Just been looking at Kerrie's teeth and she has quite a lot of plaque and tartar (spelling?) Feel really guilty as we should clean her teeth more, but whats there doesnt want 2 budge! She's not a very chewy dog, which is why her teeth are bad, but is there any good anti plaque chews we could try?
Think we may have to take her to get her teeth scaled and polished. Has anyone had their dogs teeth scaled and polished? I know our vets do it from £70 depending on size of dog and state of teeth. I think its done under general, which worries me a bit.
But we do have to do somthing or her gums are going to get sore!

Usually when plaque turns brown there's no chance of brushing it off :(

>is there any good anti plaque chews we could try?

IME the best things for them to "chew" on, or rather crunch on is chicken wings.  I've found they crack off plaque already formed and act as a preventative :)

>Has anyone had their dogs teeth scaled and polished?

My first bitch needed this done and when done it often requires doing again in a relatively short time frame (20:20 hindsight being my speciality :rolleyes: )as the process damages the enamel on the surface of the teeth leaving microscopic scratches which more tartar / plaque simply finds easier to cling too.  If you get a descale and don't want to go down the route of fresh bones or chicken wings then it's best to brush daily and use something like Fragaria to reduce or prevent fresh build-up.

The procedure does require a GA which we would all prefer to avoid if at all possible but rotten teeth and gum disease can in the long term lead to a variety of very serious health problems so it's far better to have it done and then keep on top of things thereafter to avoid repeating the process.

Best wishes, Teri :)   

Yea realised we had let it get too bad
Will give chicken wings a try, see if it works.
If not will have to take the plunge
Thanx for your help

its not a complicated anaesthetic :)

the dogs back of mouth has swabs inserted so water doesnt go down into lungs. Once dog is sedated, its tubed, then vet and nurse get to work, they scrape the old tough plague and tartar off, then scale the rest, then polish- very important to polish- to smooth out any striations we've made on the teeth. Once thats done we clean up mouth, pull swabs out and let dog wake up.

Sounds like it wouldnt take more than 3/4 of an hour, if worried then call vet. Then after he's had a dental you can start properly by using logic gel and brushing teeth regulaly-or using bones etc.

Dentals are usually quite straight forward as long as dog isnt geriatric, or unhealthy- ie heart problem etc.
xx

ermmm
Sorry to be a bit picky but Im a dental nurse and I have never heard that scaling can scratch enamel, it is one of the hardest substances in the body,unless there was a deffincy when the enamel was formed(usually due to illness or medication very early on)which can weaken its structure.
Pits and fissures will attract more calculus as they are just harder to clean,but build up usually comes more next to where there are salivary glands are,outside surfaces of the teeth.
Some people, and I would imagine the same for dogs, just produce more tartar(calculus) than others, even with all the brushing and flossing.
So, build up of calulus leads to inflammation of the gums, bone loss and eventual loose teeth,which can't be reversed, so yep it really has to be removed.
Im just as guilty, my dogs both have calculus build up and I know they need a dental aswell, I just wish I could do it myself.

well- that is how ive been trained- head nurse trained me. if you use a scraper on the teeth it can create tiny scrapings on teeth-dont know whether on enamel or what, why do you polish otherwise? curious now ;)

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body (consider the condition of the teeth of skeletons disinterred after centuries!). My dentist tells me that the polish after the scaling removes the final traces of the tartar which had developed, because even the smallest trace will make its redevelopment much quicker.

thanks jg ;)

yep, me too!!  always had it drummed into me that after scaling the teeth MUST be thouroughly polished due to the striations caused by the scaler.  and i am fairly sure when we had a specialist to visit us re doing centals he said the same!

My 8yr old poodle had a scale and polish last week and a few teeth out top and bottom. We've only had her 2 years and I believe her previous diet consisted of custard ceams and fresh cream cakes! The plaque and tartar were really bad (terrible smell!) she did have dental work last year which seemed to do the trick for a while. It's amazing the improvement in her overall being, she must have been suffering more than we realised - she's a rejuvenated (sp)puppy! It could be that she has a mishapen jaw and also very undershot so the teeth don't work against each other as they should. Didn't seem to be any after effects of the GA though the vet advised us to have a blood test first to make sure all her organs were ok - which came back fine.

Edit: It cost £235 including 2 weeks antibiotics.

I had one of my shar-pei done when she was about 6 years old as she had lovely clean teeth at the front, but a lot of tartar build up at the back - I don't know why as her mum had the same diet and her teeth were lovely and clean till the day she passed on.

Anyway, she ended up having two extractions too, but was absolutely fine afterwards and even ate her tea normally.

I'd say do it before they get any worse as tartar will carry on sticking to the tartar already there and no matter what you do, you'll be fighting a losing battle. Best thing is start with nice clean teeth and then keep it from recurring.

I posted before,I asked my boss about scaling and he said it couldn't cause any scratching to enamel,I have been taught that all polishing does is remove stain,but I work with a periodontologist,who is on holiday right now so I can't ask her,but when she gets back I will,because now I don't know either,and I have been a dental nurse for 18 years,perhaps dogs teeth are different,I always thought that they weren't,so always need to double check.
Ash

yep confusing, maybe dogs teeth are different? i dont specialise in dentals but the head nurse does- she has passed all dental courses- so maybe they are different!

chrisjack,
Actually my best friend is head vet nurse and she does all the dentals so I will ask her aswell,I know that she has done all the courses aswell so I guess she should know, only I always seem to get told off by her for doing the wrong thing!I brush my dogs teeth with childrens toothpaste and she went mad at me, so back to the lovely poultry flavour dog paste,I can't see the difference, but there you go.
ash

gosh- arent these 'head' nurses picky hey! no human toothpaste isnt good, cos its got things in it that arent meant to be swallowed- something like logic oral gel can- its got active enzymes in it too ;)

(ps- im at work now, went home at half six now come back til 10 to pill an aggressive jrt! aint life great...)

Thanks everyone for your replies, think we'll have to do it, wipe the slate clean as it were

Hol

If the chicken wings dont work there is also a homeopathic treatment that is supposed to be very good. Cant remember the name righ now but Im sure someone out there will know it.

Fragaria??

Teri mentioned it in her original reply, Fragaria available from Dorwest Herbs etc

Powder called Plaqueoff I've found is much better!  Though for some reason my breed don't seem to really suffer with bad teeth, my 12 year old still has sparkling white teeth and I think that I can count on one hand how many times I've put a tootbrush to them!

I've had Plaqueoff recommended to me, can you buy it in pet shops or is it on the net somewhere? Mostly my dogs' teeth are ok, I try to brush them once a week, and give them Dentastix every few days, and any stubborn bits get rubbed off with a 5p piece. Seems to work fairly well, but I like the idea of a powder to give them!

Try letting them chew on a marrow bone, (raw of course), my then 6 year old Springer had really tartered up teeth and I couldnt believe the difference after she had chewed on marrow bones for a couple of weeks, sparkling teeth, all my dogs get them and their teeth are lovely, mind you they do get chicken wings as well as they are barf dogs.

Jenny