There's another thread going on that could easily have stayed with this one, but anyway:

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/166462/page/0/fpart/1

has lots of suggestions about "are some bones better for teeth than others."

Terra, the procedure you are thinking of is called a "standing dental" - and it's available but not necessarily a great thing.

From http://toothvet.ca (A veterinary dentist in Guelph)
Many owners, fearful of anesthesia, wonder if it is possible to perform beneficial dental treatments without anesthesia. The answer is a resounding NO - article here: http://toothvet.ca/PDFfiles/Anesthesia-free.pdf

The argument here is that "Standing Dentals leave plaque and calculus in places where the owners can not see it, so the owner is given a false sense of security that the mouth is healthy. “Standing Dentals” scratch the enamel surface but do not allow polishing so the tooth is left even more plaque retentive than before. “Standing Dentals” are unpleasant for the animals and so can make them head-shy which makes instituting an effective home-care program much more difficult. “Standing Dentals” often lead to damage to the gingiva as the animal wiggles about while there is a sharp instrument in the mouth. “Standing Dentals” do not allow for a thorough oral examination and so subtle problems are left undetected and untreated until they become serious and obvious problems which are usually much more difficult to treat."

I'm with what the others said - go to the vet, have a thorough cleaning done, and then start fresh (no pun intended) with the raw diet.

I did not suggest that dental treatments without anesthesia would be better, just an alternative I heard about and thought it could be something you could investigate further upon since you were worried about anesthesia. If Luc is already a bit shy and fearful then i would probably not go this route and have him develop another fear that he would have to get over. But It could do no harm just to have his teeth and gums checked and perhaps he just has stains that are harmless.
I also agree if your dogs are bone crackers then these types of bones should not be given and if they are the dog should be supervised. Bones that are left out get dried out and harder and I agree they should be throw away.

 Quote: Terra Presotto

But It could do no harm just to have his teeth and gums checked and perhaps he just has stains that are harmless.

I totally agree with you Terra.

Nothing wrong in sharing information.

 Quote: Carol Boche

 Quote: Terra Presotto

But It could do no harm just to have his teeth and gums checked and perhaps he just has stains that are harmless.

I totally agree with you Terra.

Nothing wrong in sharing information.

And there are dogs who are not great candidates for elective anesthesia, although G/A has come a long way even in the past year or two.

My newly acquired 3 year old Chi with 10 year old plaque made big strides with his teeth on the raw for about a month, then he hit a plateau for about a month without much progress, now the plaque is dissolving at a faster rate again. I've observed that the plaque didn't chip off, it dissolved away starting at the thinnest parts. He started with big chunks of plaque that looked like they would have chipped off if it was just the chewing action working on them. One side of his mouth is now almost perfect, the other side still has a plaque "scab" on his canine, but I can see a thin line of white at the gum line as well as the white bottom third of the tooth. But...if he doesn't hurry up and get his teeth clean on his own I am going to take him for a cleaning because of the health risks from dirty teeth (not a standing dental, because I have also been warned that it is dangerous for the dog).
Based on what I have seen with him I think the dissolving plaque on his teeth is from a cleaner gut and mouth with the raw diet rather than from chewing bones.

I recently got a case of beef neckbones from a raw dog food supplier. They are large - each has a complete vertabra, almost 2" thick and 6" in diameter, and lots of meat. I brought a couple to our training director last weekend for his dogs. He gave one each to his 3 and 4 year old dogs, who had lots of tartar and gunk. Two hours later, both dogs' teeth were sparkling clean. Even I was floored (my dog is all raw and has always had beautiful teeth). But then I got a lesson in bone structure from Jason, who happens to be a neurosurgical P.A. and spends a lot of time poking around in people's spines. He pointed out the relatively thin hard outer layer of the vertabra surrounding a porous but hard interior, as opposed to a leg bone, which has a thick exterior and mushy (marrow) interior. He said the vertabra interior acts just like sandpaper and scrapes the tartar right off, and the exterior is thin enough that it's much less likely to damage a dog's teeth than leg bones.

So, keeping Connie's caveat about bones in general in mind, if you're going to give bones, yes there are some that are better than others.

thanks anita! they don't get vertabrae....but that sounds good, i'll have to add it in.

it definitely isn't staining - you can almost see the layering of his plaque.

How cool Anita! I think the proper term for that spongy interior of the vertebrae is "cancellous" bone - a network of tiny bony struts sandwiched between layers of compact bone, just like corrugated cardboard. This bone structure can also be found to varying degrees in the roofs of skulls, pelvic girdles and other plate like bones.

Jen, I don't think you're too militant about being cautious with feeding bones at all - I've been very nervous about giving Oscar anything but chicken bones after the fracture, though it's true - there is SUCH a range of bone types within every animal, even cows and pigs have "softer" and "harder" bones in their anatomy. Once his root canal is done and the mouth healed, I'd like to test out things like neck bones with Oscar (if I can find them!), I just need to be very watchful, and work on getting over MY fear for the poor boy's teeth!

This is a little tangent, but if anyone is interested in some great reading about bones and anatomy, and beautiful photographs of bones and skeletons from all manner of creature, I'm in the middle of a wonderful book called... "Bones - The Unity of Form and Function" . It's a bit of an art book for me, but I must admit, it's given me a whole new perspective on the particulars of the raw diet I feed my dog!

~Natalya

 Quote: anitagard

I recently got a case of beef neckbones from a raw dog food supplier. They are large - each has a complete vertabra, almost 2" thick and 6" in diameter, and lots of meat. I brought a couple to our training director last weekend for his dogs. He gave one each to his 3 and 4 year old dogs, who had lots of tartar and gunk. Two hours later, both dogs' teeth were sparkling clean. Even I was floored (my dog is all raw and has always had beautiful teeth). But then I got a lesson in bone structure from Jason, who happens to be a neurosurgical P.A. and spends a lot of time poking around in people's spines. He pointed out the relatively thin hard outer layer of the vertabra surrounding a porous but hard interior, as opposed to a leg bone, which has a thick exterior and mushy (marrow) interior. He said the vertabra interior acts just like sandpaper and scrapes the tartar right off, and the exterior is thin enough that it's much less likely to damage a dog's teeth than leg bones.

Wow! THis is GREAT info!