Have I found the greyhound unicorn?

[EllenEveBaz]

Gelsey, age 7, had her annual exam yesterday.  The vet pronounced her "perfect," including -- wait for it -- excellent teeth, with almost no plaque build-up.  

She arrived here 2 1/2 years ago with good-looking teeth, but I assumed she had had a recent dental.  I did notice they were still looking good when I occasionally gave her a swipe with the dental wipes when I was cleaning Milo's (who has the typical terrible hound teeth).  Gelsey does chew a lot, but Milo used to chew almost non-stop.  

Is Gelsey the elusive good-teeth greyhound?  Or is plaque waiting to jump on her teeth all at once?  Nobody pinch me -- I want to live in this dream.  

[Remolacha]

Perhaps not a unicorn, but rare! All of my greyhounds had at least stained teeth, and some very bad teeth, except Fletcher. His teeth were strong, white, just perfect. Why him and not the others 

Just enjoy your good luck!

[Time4ANap]

Rocket was the only hound we had with good teeth. He would get some plaque buildup and require cleaning/scaling, but he never lost a tooth and his dentals were little more than cleaning. Many of the others more than made up for that. 

Gracie just had a dental and lost two teeth.  Mark has a dental next week and is expected to lose a few that have been questionable for a while. 

Way to go, Gelsey! 

[greysmom]

Lucky!!!

Probably a combination of individual chemistry and good food.  Plaque forms from a chemical reaction between carbohydrate residue and the bacteria in your saliva (or your dog's!  ).  I think some individuals' bacteria is just different enough that the plaque ins't encouraged to form, just like with some people.  I've only had one greyhound who was a plaque machine.  Copper could have had a full dental every 6 months, and he ate the same food, got the same treats and chews as everyone else in the house, who nearly always had good teeth.  

I use a combo of dental chews and crunchy chews after meals and I can usually go 3-4 years in between full dentals.  I did have Andi in for one of those "awake dentals" last year due to some sedation issues, but she's going to need a real one in the next year or so.  She hasn't had a dental since we got her in 2019.

[ShebasMom]

Sheba never lost a tooth at almost 14 years old. I was lucky.

[ramonaghan]

Sweep had some plaque (and some kicking breath sometimes), but her teeth were always declared "good" and she never lost any. The odd thing with my current two is that Willa's look a lot better than Doolin's—she has far less plaque and her breath is better, which is nice because she's a kisser. I guess that's one thing they don't share as siblings!

[FiveRoooooers]

I have a dog crying in the corner after hearing this (Punkin, with only two lower canines)  Good for you Gelsey, you are one of the rare ones! 

[2greyhoundMINI]

That’s fantastic! 
Poor Amelia had lost 8 teeth so far… she doesn’t seem to have good teeth and gums.

Carmen has much better teeth but bad breath? 

[GreyPoopon]

Maybe you should buy a lottery ticket.  

You, and Gelsey, are lucky. I've had hounds with (virtually) no teeth through to those for whom regular brushing was enough to keep them pearly white. The hounds with good teeth might not have required brushing, but I started daily brushing before the first hound arrived. I think that the brushing did ensure that the only reasons I've had to do dentals since were because of insufficient pre-adoption dentals (tooth with exposed roots left; a few were infected by the time they got home) and broken teeth.

Toothless Toodles (6--her canines and 2 useless incisors) is very envious.

[MerseyGrey]

Congratulations, whatever you’re doing must be right! We cleaned Buddy’s teeth almost every day after an expensive dental in 2020 but by the end one of his lower canines was wobbly and most of his teeth were stained

[EllenEveBaz]

Dog dentals were not part of my grandparents' or parents' world, so I didn't grow up with the idea.  After the shock of having (and paying for) my first two hounds' dentals, I buckled down and started brushing their teeth almost daily.  None of us liked it, but we adapted and endured.  Only to have them, and subsequent hounds, need dentals every 2-3 years anyway.  So I gave up on brushing.  It was years before I had the lightbulb thought -- shouldn't I have brushed the insides of their teeth as well as the outsides?