Sookster

When I adopted Nova about 7 months ago she had pretty significant tartar buildup on her back teeth. At this point the vet wants me to have a dental, which I'm not opposed to but I wanted to weigh my options. I'm attaching an image of her teeth now.

In the experience of people who have pursued alternatives to dental work, does this look like significant enough tartar buildup to go ahead with a dental and then work to prevent it from happening again? Or does it look like I could possibly try other things (RMBS, other suggestions?).

Nova is about 2.5 years old. What are the risks involved with having dental work done (if there are any)? Any advice, suggestions, experiences welcome and appreciated.

ETA: Picture is upside down. Sorry about that.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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Rowan

I've been through the ringer with rescues and periodontal disease, and have seen the results of poor dental hygiene, so please take my comments with a grain of salt. The tartar is fairly heavy in that picture, and she has some discoloration (redness) of the gums. I'd probably get the dental done and then stay on top of brushing to prevent it from building up again. You could also try the RMBs and see if this dislodges the tartar--I know that has worked for some. Has she had surgery before? Your vet will probably recommend a clotting test and will run a liver profile beforehand too.

My vet would hand scale cooperative pooches. Some don't mind it and will tolerate it well. Others, not so much.

I brush my MPOO's teeth daily and rinse w/the Virbac Dental rinse. They've (the two I raised from pups) have never needed dental cleanings so this has worked for me. I like the odorless Bully Sticks too. They seem to do a good job keeping the teeth clean.

MrsKaia

Cal just had a dental before we got him, so I figured I would try maintenance through food first. And that appears to be working. He gets grain free kibbles in the morning, and home made raw in the evening. Treats in between meals: raw beef ribs, chicken wing, chicken thigh, bully stick, rawhide, and anything else chewable that I think he might like. His teeth and gum look clean and healthy, and he's been with us for a little over a year now.

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Cal on Flickr

BorderKelpie

We adopted an older dog (not a poodle) last year with significant tarter on her teeth. We switched her to a no-grain kibble and raw food diet. As treats, she gets monster bones from the packing house not too far from us. On her last vet visit, my vet thought we were cheating on him and going to another vet because her teeth are so clean now.

I was also told that I would have to have my toy poodle's baby teeth removed. The cow bones did the trick for her, too.

I have a pack of clean toothed dogs. Gotta love RMBs and a good diet.

Sookster

She's on grain free kibble already. But she came to me eating IAMS and that is what she had been on since puppyhood, nearly two years. We switched her over asap and she's been on a rotation of TOTW flavors and Acana for the last 7 months.

I delved into raw a few months back and then life threw some curve balls and I fell off the wagon for a while. I'm totally and completely open to doing a fully raw diet (and plan to eventually anyway) or RMB's.

How long would you say that it took from when you started your older dog on RMB's to when you noticed significant improvement in the tartar? I guess my main question was if maybe I should try that for a few months and see if it helped enough that a dental wouldn't be necessary.

Rowan: She has not had surgery since I have had her and the only prior surgery that I am aware of was her spay which was done around 8 months old I believe.

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BorderKelpie

I don't think it took more than a week for the bones to make a huge difference. It just took her a day or two to figure out what to do with it. lol

Just be aware, when a dog with icky teeth starts on the RMBs, you will notice some blood from her gums. That goes away when her teeth become clean and her gums toughen up a bit.

outwest

That looks like pretty significant tartar on a couple of the teeth. I would go ahead and get the dental work done this time. After this, you should be able to prevent it getting so bad. My groomer has a person come once a week for special teeth cleaning appointment. It is a lot cheaper than the vet and there isn't any sedation involved.

CT Girl

Her tartar does look bad. I would see how she is with a dental pick so you could help her get rid of some. My niece did this with a rescue and pretty quickly was able to train her dog to cooperate. I would also be feeding RMB very often. I would give that a month or two. If I did not see significant improvement I would have the vet clean her teeth. I would try these methods first because you would not have the risk of putting her under and I consider a vet cleaning as a short term solution to a long term problem that raw and meaty bones will fix with the pick as a back up. I would not hesitate to go with the vet if the tartar was not significantly improved in a month or two because dental health is so important. Don't despair, I have seen dogs with worse tartar then this get pearly white with just RMB. Hopefully this work work just as well for you.

Ladyscarletthawk

One of my poodles will chew chew chew, and the other may nibble on a cooked knuckle bone from the store, but not enough to do much. If I give my chewer the same knuckle bone she will have a significant difference in her teeth in less than a week. The other I scale when I get lazy which for her that would be a week or two of not brushing! She will eat a raw neck no problem tho. I just dont always have time to feed them to her as I feed her outside while I supervise.
So Im trying the Plaque Blast you see on tv you can also get it at Petsmart for like 10 bucks. I have used it for like almost three weeks, so here is my assesment.:
It tastes like water so Eve will have to get over getting spritzed in the mouth while Fergie will come up to me for her spritz no prob. The whole wait 30 before or after eating can be annoying except before bed lol. Didnt notice how much better Fergies breath got until I stopped using it for more than 3 days lol. Eve naturally has good teeth which is suprising since she is almost eight, a toy poodle, and all she eats is wet food! But being that she didnt have a whole lot of tartar I saw the most whitening on her teeth. They looked pretty good, no shades of yellow in the sun.
Fergie in two weeks or more can look like Nova's, which I scale. On the plaque blast I did see some improvements. I did notice a shade or two lighter compared to what it was in like two or three wks, The swelling(gingivitis) was just about if not all gone from her gums, and her breath did improve, altho not as much as I had hoped... A dog show came up and I scaled some of her teeth which I did notice flaked off easier than before.
Im starting back on it to see how well it really works since there really isnt any shows for some months. Esp since Fergie's teeth need it the most. And I also want to see how the duck necks help if she is already on the plque blast. I hope this info helps.

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Laura, Eve, and Fergie

liljaker

Sunny's teeth and gums were much worse, and the gums were bleeding when he chewed on bullys, etc., and my vet commented on the teeth. I told him I was going to deal wth it for a bit and have been giving him RMB's, using Leba III (which personally is a miracle spray) and I purchased a scaler and have started brushing his teeth. We are not there yet, but a month + we are much much better than when he arrived 9/1. So I would look into healthier lifestyle choices, first, personally before I would put them thru the dental. IMO. Obviously, if I can't get Sunny's teeth greatly improved, I will consider, but want to apply good hygiene first.

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