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Bad Teeth


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Over the past few days I've gained Maiyas trust to let me look in her mouth and touch her teeth. One of the things I first noticed about her was how yellow and dirty her teeth looked.  I've discovered both of her top canine teeth have a lot of tartar on them and they look very discoloured and on running my finger over them they are rough to the touch.

 

I'm thinking I'll probably have to get her to the vets and have as a minimum teethed cleaned.  As I've no experience of this, can anyone shed any light on the procedure and the cost?

 

Thanks 

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We have it done to ours every two or three years.  It's a good idea to have a blood screen done upfront.  That provides the vet with information that enables them to better monitor and control the gas used to put the dog under while the procedure is done.  Some dogs can have their teeth cleaned, and only need to be sedated and not completely put under, but that is usually up to the vet to determine.  Not sure how long the cleaning process takes.  The worse the teeth are, the longer it will take, but I have no concept of the duration.  Following the procedure, they then have to bring the dog out of the anesthesia, so that takes a few hours.  We drop ours off at 8:00 in the morning and pick them up at 4:00 in the afternoon.  They are sometimes still a bit wobbly.

 

Costs in our area are:

 

Up front blood screen - $70

Anesthesia - $150

Dental Cleaning - $100

Misc - $35

 

Total runs about $355 per dog

 

It's not cheap, but letting it go, can lead to serious infections and other complications.

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I have heard some good reports from people using a relatively new product called Plaque-Off, basically it is a type of kelp that you add to food. 

 

My thoughts are that a Vet clean is the best way to go and then maintained with raw meaty bones.

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A typical, straight-forward teeth cleaning usually takes me around 30min to complete. That's scaling and polishing, and if ok'd, applying fluoride and sealant. If teeth need to be pulled, time varies greatly depending on how and which ones..and how many.

My vet also puts the pets on antibiotics that are started before the dental and are continued for a few days after it.

 

I want to say our costs are around 300, that includes the antibiotics, cleaning, anesthesia. About 100 extra for pre-surgical labwork, which can be required if the pet is older.

 

Some products can help in slowing the build up of tartar. There are plenty of choices- a liquid you add to the water bowl, powder to sprinkle on food, or for the more tolerant there are rinses you squirt into the mouth and toothpastes to actually brush their teeth. But to be honest, even taking a dry cotton ball and rubbing it along the gums/teeth can help disrupt the build up. Hard bones like antlers can help crack off tartar as well. For the super tolerant..you can buy the metal dental picks and scrape off the tartar.

 

Hope that helps! :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Koda had to have 2 back teeth out that he cracked on a bone, the operation took 2 hours - he didn't have a pre op blood test as he was anaesthetised the other month to be castrated, but normally my vets charge £30 

 

They removed both teeth and did a scale and polish for free as I'd paid out for all 3 boys to be neutered the other month and this month for Koda's teeth to come out, so that was nice :)  TO have 2 teeth out was £300 though - not so nice!  

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