Teeth Cleaning

[kaycountrygal]

I agree with those who said "save your money & go to vet". At my local vet they a week set aside and it's called "Dental Week" and costs less during this time. Maybe your vet does that also.

[Taz_Zoee]

I agree with those who said "save your money & go to vet". At my local vet they a week set aside and it's called "Dental Week" and costs less during this time. Maybe your vet does that also.

February is National Dental Month. So my vet offers a discount that month. It's only like a 10% discount. But every little bit helps, right?

[robinh]

None of mine would even think of letting me brush their teeth. I tried and learned that was NOT an option. So I take each of mine in for a dental every year. Not all at once - my budget will not allow that, but about every 10 weeks somebody goes in for their dental. Molly the yorkie seems to lose teeth every so often time, but she's prone to it. The rest have great teeth.

[Varga]

Bugger. Looks like a vet teeth cleaning it is then. I hoped at least the groomers did somewhat of a more thorough job.
I don't think his teeth are that bad yet, I haven't seen him ever show any discomfort with eating or anything like that, so I suppose we have some time to work it into our budget. I know waiting too long is just going to get worse, because then he will most likely end up having to have teeth pulled and whatnot and that can't be cheap or very pleasant for him.

I do brush his teeth but I suppose it hasn't been good enough since plaque has still managed to build up I'm guessing one of the main reasons is that he simply does not like to chew things. Tiki went through at least half of her life without me ever brushing her teeth (because I just didn't know that that's something you do ) and still her teeth looked better at age 12 than his do now and that was probably because she loved rawhides and anything she could chew. Taggart just doesn't have the attention span to chew on things for more than a few minutes... silly dog.

[*LabLoverKEB*]

No don't have a groomer scale your dogs teeth!! This is what they call 'gentle dentals'. They are very painful, and you cannot thoroughly clean sub gingivaly (under the gums) with an awake animal not under anesthesia! I believe there is a law being passed to make this illegal. I'd definitely save up and have your dogs teeth cleaned at the vets!

[Jessika]

I know it's already been said but I'll echo it: all groomers do is brush your dog's teeth. If s/he already has tartar build-up, the brushing does nothing. In order for brushing to be effective, you need to do it a minimum of 3-5 days a week (ideally 7 hehe) after their teeth have been cleaned at your vet, or starting as a puppy. And brushing really is not that hard to do; many owners think you have to pry their mouth open and fight with them to brush all sides of their teeth. We tell clients to use a finger brush, hold your hand around their muzzle to steady their head, and using an ENZYMATIC toothpaste (cleans "chemically" versus "mechanically"), just coat the OUTSIDES of their teeth very well with the toothpaste, and then pick up all food and water for 30 minutes after doing it. This not only allows the toothpaste to sit there and do its job, but it also promotes saliva production, which also helps clean.

If you're only going to brush once a month, you may as well not brush at all because it truly isn't beneficial (if we only brushed our teeth once a week, how good would our teeth be? hehe). You can chip off the tartar as it accumulates, but nothing beats daily brushing after a dental cleaning. Sadly, you do need to put them under anesthesia, because in order for us to clean every nook and cranny of their teeth (inside and out), and do a full mouth evaluation (those molars in the back like to go bad, and it's almost impossible to see it in an awake dog), plus extractions for bad teeth, they have to be under anesthesia. No dog (or cat!) will let you do that to them awake.

Oops, forgot to mention -- sometimes they will have gingivitis without tartar buildup. Our vets suggest dentals to pets with gingivitis, not necessarily if they just have tartar alone. Gingivitis means they're infected under the gums, and as previously mentioned the only true and best medical way to do that is to put the pet under anesthesia to properly clean under there. So just because you see tartar doesn't necessarily mean the teeth are bad, and vice-versa.

[Varga]

I know it's already been said but I'll echo it: all groomers do is brush your dog's teeth. If s/he already has tartar build-up, the brushing does nothing. In order for brushing to be effective, you need to do it a minimum of 3-5 days a week (ideally 7 hehe) after their teeth have been cleaned at your vet, or starting as a puppy. And brushing really is not that hard to do; many owners think you have to pry their mouth open and fight with them to brush all sides of their teeth. We tell clients to use a finger brush, hold your mouth around their muzzle to steady their head, and using an ENZYMATIC toothpaste (cleans "chemically" versus "mechanically"), just coat the OUTSIDES of their teeth very well with the toothpaste, and then pick up all food and water for 30 minutes after doing it. This not only allows the toothpaste to sit there and do its job, but it also promotes saliva production, which also helps clean.

If you're only going to brush once a month, you may as well not brush at all because it truly isn't beneficial (if we only brushed our teeth once a week, how good would our teeth be? hehe). You can chip off the tartar as it accumulates, but nothing beats daily brushing after a dental cleaning. Sadly, you do need to put them under anesthesia, because in order for us to clean every nook and cranny of their teeth (inside and out), and do a full mouth evaluation (those molars in the back like to go bad, and it's almost impossible to see it in an awake dog), plus extractions for bad teeth, they have to be under anesthesia. No dog (or cat!) will let you do that to them awake.

Oops, forgot to mention -- sometimes they will have gingivitis without tartar buildup. Our vets suggest dentals to pets with gingivitis, not necessarily if they just have tartar alone. Gingivitis means they're infected under the gums, and as previously mentioned the only true and best medical way to do that is to put the pet under anesthesia to properly clean under there. So just because you see tartar doesn't necessarily mean the teeth are bad, and vice-versa.

Yeah, that's basically what we are planning to do. Save up money for a full dental cleaning at the vet and then keep up with the cleaning at home and hopefully stay on top of it so it doesn't get this bad again. I'm also still looking for things he might be more enthusiastic to chew on, but so far I haven't had much luck. Thanks for the tip about the enzymatic toothpaste.

[SWHouston]

HA, yea, if they could only talk, they'd probably tell us to mind our own business ! (or mine would anyway)

My guys are little "Time Clocks", and regardless of the day of the week, are giving me numerous kisses (most times right in the eye) to get me up to go running by the Bayou.

I think I'll go with Mint, weather they like it or not.