# Teeth Cleaning



## PaxPoppaAstoria (Jan 13, 2014)

So my wife and I are struggling to brush Pax's teeth, and we need to take him to the vet to get his glands squeezed, so my wife asked about brushing his teeth while he was there. They told her that they wanted to put him under anesthesia and do a keep teeth cleaning, as well as doing our routine squeeze and also cleaning his ears and trimming his nails (which we have no problem doing on our own, and typically do on average every 2 weeks). Apparently the cost is $650, and our Pets Best Insurance policy would only cover $100 of it. The last time we brought him in for a check up the vet noted a little plaque on his teeth, but never mentioned this type of procedure, which is another reason I'm a bit skeptical. 
To me, this sounds a little bit over the top. Unfortunately, it's difficult if not impossible to feed him a raw diet which, according to claims, would keep his teeth clean and sharp and avoid this particular brand of maintenance. He chews on bones (both real and nyla) all the time, and I feel like if we could ease him into a brushing routine he would be fine without this fairly large cost and the risk associated with anesthesia, but as this is our first dog, I'm not sure either way, so I'm hoping that someone here has had this sort of experience and could help to shed some light on the situation.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

How do you brush and with what? Dogs seem to particularly like CET vanilla mint. My dog will lick a hole in my hand to get at every molecule of it. I use an exfoliating bath glove to brush his teeth. He did not want the toothbrush, but has no problem with me sticking my fingers in his mouth, particularly if those fingers are covered in CET vanilla mint. Just put a dab on your thumb and forefinger, rub his teeth and gums for up to 2 minutes once a day, and you're done. Easy peasy.


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## PaxPoppaAstoria (Jan 13, 2014)

Thanks, we've been trying with one of the double headed doggie toothbrushes. He'll let me stick my fingers in his mouth (because I feed him his medication off my finger using peanut butter) so I think I'm going to order a few of those gloves and see if that trick will help us to warsh his choppers. I'm also going to try a couple flavors of the toothpaste, to test his palate. I'm still not sure of what to think about the vet's offer.


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## BubbaMoose (May 14, 2013)

Sounds like you have it covered but just wanted to mention that my dogs strongly dislike CET's vanilla mint.  Since your dog likes PB, you might want to start out with peanut butter flavored tooth paste. 

Amaryllis, let me know if you want us to ship our tube of the stuff to Kabota! Hehe! We just got it a week or so ago and they are so not into it.


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## fourdogs (Feb 3, 2014)

I'm having good luck with Petzlife dental gel, all you have to do is just swipe it over the teeth, although I am able to use a toothbrush to apply it to my 4 (my chihuahua took a lot of training for me to tolerate messing with her mouth, though). 

Gives them fresh breath immediately and loosens the gunk from their teeth. They are all looking sparkly white and clean now after several months of daily to every other day use.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

If he truly needs a dental, then getting him one under anesthesia would be best. Raw is not necessarily going to better for the teeth - some dogs are just prone to bad teeth... genetics. There's also risk of tooth breakage with certain raw, as well as antlers, etc.

While some dogs will definitely need them more than others, I still believe every dog should have at least one in their lifetime. Imagine not having your own teeth professionally cleaned at LEAST every 2-3 years. I know you're supposed to do more, but most people don't, but think about how clean your mouth feels after the fact. Add on top of that that most people don't brush their dogs teeth twice a day like humans do. When you go to the dentist, your teeth get cleaned MUCH better than what we can do at home. And with dogs, since they don't understand what we're doing, can't sit still enough or deal with cleaning and checking above the gumline to tolerate without being put under. 

Either way, studies suggest that for normal, healthy dogs and cats, the risk of death is approximately one in 2,000 going under anesthesia. For pets with a preexisting disease, that number increases to about one in 500. So the risk of dying, all pets combined, is a fraction of 1 percent.

There is risks associated with everything that we do with our pets. But, to me, a dental is worth it if needed. I don't think scheduling dogs for dentals every year, when they don't really seem to need one, is necessary. But if a dog truly needs it, it's absolutely worth it. The risk of dying from a disease that started because of their teeth is much higher... just do the pre-op bloodwork beforehand and you will be set.

Jackson is 5 1/2 and has had 2. I slacked off a lot between the first cleaning and second. I've gotten much better with his teeth - I brush them at least 5 nights a week, but try for more. I use HealthyMouth or Petzlife gel. I can notice a difference in his teeth if I skip on brushing for a few days, it's amazing how fast he accumulates tarter and plaque.

I just made sure to get the best place possible for him to go and also got the pre-op bloodwork. He did perfectly fine. Bit whiny and groggy for a few hours afterwards and then back to himself the next day. Good luck, it's always hard, I am so worried while he's there, plus he's very anxious at the vets, but really they will be okay.

Here is a really good link: http://www.toothvet.ca/PDFfiles/perio.pdf


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## PaxPoppaAstoria (Jan 13, 2014)

Thanks so much for the info on the deep teeth cleaning, it makes a lot of sense. We were just a little weirded out when they told us that it would be $650, when really all we were asking for was help brushing this time. I'll definitely get it on the books to have it done sooner than later.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

PaxPoppaAstoria said:


> Thanks so much for the info on the deep teeth cleaning, it makes a lot of sense. We were just a little weirded out when they told us that it would be $650, when really all we were asking for was help brushing this time. I'll definitely get it on the books to have it done sooner than later.


