Quote: Betty Landercasp

I'm sure you can buy a dental scaler on the internet. The only thing is, you need to put quite a little force on to pull the tarter down and off, and it's easy to slip and hit the bottom gum. Might be best to have the dog hold a washcloth in his mouth, and then practice on the upper canine first. It is not painful, but they don't like it
(who likes dental work!)

I took your earlier suggestion, and while Brodie was napping in front of the TV, I took my fingernail and scraped a bit on one of the canines. The brown stuff is not really a stain, its like a material coating, and its adheared quite strongly to the tooth.

I can see why it takes a metal scraper to get it off.

Is there also a tool that uses a water jet (or something)?

I seem to remember a youtube video that showed a tech using a tool to clean a dogs teeth and it looked like the tool was emitting water.

 Quote: steve strom

They sell them at dog shows or places like Foster & Smith.
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?af=type%3Aproduct&view=grid&w=tooth%20scaler&visitorID=&cartcount=0&wishcount=0&subtotal=0.00
I push away from the gum, if that makes sense, rather then pull that direction. I can control it better so it doesnt slip like Betty pointed out.

Thanks for the link Steve.

 Quote: connie sutherland

I never knew that. Are there other bad-teeth breeds?

(I already know about Pugs, but that's more from the crowded flat-face mouth and overlapping.)

I find that Chihuahuas have "weak" teeth and gums - teeth seem to get loose and fall out easily on some.
That being said, one of my tiny chi's had never lost a bunch of his baby teeth - the adult teeth came in and crowded the baby canines aside and some molars just formed a double row.

I regularly scaled this dogs teeth and he kept all of them until he died at age 18.

I have never had a problem teaching dogs to stay still while scaling and with my new dog (MinPIn) I'm using markers just like with dremeling her nails.

Start out with just handling her mouth and lips a lot marking and rewarding all along. Pulling the lips back far enough to reach the molars is the least pleasant for them, so do a lot of that. Then just touching the teeth with the tool, then mild scraping etc. etc. Start at the gum line and pull downwards (you can nudge the gum up a bit with the back of the tool).

Little dogs I hold in my lap, big dogs I teach to lie down on their sides on the floor sometimes with their head in my lap.

I never paid much attention as to where the plaque ends up, but if you keep up with the task there isn't enough of it (if any) to worry about the dog ingesting IMO.

"I have never had a problem teaching dogs to stay still while scaling and with my new dog (MinPIn) I'm using markers just like with dremeling her nails. "


Just want to add that marker work to desensitize dogs to "procedures," and especially of the head/face and paws, is work that no owner will regret doing (and the vet will thank them too).

The time to do it is before there is an eye injury, ear infection, etc.

Tooth-brushing is a good place to start. I do one front tooth, praise and treat. Probably take a week (average) to work up to doing the whole thing, but it's all stress-free and permanent.

 Quote: Mary Lynne Hooey

This is an interesting thread. I just called a few vets (London, Ontario)to get an estimate on cleaning plaque off my dog's teeth.
Only one would give me an estimate over the phone, without seeing my dog. They charge $39.00 to see him. They all would put the dog under a general anesthetic and with IV fluid and blood tests (88 lb. dog)...it only costs $900.00!

I was told by my vet some years ago, that the dog must be put under and a dam is used to collect the plaque, because the bacteria is very harmful if swallowed. Now they are saying it's because the dog won't stay still.

I'll investigate the suggestions noted here, to prevent my dog getting stains. Thanks for the info.

Estimates are hard with dentals, especially over the phone if they don't know your pet... it can vary on the size and age of the dog. Individual plaque buildup can really vary, and you never really know till you get in there if you'll need any extractions or not.

Every vet I've ever worked for has put a dog under full anesthesia. An IV Catheter is ALWAYS a good idea when anesthesia is used, but some vets only insist on it for pets over 5. (I'd never put a personal dog under without one though.) Depending on the age of the dog, some vets may require yearly blood work prior to anesthesia. (again, generally 5 and up) It's pretty good practice to get bloodwork on a young healthy dog at least once though, so you have a baseline measure for your particular dog if anything should ever go wrong.

A dental scale and polish, with IV Cath and blood work can run anywhere from $300(small, young dog with nice teeth)-$700(big old dog, lots of buildup) dollars in my area. More of course, if the work takes longer then an hour (the general time allowed for a dental, price goes up after that). More if they find a cavity, or tooth that needs to be pulled.

Often times there is a special in Feb on dentals. Here the special is the works for $85

Wow, that's a ton of money for a dental. (900.00)
We always had the dentals under gas anaesthesia for dental work, always intubated, as Kelly said, always an IV line(catheter) in place. Back in the day $150. was a lot for a dental, but we didn't have a polishing device, we used -- get ready--Ajax on a cotton swab to polish the teeth after the scraping. That was of course rinsed off.
Some vets will allow you not to have the pre-anaesthesia blood work if you will sign a waiver that if the dog dies under anaesthesia you will not hold them responsible for the death.

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

Wow, that's a ton of money for a dental. (900.00)

we didn't have a polishing device, we used -- get ready--Ajax on a cotton swab to polish the teeth after the scraping. That was of course rinsed off.
Some vets will allow you not to have the pre-anaesthesia blood work if you will sign a waiver that if the dog dies under anaesthesia you will not hold them responsible for the death.

$900 seems steep. I thought the $700 bill I saw was crazy, but it was on a old (14?) poodle with NASSSTTTYYYY teeth. Now that I think of it, I've seen a lot of Poodles with above average plaque on the teeth. Maybe they are another breed like collies? (I'm purely guessing here- I KNOW collies are known for it, I dunno about Poodles)

Ajax!! LOL. Thats awesome.

Our vet will allow you to bypass BW on young dogs signing that waiver, but only on dogs under 7. If they are 7 and up, she'll refer you to someone else because she won't do it w/o BW.