Dental Without Anesthesia

[Guest onlymrsp]

We had our annual picnic yesterday with over 150 greys in attendance . It was a success , but it wasn't until it was over that we experienced first hand the topic mentioned above . My one grey Ginger has been the need for a dental . The Toothfairy Lady out of California was in attendance and she had appointments during the picnic, so afterwards we ask her to look at Ginger. She cleaned the teeth with no wimpers or trouble at all on the kitchen floor in no time at all . She also did another house dog and pulled decaying dog hair from under her gum line ..............uck, who woulda thought?

 

I would highly recommend looking into this prior to having your grey put under anesthesia and the huge risk and cost......... just thought I'd share a good experience for us in the hopes that this might help someone else...........

 

Jennie

[Guest Energy11]

Yes, I have heard only good things about her!

[carronstar]

I haven't done the Toothfairy Lady but Aquitaine saw the Houndstooth lady in February and will see her again in October. She basically fell asleep in her arms while she was scraping and she did far better with the ultrasonic water thingy than I do!

[MauCarden]

How does this work? Is this appropriate for all dogs? My Scout is extremely mouf sensitive.

[Batmom]

I think it depends on the dog and the degree of goo on the teeth. If you've got severe gingivitis and big loads of calculus built up, really need to put the dog out. Little/no gingivitis, not too much goo, worth a try IMHO.

 

It's weird which dogs will stand for this and which won't. I have Zema's teeth scaled from time to time without anaesthesia. She is terrified of the vet's and shakes like a leaf ... but they can do her and get under the gumline if need be. Joseph, who is NOT scared of the vet? Forget it. He's a horrible squirm.

 

I have ours done under vet's supervision as I feel he's the best judge of whether we can do this safely to good effect, or whether dog should have a traditional dental.

[Guest Honeysmom]

I need to find out about this for Otis. He does not do well under for anything.

[Guest lizmego]

The only thing I would be concerned about with these type of dentals (and maybe a vet can come on here and either correct me or agree with me), but my impression was that this type of dental was a scaling only. The scaling does make microscpopic scratches on the tooth enamel, while you are cleaning the tooth of plaque, you are leaving indentations that plaque can adher to quite readily in the future. For typical dentals, when they are anesthetized, the scaler is used, but then the vet/vet tech should be polishing the tooth to remove those microscopic grooves, so then the plaque can not so easily adher to the tooth. I'd be interested in your watching your pup's teeth and letting us know if you're finding plaque in a couple of months. (I've found that some vets are better than others when it comes to the polishing, our vet in Springfield Mo, did great dentals with Power, but I've found plaque a lot sooner with the dentals he receives here in Kansas City) Thanks.

[carronstar]

Aquitaine's teeth were scaled, water power cleaned (ultrasonic) and polished. My vet was aware of this and had checked out Houndstooth prior to the cleaning. I rely on him completely, if he had said no, I wouldn't have done the Houndstooth cleaning. He is a real nudge about proper dental care.

[Guest TBSFlame]

How does this work? Is this appropriate for all dogs? My Scout is extremely mouf sensitive.

 

Believe it or not they even do cats. I have used Cathy (Houndstooth) and it is something to watch. The dogs are laying in her lap before they know what happened. Cathy will the ther first one to tell you if you need a vet.

Edited September 14, 2009 by TBSFlame

[fsugrad]

How much did this no-anesthesia dental procedure cost?

[Guest onlymrsp]

Here is more information that I did not have when I originally posted- yes, her name is Kathy and yes she is with Houndstooth and her website is:dentals. So, please check it out.....

[Guest chaoran22]

So she does exactly the same procedures as a vet would do?? that's astounding. i used to scale my own dogs' teeth myself until i realized that scaling without polishing could be worse than not scaling at all, so now we do dentals at the vet. i never like that they have to be put under but thought that was the only way they would tolerate the mechanical polishing - the scaling and water cleaning without anesthesia don't surprise me, but if she manages to do the polishing as a vet would do, but without anesthesia, that's amazing and i would love to have that done on my dogs.

[Guest myIrishlass]

Friends of mine loved the "gentle dental" when I lived in AZ. The woman would travel once a year to our area from where she lived in California. Then she stopped coming to AZ, and we were all very disappointed. My friends had one of their greys die on the table during a traditional dental many years ago, and are now desperate to find another non-sedated dental.

[carronstar]

As to cost, Aquitaine's cleaning in February was $170. I assume it will be the same cost in October.

[brandimom]

This is what we have been doing for our three dogs at the holistic vet. Takes about 20 mins and the cost is $180 per dog. Love it!

[fsugrad]

With all the greyhounds in FL, why don't they open up an office here? At that price, I'd be able to have our hounds' teeth cleaned twice a year!

[montgomery2524]

We have used Kathy with Houndstooth on our senior. We would not normally give her a dentail with anesthesia unless she was going under for some other procedure. So Kathy was what she needed.

 

I had a regular vet dental for our 8 yr old in March. She just went to the vet and the plaque build us is terrible along with redness. All within 6 months and that is with brushing. I told the vet that Kathy would be in our area and she suggested I have Kathy clean her teeth and then bring her to the vet to have her look at the teeth and apply the Oravet gel to seal any scratches that may be there from the scaling.

 

I was quite comfortable with Kathy doing our seniors teeth and the information she gave me was tremendous. She explains everything she is doing and points out anything to keep an eye on. Which is much more than you get from a vet in some cases. And if a dog has an issue that needs vet attention she will quickly point that out to you and in some cases has refused to do the cleaning and referred them to a vet.

[Guest jerrybird]

This sounds exactly like what we have all been wishing for. Amazing.

[Guest KennelMom]

This is not the same procedure a vet would do. The only person putting a metal scraper to my dogs teeth and gums will have the letters D V M after their name. There's just some things I don't believe in "budgeting" or cutting corners.

[silverfish]

I do my own dogs with a hand scaler. I only use it minimally, that is to say, only when necessary, and as gently as possible. I used to do the scale and clean part of dentals at the vet where I worked as a nurse (that's what they called us in those days) so I'm fairly confident as to technique.

 

I understand the concerns about scratching, but done properly there shouldn't be much. Probably no more than feeding your dogs bones. And apart from Jack (who had gum problems, recession, and very sticky saliva) and Jim who had to go in for abscesses on two occasions in his long life, we don't need dentals here. Susan and Renie never had one in their lives and their teeth were great. Sid hasn't been here long, but now I've got the tartar off his teeth, his are great too!

 

I give them lots of hard chewy treats (pig ears, dried tripe, etc) and brush using an electric toothbrush and dog toothpaste and I get them checked once a year in Pet Smile month, more often if I think there may be problems. So far this regime is working well for us.

 

If there were a Houndstooth type service over here, I'd probably use it now and then for a good polish up, because it sounds good! But we're managing!

[cleptogrey]

my vet sent me home w/ one of his scalers, i guess he trust me(i've used him for over 30 years). i also have my teeth cleaned 2xs a year and gently use the pumice polish that they use on me on my grey....but it is abrasive(my hygienist trust me as well, she gave me instructions) only once every 6 months. my finger nail manages to chip off most of the new stuff and peroxide and water w/ a used soft braun electric tooth brush head works really well.

 

o.k. which oral product seems to help retard tarter the most? i have been looking and looking and have not bought any yet. do they really make a difference?