First Dental - What Do I Need To Know?

[Guest mhall]

I just made a dental appointment for Jasper and Dr. Emily. Neither have had a dental before. I love and trust our vet, but know of someone who lost a greyhound immediately after a dental (I believe the dog became hyperthermic when coming out of anesthesia and wasn't being properly monitored). I'm wondering what questions I need to ask to make sure J and Em will have as safe an experience as possible. They have a pre-dental appointment to have blood work done, and, in Jasper's case, x-rays, as he has a mild heart murmur that needs to be investigated, so I'll have a chance to chat with the vet before the day of the dental. We don't know yet if either will need any extractions, but we are assuming it's a possibility for Em since she has worn the enamel off of many of her teeth (though they don't seem to bother her).

 

What do I need to know? What questions do I need to ask? Thanks in advance for any advice. I am a bit of a nervous mom

 

 

[Feisty49]

Annie had a dental this past Monday. I have total faith in my vet. The practice has many Greyhound clients and the vet herself has a couple of Greyhounds. I did, of course, have a few questions, the most important question being, "Is this really necessary?" Once I was assured it was, my other questions were: how long will the procedure take? how long before she's awake from the anesthesia? will you call me when it's over and she's OK? when can I pick her up? I was so intent on finding out when I could bring her home, I forgot the answers to length of time for the procedure and waking up.

 

The vet went into the procedure thinking 2 teeth needed extraction. Once they were cleaned, she could see the teeth didn't need to be pulled. I was glad for Annie.

 

I'm not a worrier. Pretty much I assume all will be well, and at 64 years of age and having experienced a lot of good and bad things in life, I know that what will be, will be whether I worry or not.

 

Each dog comes out of anesthesia differently. Annie was a bit loopy. She was able to kennel up into the back of my SUV, but she was panting more intensely than I've ever seen her and she had to P&P very badly. She was also thirsty, hungry and tired and after drinking and eating, she slept and slept and slept. She was loopy into mid-morning of the day after the surgery and then it went away and she was totally her normal self. The GH of a friend of mine who had a dental done by the same vet the week before Annie's, came home just as feisty and full of energy as he always is. It was as if he hadn't left home that day

 

Good luck!

[MaryJane]

Make sure that you stop any fish oil supplements at least 1 week (10 days) before surgery. Fish oil can act like aspirin and keep the platelets from forming clots.

 

I would also make sure that your vet (or you) have Amicar on hand. It's used to stop bleeding in greyhounds. If you need to get it - it could take a few day and you need a prescription - so plan ahead.

 

Jasper may need to be put on antibiotics before the cleaning if he has a heart murmur.

 

Find out if the vet tech or the vet will be doing the cleaning. Find out how many people will be there during the procedure. If it is the vet, less likelihood of issues as they are more experienced in monitoring overall status. Dental vet techs, while good, are going to be less likely to pick up early signals of issues.

 

I can't remember the anesthesia that should be used - hopefully someone else will provide that.

[2greyhoundMINI]

Interesting..... What if their food is fish-based? We use a dry food that has Herring, Salmon and whitefish protein.... As well as Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

Would this matter like fish oils?

Edited January 5, 2014 by 2greyhoundMINI

[dmswartzfager]

I can't remember the anesthesia that should be used - hopefully someone else will provide that.

 

Isoflurane and sevoflurane are the most common and safest inhalants. I don't recommend doing a dental using an injectable sedative… the patients don't stay under long enough to do a proper job.

 

Find out what parameters are being monitored and how often. At a bare minimum, blood pressure, pulse, respiration, oxygenation status, and temperature should be monitored; ECG and end tidal carbon dioxide monitoring in addition to this is the gold standard.

[Guest mhall]

Thanks everyone!

 

 

 

I'm not a worrier. Pretty much I assume all will be well, and at 64 years of age and having experienced a lot of good and bad things in life, I know that what will be, will be whether I worry or not.

 

 

Most of my concern stems from the fact that Emily has been sedated a few times for x-rays and tends panic after the sedative wears off. Our vet in RI thought it was mostly due to being very nervous at the vet and the fact that she despises being crated. She would make sure one of the techs sat with Emily and took her out of the crate as soon as she was awake enough so that Em wouldn't hurt herself. I will make sure everyone is aware of this.

 

 

I would also make sure that your vet (or you) have Amicar on hand. It's used to stop bleeding in greyhounds. If you need to get it - it could take a few day and you need a prescription - so plan ahead.

 

Jasper may need to be put on antibiotics before the cleaning if he has a heart murmur.

 

 

 

Thanks for the amicar suggestion. I will definitely figure out where I can get my hands on some in case either J or Em end up needing extractions. I found some OSU info on bleeding and greyhounds in case my vet isn't familiar with the problem. Not a ton of retired racers around here. I'm assuming I should go home with amicar if either have extractions even if they don't seem to be bleeding much post-procedure? I think I remember reading that the excessive bleeding can begin up to 4 days out...

 

As for the antibiotics, I was under the impression that antibiotics were no longer recommended prior to dental work for people with heart murmurs, but maybe the recommendations are different for dogs? I'll ask our vet about it.

 

 

Isoflurane and sevoflurane are the most common and safest inhalants. I don't recommend doing a dental using an injectable sedative… the patients don't stay under long enough to do a proper job.

 

Find out what parameters are being monitored and how often. At a bare minimum, blood pressure, pulse, respiration, oxygenation status, and temperature should be monitored; ECG and end tidal carbon dioxide monitoring in addition to this is the gold standard.

 

Excellent - thank you so much! I wasn't really sure what all should be monitoring during a dental, so I didn't know what all to ask about. This is extremely helpful.

 

Oh, another thought related to bleeding and amicar. If you know your greyhound had an uneventful spay/neuter, is it a relatively safe assumption that they are unlikely to bleed excessively during future surgeries? Is the tendency to bleed heavily generally present from birth, or is it something that develops over the lifetime of the dog?

[tbhounds]

I would remind the veterinarian that ghs do not do opiates (some tolerate buprenex ok) and have Amicar on hand in case extractions are necessary. Even if your hound recovered from their last surgery without any noted bleeding problems does not make them exempt from having a future bleed. Also make sure your guys receive IV fluids during their procedure and I would make sure you're available to pick them up directly after their procedure if they start to get anxious.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about stopping the fish oil-- there's been some pretty recent research in the human field that fish oil doesn't really "thin" the blood.