Dog People: Non-Anesthetic Dental Cleaning

[readyin07]

I took my 11yo long haired chi to the vet today or his check-up. My boy is in great shape

B/c of his age, the vet recommended a non-anesthetic dental cleaning. It is done in-office, but not by the vet's staff and is about $200 if it can be done. I say if b/c our dog definitely has some vet anxiety (although I have an rx for Xanax and a thunder shirt that may help him). They obviously hold the dog, but they do not use restraint or force. If he is resistant and they have to stop then they won't charge us.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

At this same office last year, the vet we saw said that our dog had the best teeth she had ever seen on a small dog his age. The vet we saw today (the practice owner) concurred. He has no gum issues at all. He does have some tooth staining, but that does not affect the gum or tooth health and may not be able to be scaled off anyway.

There are pros and cons. Pros are that this may save us having to do a treatment under anesthesia down the line. The cons are that my dog is not a fan of the vet's office and clearly is nervous, shakes the entire time we are there so I hate to have him do an unnecessary treatment. The other con is cost...always the cost But we can make it happen if we need to. We definitely can't swing a non-emergency anesthetic treatment right now so if he isn't a candidate for the other cleaning then then we will wait on further tooth care at the vet. The vet does agree there is no reason to pursue any anesthesia treatment right now either.

[screwedup]

My husband is a vet and he says this is basically not worth paying for. Most of what they need to address in a dental is under the gum line and they can't do that with the dog awake.

$200 is chump change for a cleaning. We take our dogs and some of our cats to a boarded veterinary dentist (these are rare - we live in ATL - the guy that does ours (Dr. Brett Beckman) lives in FL and comes to ATL to practice 3 days a month. There are no boarded veterinary dentists who live in ATL (or GA)); it's a minimum of $800. Our regular vet charges about $350 to put them under and do a dental. I often wish my husband would go back and do a residency to be a veterinary dentist. He'd make way more money.

[screwedup]

Aug 27, 2014 11:20:45 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Aug 27, 2014 11:17:40 GMT -5 screwedup said:

My husband is a vet and he says this is basically not worth paying for. Most of what they need to address in a dental is under the gum line and they can't do that with the dog awake.

$200 is chump change for a cleaning. We take our dogs and some of our cats to a boarded veterinary dentist (these are rare - we live in ATL - the guy that does ours (Dr. Brett Beckman) lives in FL and comes to ATL to practice 3 days a month. There are no boarded veterinary dentists who live in ATL (or GA)); it's a minimum of $800. Our regular vet charges about $350 to put them under and do a dental. I often wish my husband would go back and do a residency to be a veterinary dentist. He'd make way more money.

I've only had regular vets do dentals, why would you need a specialist unless there is some unusual issue?

First, vet schools do not teach dental hygeine in their coursework.  No vet learned how to do a dental in vet school.  They all learn in either CE (most common), taking intensive seminars (less common) or doing a dental residency (VERY UNCOMMON).  As a vet, my husband is extremely picky about who he lets do a dental on our animals because it is very important to their overall health.  Our regular vet (trained in CE and a seminar) does our pets without health issues.   The specialist does our more complicated animals (geriatric, diabetic, multiple health problems) because he's had EXTENSIVE training, he's incredibly good and he's quick (less time under anesthesia).   

In cats, it's important to make sure the vet you're using for dentals has dental x-rays (not all vets who will clean their teeth have dental xrays).  With cats, most of the dental disease is not visible without xrays.  That's another reason we go to the specialist.

My husband used to be a clinical veterinarian but now he works in public health.  If he was still in practice, we'd still use a specialist for the older/sicker of our animals and maybe someone else for the rest because my husband has limited dental training. 

[isabel]

How bad is the tartar/plaque?

Generally speaking, unless you keep his teeth quite clean, a standard cleaning (like you would get every 6 months) is not going to cut it. They have to really chisel the tartar off and it's pretty rough and painful, which is why they put them under.

A non-anesthetized cleaning is not going to remove much of anything and there will be new build up more quickly because there's still going to be plenty of plaque and tartar on his teeth.

If you really think they need to be cleaned, I would do it the proper way and have him put under for it. Assuming they don't need to pull anything, it will probably cost roughly $600-800. You should also consider his age and health. Do bloodwork ahead of time to make sure the anesthesia is safe for him. I wouldn't bother unless his teeth are pretty bad, especially at this age.

Eta: I just read your OP in more detail. There is no way I would pay for that cleaning. When you think he needs it, go for the anesthesia, but it sounds like that's a good way off. We give our dog frozen marrow bones and that really gets a very good amount of tartar off. She has bad teeth, but they get quite clean when she chews on those.

[CurlyQ284]

I can't imagine any dog would sit still for that. I've done 2 cleanings on my dog and he's due for another. Its going to be about $600