their teeth cleaned.

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I think she was responding more to this comment...

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Originally Posted by Orangutango

I don't believe most dogs should have to get their teeth professionally cleaned ever as long as you take care of them.

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rather than your own dogs needs based on your vets recommendations.

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Originally Posted by Giselle

I dunno where the rest of you guys live, but everything is expensive over in the Bay. The place I work at charges an average of $300-$500 for Grade A and B teeth. Realllyyy nasty teeth can easily go $700 what with extractions and extended amount of anesthesia plus fluids and pain/antibiotic injections and all that good stuff.

The cheapest you can go for a dental ONLY is probably $300. The only dental I know that is only $80 is feline dentals. Giselle's estimate was about $400 for the dental alone, but the bloodwork and exam costed us about $100. And I don't even want to know how much extractions cost...

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WOW!!!!

Around here that would be utter highway robbery and then some!!! :eek: Heck around here for those prices you could have a couple large dogs spayed with all the vaccinations and probably some heartworm medication!!!!

Perhaps I worded it wrong. I wasn't meaning to say that no dog should ever have their teeth professionally cleaned, as I don't feel that way. Most of the dogs I personally know have never had to have their teeth cleaned though. Ultimately it's up to the owner and the individual dog's needs, of course.

erm, so i KNOW this isn't the greatest method, but my dog chews up sticks and my bestfriend said that chewing the sticks probably helps keep her teeth beautiful....lets just hope she never gets a blockage :eek:

Yeah, no kidding. Whatever you do, never move into the Bay Area. The vets will drain you dry.

You wanna know how much spays cost? I got Ivy done for $25 through a low-cost program. The clinic we went to tried tacking on $400 worth of extras. I declined everything, but she needed two deciduous teeth taken out. That racked my bill up to $150-ish. Woot for baby teeth.. :rolleyes: