Canine Root Canal-What would you do?

[The Quahog]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/26214

'nuff said.

Again, I wasn't there, don't know what was said or how it was said and hesitate to pass any judgements. The dentist's job is to explain what will happen with the extraction, and with the crown, and what difference it will make. No problem.

But if a human dentist tried to justify not extracting a tooth, as a parent agonized about the financial implications, by comparing it to amputating a leg, he should..... well, let us say he would not have earned my admiration.

 

[Sheltiemama]

I have 3 seniors. One had 11 teeth removed and the other had 8 and I think is going to have to have another one removed soon.

The one with the 11 teeth gone gets hard kibble with water added and a dollop of canned chicken. He generally eats the chicken and waits for the water to soften the rest. He CAN however eat it if he chooses. I've heard him crunching things.

The one with the 8 teeth gone gets a few kibbles and then canned. Mostly because he's older. AND we add a LOT of water to his so it becomes a soup. That's because he doesn't want to drink water so he has trouble in the poop department and becomes dehydrated. But he's willing to lap up all the soup.

The 3rd is going to have a dental soon. Who knows how many teeth he'll have left when they get done.

And the specialist's comments made me want to smack him upside da haid!

 

[MavRyder]

=The specialist made the reference that if you had a broken leg you would fix it and not cut it off. And I guess my decision depends on how important my dog is to me=

Those who know me here know that I do not interfere with cases I have not seen. Without speaking to the veterinarian involved there are often communication issues, and if we were all in the same room we could sort things out. Perhaps I sometimes come off as a veterinary apologist, but that is only because I have been on the other side of the 'the doctor on the internet said' about my cases of which they have no knowledge.

However, all that having been said, speaking as a veterinarian of forty year's experience, if this is indeed a correct quotation, that is an absolutely inexcusable thing to say and if a specialist said something like that to my client I assure you he would be hearing from me, and it would not be pleasant.
You have absolutely no reason to feel guilty, the course you chose was entirely reasonable.

My intent was to explain why I was feeling so guilty about considering exacting his teeth. When I explained to the specialist that my own Vet said she has seen many dogs do perfectly well with out those teeth.The specialist responded saying " If you had a broken leg you could chose to cut it off and you would do OK. But if you had surgery and where able to keep that leg you would do much better." I said,"My own Vet said she would opt for the extraction. The specialist then told me of course she did because that is all she has to sell you.Then he went on to quote many car salesmen analogies. If I was to quote him word for word it was not depends on how much you care for your dog, but what position my dog had in my life. Which maybe was wrong of me but I took to mean the same thing. He did not explain to me anything about the surgery. He told me that he had done surgery on a few peoples dogs in my area. He also told me he had also seen some dogs from my area coming to him with very bad extractions. He told me to read over his website as its one of the most informative ones on the subject. And I believe he asked me half a dozen times to like him on Facebook.
My Veterinarian did not specifically recommend this specialist. She only told me of the closest State that she thought had Veterinarians that did root canals. I found a link that listed all the board certified Veterinarian Dentists in the USA.
Prior to contacting the specialist I was 85% certain I was going the extraction route.To me it made the most sense.From the reasoning that extracting the teeth guarantees no spread of infection to the other teeth encase the cap feel off at anytime. But I am not a Veterinarian. After hanging up the phone I felt like I would be a horrible and irresponsible pet parent if I did.
I honestly did not know what the forums reaction would be. Afraid that everyone would think I was horrible too. I am so glad I asked the question. Now I am 100% confident in my decision to extract them.
Thank you so much for your response and taking the time to do so. Its greatly appreciated.

 

[MavRyder]

Always love to get your take on the situation Dr. Mac. Unfortunately there are a few too many vets out there that use a form of subtle guilting that encourages clients to spend more than they have. I even had the occasion to see a vet tell a client there is a special charge card they can get so that they could cover an expensive surgery that you could see they couldn't afford. The people were elderly and I wanted so bad to intervene. Still feel bad that I didn't take them aside. Thanks for you input - it helps when faced with these kinds of decisions.

Totally agree!!

 

[MavRyder]

I have 3 seniors. One had 11 teeth removed and the other had 8 and I think is going to have to have another one removed soon.

The one with the 11 teeth gone gets hard kibble with water added and a dollop of canned chicken. He generally eats the chicken and waits for the water to soften the rest. He CAN however eat it if he chooses. I've heard him crunching things.

The one with the 8 teeth gone gets a few kibbles and then canned. Mostly because he's older. AND we add a LOT of water to his so it becomes a soup. That's because he doesn't want to drink water so he has trouble in the poop department and becomes dehydrated. But he's willing to lap up all the soup.

The 3rd is going to have a dental soon. Who knows how many teeth he'll have left when they get done.

And the specialist's comments made me want to smack him upside da haid!

Thanks for the feedback!
Ryder s only three. He has pretty good teeth. Not too much tartar. I will have the teeth cleaned at the same time.
Good luck with the cleaning!

 

[Mitchy]

Little late on responding, but I do have one of my chihuahuas (Willow) that had to have 16 of her teeth removed. All of the teeth despite my daily brushing just were stinky, upon review, those 16 were not rooted at all, just free floating in the gums and had abscesses under each in the gum, even htough perfectly clean on the surface. Also her bottom jaw bone never fused together.

Despite all of this, she eats hard food, chews on bones, plays fetch A LOT, and is perfectly happy (more happy as she doesn't have the pain!). She has the major teeth only, the large molars on top and bottom, and Canines and just a couple other little ones here and there. She is my toughest of them all LOL!

 

[Chris]

Given what you've said about Ryder's age and dislike of the rides -- plus the case -- I'd say you made the only sensible decision. Beckon broke a canine when he was two, and we had it pulled as soon as we found it. My vet said we could opt for a specialist and an implant, and that it was our choice, but it would be very expensive. Unless we were showing Beckon, it wasn't necessary for his health.

That vet set up a very faulty analogy -- what a dork!

 

[MavRyder]

Thank you both for your comments and feedback. Much appreciated!

 

[biowicks]

None of my shelties has had dental problems (knock on wood!), but I have a Cornish Rex cat that has lost most of his teeth. In his food, in his bed, stuck in the rug, etc. He sneezed one on me once. Needless to say, he has few left, and I don't hold out a lot of hope that he'll hold on those. However, he eats wet food, AND dry kibble, and no problem. He's happy, and annoyingly playful, and faster than a bullet. You would never know that he's 'tooth-challenged' unless he yawns. Then it's pretty funny! I'd ignore that root-canal guy and do the best thing for your pup. He'll be fine.

 

[MavRyder]

None of my shelties has had dental problems (knock on wood!), but I have a Cornish Rex cat that has lost most of his teeth. In his food, in his bed, stuck in the rug, etc. He sneezed one on me once. Needless to say, he has few left, and I don't hold out a lot of hope that he'll hold on those. However, he eats wet food, AND dry kibble, and no problem. He's happy, and annoyingly playful, and faster than a bullet. You would never know that he's 'tooth-challenged' unless he yawns. Then it's pretty funny! I'd ignore that root-canal guy and do the best thing for your pup. He'll be fine.

Both my Shelties love food! so I am thinking two missing teeth wont get in the way.
Thanks for your feedback.