Gingival Hyperplasia

[Graciehound]

I'm just wondering if anyone has had experience with gingival hyperplasia with their greyhound, or other breed for that matter.

 

Gracie has been experiencing hyperplasia for the last couple of years and it is definitely time to intervene. Research has shown a correlation to GH in dogs taking certain medications including calcium-channel blockers. Gracie has been on Amlodipine for hypertension since her stroke almost 3 years ago. We believe the GH is due to the medication, but it may not be the sole factor.

 

Yesterday she had a visit and her blood pressure was excellent, despite the fact that she was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane and showing obvious signs of stress. Taking this in to consideration, we are starting to wean her off of amlodipine and maintaining her Enalipril to see if she still needs both meds. Our vet is consulting with the head of the dental department at UWVMTH to see if they recommend scalpel excision or if they would prefer to use laser.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this? What treatment did they recommend and how did your dog recover from the procedure?

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[carronstar]

Did you ever get any answers about this? It looks like Aquitaine is having the same side effect. Her gums blew up last week. She is now on antibiotics and her specialist is looking for something to replace the amlodipine.

[macoduck]

This may be similar to Pudge's problem. I posted about a sudden change in her lower front gumline. http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/293786-pudge-le-mutt-not-doing-well-at-vet-now-1231/ There's pictures around post 40. Vet thought it might be a tumor pushing her lower front teeth forward, but it ended up being a proliferation of tissue. The 2 loose front teeth pulled out easily. The surgical extraction on the upper jaw was not related to this.

 

Pudge has been on enapril for about 9 months since she was diagnosed with advanced kidney disease. You now have me wondering if the medication might have had a small role in her dental problem.

[carronstar]

Pudge's mouth doesn't look quite as bad as Aquitaine's. Then again, Aquitaine has far fewer teeth. She had 24 extractions 3 years ago.

 

I actually laughed at one of the specialists texts via my vet last night because it started with mother***** and then indicated that this is a rare reaction to the Amlodipine which they will be replacing. I would think she is on the Amlodipine because it is the best drug for her kidney issues.

 

On her top upper canine I can actually see a noticeable improvement from Sunday. On her lower tooth line, it looks puffier but there appears to be a bit more tooth showing. It had actually swollen over her teeth.

 

In short, I am somewhat petrified but trying to breath through the fear and wait for the antibiotics to work and for the specialist and my vet to find a replacement for the Amlodipine for her.

 

As the specialist told me "NO" in the Fall when I asked about a dental, I am concerned with the fact that she will shortly need one. Likely to remove all her remaining teeth. The dental will be done by a board certified surgeon and the anesthesiologist is from the OSU grey program. They did a great job last time. I have to keep reminding myself of that fact.