Dental Needed?

GlennR

Forums Enthusiast
Willow had her annual vet visit today. All was well but the vet would like to have her in to do a full dental. She has very mild plaque on some teeth. I'm not really convinced that it is required for her health but I thought I'd toss the question into the forum. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
 
I admit I'm not a fan of dentals unless they're totally needed. Between the anesthesia and the cost (four figures here) I prefer to try and improve things first with products like plaque remover. The problem is most of them are great at prevention, but not as good if plaque is already there. Still, if her plaque is mild, I think I'd try some of them first. ProDen Plaque Off gets good reviews although I've had better luck with water additives. I use Oxydent from Amazon. It's easy to use and might be worth a try.
 
Shelties are notorious for bad teeth. We brush their teeth and the vet always says they look great. Well, suddenly, one of Eli's lower incisors literally flew out of his head while we were playing frisbee. And when I looked, the one next to it was loose. Off to the vet. She said the loose one needed to come out and she was concerned about at least one more. She took Xrays which showed more teeth were marginally hanging on because the bone in his jaw had thinned. So he lost a few teeth, mostly the small premolars, but she said some others were marginal as well.

Her comment was "Well, genetics won this fight". He just turned 9.

The problem is not the tartar or plaque, it's whether there's any gum inflammation. That bacteria can seed itself in their kidneys and other organs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ann
Piggyback on Ann's post--I think its called Oxyfresh now on amazon. We had good results here with it plus petsmile toothpaste if she tolerates you rubbing it on her teeth.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ann
Piggyback on Ann's post--I think its called Oxyfresh now on amazon. We had good results here with it plus petsmile toothpaste if she tolerates you rubbing it on her teeth.

Oxyrfresh and Oxydent are two different brands. The one I use is Oxydent, both are on Amazon.
 
Back
Top