Quote: connie sutherland

I'd find out. I WOULD start brushing if he actually is collecting plaque.

Some dogs seem to have a drier mouth or something, more prone to plaque buildup.

Ok. The "beef" flavored goo I was shown pretty much made me want to barf - and I was having a really hard time imagining it all over my hands (Oscar seemed pretty put off by it too, even though it's SUPPOSED to taste great!) but I suppose I'll just have to grin and bear it...

~Natalya

I see that you love your dog very much!
I think you should listen to the very wise nutritionist (Connie) about the food you feed your dog. Let the dentist fix the tooth and go on your way.
Practice the non-committal look for the raw food vs eternal-shelf-life-cereal lectures (good one Connie). The same look will also work for anything that your vet wants you to do that you don't agree with.

As far as the toothpaste, I was nauseous for 8 months with child #2 and toothpaste was not one of the 5 things I could put in my mouth. The regular fluoride stuff still makes me want to retch 4 years later. Tom's of Maine makes a wonderful apricot flavored toothpaste that I love. They also have cinnamon flavor (a friend uses that for her dog). Maybe your dog would go for fruit rather than fake meat (he knows what the real thing is, unlike the poor desperate cereal-fed dogs).

 Quote: debbie bruce

Tom's of Maine makes a wonderful apricot flavored toothpaste that I love. They also have cinnamon flavor (a friend uses that for her dog). Maybe your dog would go for fruit rather than fake meat (he knows what the real thing is, unlike the poor desperate cereal-fed dogs).

Thanks Debbie! I do love Oscar very, very much (as most people here love their dogs I think...). And I'm so happy that I found this site a year ago and have been able to do so much reading and learning, all of which spurred me to really change the way I feed and treat my dog. I'm confident that I've made good decisions (and trust me - Connie has been a BIG part of that! I'll take her wisdom over most vets ANY day) sometimes we all doubt ourselves though, especially when we're being lectured left and right by people in white coats. That's why I always like to bounce things off the board...

Toms DOES make good toothpaste! I wasn't sure if there were some special "enzymes" or something in the toothpaste that's made for dogs, because their mouths have different stuff floating around in them - but I could be wrong. Maybe the paste doesn't matter as much as just regularly brushing those pearly whites (I just wouldn't want Oscar to consume too much of it - I know people aren't supposed to ingest adult toothpaste, which is why there are kid versions that aren't as strong...

We'll figure it out.

Many thanks to everyone for lifting my spirits - it's much approeciated!!

~Natalya

I'm a long time lurker on the board - I log on mostly to learn - but I do have some practical experience to share on this one. When I adopted my current GSD Dillon at 14 months old his lower left canine was already broken. We had a root canal done and a titanium alloy cap put on - I teach at a university with a large vet school, so I have access to some excellent veterinary specialists. The vet who did the work (a very nice guy, and former president of the American Veterinary Dental Association, so I trust his judgement on teeth) had no issues at all with the fact that I feed raw - in fact he complimented me on Dillon's overall condition and the health of his gums both when the work was done and when we went back for a one-year follow up. His instructions to prolong the life of the capped tooth are no recreational bones of any kind, no chewing anything hard (rocks etc.) no fierce tug games, and to brush a couple of times weekly, paying especial attention to the gum line of the capped tooth. I use one of those soft rubber finger brushes for this and CET dog toothpaste (Dillon prefers the yeast flavored one). It's been a year and a half now since the root canal and cap was done and everything has been just fine. We do get comments when people get an eyeful of Dillon's metallic grin, though.
My advice would be to stay away from hard bones but otherwise stick with your convictions on the raw diet. As Connie said, your dental specialist knows a lot about teeth but I bet she got exactly the same nutritional training most other vet students get - a seminar on the wonders of kibble sponsored by Hills or Iams.

Sarah - Thank you!! I'm so glad you offered that... and your first post in 2 years?! Extra thanks

I'm very happy to hear that such an expert could tell the difference between a recreational bone and a chicken neck... that's really all I wanted from the dentist we saw. And I'm sure Dillan's smile is SHINY! The woman we saw did not suggest a crown, thinking that it wouldn't do much more to stabilize the tooth... I'm not sure. Maybe that's one for a second opinion. As I understand it, the cap comes AFTER the root canal anyway... so we could do it at a later date. May I ask who your dental surgeon was, perhaps I could track him down? (feel free to PM me...)

Many thanks,
~Natalya

Hi Natalya,

I have been following your thread -- so sorry you're going through all this with Oscar. I have read Connie's warnings regarding marrow bones before; I'm taking them off my doggie menu from now on. I hope all turns out well with Oscar.

I just wanted to comment on the toothpaste. I am on another holistic dog feeding board and recently someone there mentioned using coconut oil instead of toothpaste for dogs. They said coconut oil is extremely anti-bacterial, and anti-viral - an excellent substance for keeping the mouth clean.

Not sure if it would work on reducing plaque?

Connie or anyone have any input on that?

Katie

Natalya,
I suspect that capping a broken molar is very different from capping a canine tooth, which experiences more lateral stress rather than being used for grinding. I will PM you with contact info for the vet who did Dillon's tooth. You are right that the cap is put on after the root canal - this vet recommended waiting three weeks to make sure all was well with the root canal surgery before proceeding with the cap. Plus he took an impression of the broken tooth and the cap had to be made to measure (by a human dental lab!)
Er...if some kind person can direct me to the instructions on uploading photos I'll try posting one of Dillon's capped tooth.

Sarah, you can post a link to the photo; you can use Photobucket.com (which is free and easy to use) or anything like that.

Katie - GREAT picture of you and Ellie!! Congrats to you both!
And thanks for the coconut oil suggestion - I'll see if I can read up a little on it!

Sarah, thank you again, as well. To share a picture, the image needs to be on another server first (like Photobucket, Flikr, etc.) - those image hosting sites will usually create a code for each image that you can just cut and paste in your post here, inbetween the "enter an image" code brackets that are created when you click the little picture of the "picture" (just to the right of the "envelope" image, above your posted text). I'm sure there are better instructions somewhere on here - I'm not so good at them!

~Natalya

 Quote: Natalya Zahn

And thanks for the coconut oil suggestion - I'll see if I can read up a little on it!

Well, it's usually the source for the vegetable glycerin you see on the panel of a lot of products, and it's supposed to be soothing. It also has some antiseptic medium-chain fatty acids, as I understand it.

I can't think of a reason not to use it. The brushing is the most important part, IMHO, if the dog is forming dental plaque.

Also, I've read about not using human toothpaste for dogs (who will, of course, swallow it). Human toothpastes can contain detergents and flouride, which Tom's does not, I know ... but there may be other ingredients in it that shouldn't be swallowed.

NOTE: Tom's does contain an ingredient that's very toxic to dogs -- see next page of thread.