I hear ya. It really depends on the area. I paid around $450 total - but that was including pre-op bloodwork, anesthesia, OraVet product, etc. The dental itself is only like $150 or something but it's all the other stuff that adds up... IV placement, etc, etc.

How old is your dog?

Fwiw, here's Jackson's before & afters. I felt his mouth warranted a dental even though a lot of people would've said it didn't. But my vet and I agreed it was best to be preventive. I had slacked and basically just completely stopped brushing his teeth before this, and the stuff accumulated quick.

Beofre:


After:


Oh don't mind his shaved down canine tooth either! lol. That was a different surgery for a different issue (overbite).


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Teeth cleaning with anesthesia is a very common procedure so no need to be skeptical (I would run like heck from a vet who wanted to do a dental without the anesthesia). $650 is high - about double what we would have to pay, so I would question the price. If your dog has tartar build-up, get the cleaning. It will help prevent a lot of problems. Dental disease can be serious business, impacting not only quality of life (imagine having permanent dental pain) but heart health and more. If there isn't tartar build-up, stick with the brushing until it's needed.

RE getting the dog used to brushing--just takes patience and moving forward in small steps. My dog has always tolerated me putting my fingers in her mouth, so I can clean her teeth with gauze or a microfiber cloth and spray or toothpaste. I tried a few times to get her used to the brush but no luck. She's 8 now and has just recently let me brush her teeth - 8!! I'm a patient girl.  If he'll tolerate the cloth, though, that works just fine. Just remember move in small steps and reward.

- put finger in mouth - good boy, treat
- put finger in mouth and rub teeth/gums - good boy, treat
- sniff cloth/brush - good boy, treat
- touch cloth/brush to 1 tooth - good boy, treat
- longer touch cloth/brush to 1-2 teeth - good boy, treat
- light brush/rub one side - good boy, treat
- light brush/rub both sides quickly - good boy, treat
- longer brush/rub - good boy, treat
- full brushing - good boy treat

You get the idea. It can take any amount of time to progress through the stages from a few sessions to a few weeks of daily sessions. Like I said above, took 8 years for my dog to take the brush but the cloth was not a problem after very little training. I now tell her I'm going to clean her teeth and that she's getting a bully. She sits through the whole cleaning waiting for the bully. The treats were just needed early on to get her to stay with the training, but you can fade those to one good treat after cleaning once he's trained.


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## BubbaMoose (May 14, 2013)

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but I'm just very curious what y'all's dogs do when you try to brush their teeth and they "won't let you." My dogs have always just sat there and dealt with it.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Shep doesn't 'fight' me when I brush his teeth .... he fights to eat the toothbrush and toothpaste. He doesn't mind the brushing, just would prefer that I'd squeeze the paste directly in his mouth, and not tease him by brushing it on his teeth


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## xoxluvablexox (Apr 10, 2007)

Amaryllis said:


> How do you brush and with what? Dogs seem to particularly like CET vanilla mint. My dog will lick a hole in my hand to get at every molecule of it. I use an exfoliating bath glove to brush his teeth. He did not want the toothbrush, but has no problem with me sticking my fingers in his mouth, particularly if those fingers are covered in CET vanilla mint. Just put a dab on your thumb and forefinger, rub his teeth and gums for up to 2 minutes once a day, and you're done. Easy peasy.


Could you give me a link to the exfoliating bath glove? I could probably Google it but I'm not sure if it's for people or dogs, what brand, etc and I'm curious to see what it looks like. I rub a lot of stuff on my dogs teeth without a problem so that seems like it would be so much easier then a toothbrush.


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## samshine (Mar 11, 2011)

I've never had a problem getting a dog to accept a toothbrush. Here's how I go about it. Start by just lifting the dog's lip and brush the outer side of the upper teeth. At first you may not get much past the canine, but after a few sessions they should be okay with you hooking a finger into the corner of the mouth and exposing the top row of teeth back to the molars. If you use a flavored toothpaste, the dog is going to naturally start licking and swallowing as you brush. That will give you access to the outer surface of the lower teeth as the mouth opens. You shouldn't need to worry about the interior surfaces as dogs rarely get tartar there.


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## PaxPoppaAstoria (Jan 13, 2014)

So I've gotten to the root of the problem this weekend. I picked up some of the exfoliating gloves on amazon (link below) and first tried with nothing on it - no problem, then I tried the tooth gel that we have - no dice. Luckily I have two new flavors coming today (the delivery guy showed up well after I had left work on Friday) so I'm hoping we'll be able to give him a nice tooth brushing starting tonight. Thanks for all the tips, and we're bringing him in for vaccination boosters in June, so we're going to check in with our vet to determine at that point whether the full teeth cleaning is needed, and go from there.

Edit to add - These are the gloves I picked up: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F5KE8C6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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