Non-sedation dentals?

[Riven]

I have a yorkie who is 12 yrs old. This Feb he had a stroke, but has recovered fully, he seems more "laid back" sleeps a lot and such from it though.

And recently he's been having more issues with coughing, I think it's CHF, but we'll find out when he goes into the vet in a week or two.

I read an ad in Denver for non-sedation dentistry for dogs. Since the stroke, and paired with the poss. CHF I don't think the risk of sedation is worth it. But his teeth are REALLY bad. He never chews, so they're pretty nasty. I've tried scraping them, but he fights me and then his gums end up bleeding before I can get anything useful done ( I did dentals at the vet so I'm not just randomly shoving things in his mouth ).

Anyone know anything about this "non-sedation dental" business?

I understand that his time is quickly creeping up, but his breath is so bad... I can't imagine how nasty his mouth must feel, and I would like to be able to do something about it...

 

[RDZCRanch]

I would call the company and ask them about their procedure. At the vet office I worked at we worked in conjunction with a non-anesthetic dental group that would come to our office once a month to perform the cleanings. Depending on which technician came to our office to do the cleanings the dogs' teeth would look different. The majority of the techs did as good of a job on a wiggly awake dog as we would on an anesthetized dog. We reviewed each dogs' teeth after the techs were done to make sure they were clean and we'd have happy clients.

What they would do is burrito the dogs and sit with them on the floor. They'd have the dogs' back to their chests/stomachs and use a tissue as a gag and just slowly work on the teeth with regular veterinary dentist tools. It worked really well and the dogs were always very calm. Lots of snorting and sneezing, but no panic attacks, biting, crying, whining or screaming.

 

[Riven]

I'm afraid of the later... once at the clinic we got 4 techs and two vets in the grooming room to see what was going on... because we were trimming his nails...

I know that animals are usually better when their parents aren't there, but generally he'll let me do anything to him ( minus the nail trims ) with little or issues. I don't doubt his teeth hurts possible. I've scraped his teeth before.

I've also seen these gels and sprays that supposedly break down the tatar, but yea... I'm skeptical.

I think I might try to find the ad again, I've been looking online and am finding mixed results/opinions on it.

 

[alli713]

This stuff is expensive, but I have heard really good things about it. I personally haven't used it as I brush Lila's teeth, but you could at least try it?
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3159399&lmdn=Dog+Health+Care

And here's their website
http://www.petzlife.com/before-afters/index.php

 

[Riven]

Thanks Alli, that was the one I saw online actually...

I'm really stuck between knowing the nasty teeth are not helping his health, the stress of him freaking out when someone is scraping them un-sedated ( he freaks out for almost everyone but me with most stuff, if I'm around or not, and I'd hate to drive him to Denver to find out he freaks out on the dental lady, lol ), and sedating him ( due to health issues)...
I'm trying to find the lesser evil out of them. That might be the way to go... I was thinking about doing a peroxide rinse maybe seeing if that helps break down the gunk... I try to brush his teeth but his mouth is so little and he swirms so much... yea... When he was younger I could scrape and brush fine, so I'm thinking maybe his mouth hurts?

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm open to about anything right now.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

I have a 15 year old daschund who also has bad teeth and a few other health problems, but responds very nicely to the un-sedated dental work. My sister, who used to work as a vet tech, burritos him and uses regular dental tools to pull ( only those that are readily loose ) or scrape his teeth. Pugsy is the kind of dog who runs at the sight of the nail clippers and tooth brush, just lies there and opens his mouth when she has to work on him, without any of the usual anxiety and stuff.

 

[Brittney]

I have never heard of it. I guess judging by how many teeth need to be extracted depending on how severe is teeth are would decided whether or not you should go the sedated route or not. I don't think any dog would sit still long enough to have the vet or tech stick an elevator up there and extract a molar that has deep pockets. Even pets under anesthesia have a spike in HR and RR during extractions. I'm sure they would have a cut off point as to when the unsedated route wouldn't be beneficial/ humane to the pet. Maybe they are talking about unsedated dentals for only those with mild-no tartar? I have done dentals on dogs and have been done in less than 5 minutes, but still, we have to charge the client 300 bucks just for using the anesthesia. Sometimes I wonder....

 

[ChilliPepper]

I have heard of doing dentals with a paralytic drug, rather than a full general anesthesia. I hate to tell you this, but i have know 3 people who have lost their yorkies due to going under for a dental. It seems the small dogs are particularly susceptible. One, my physical therapist, told me she went the other route with her other dog and it worked out fine, but no extractions were involved.

 

[Riven]

I brushed his teeth last night, and today, best I could, hoping I can break some loose. I also flushed with a peroxide dilute. He didn't appreciate it, and his mouth is so little it's hard to get into the back even with a little brush, but maybe once he gets used to it...

I might try the spray on type stuff... I figure it's cheaper and safer than a dental and if it doesn't work well... I'm out $30 or whatever instead Winston running around more retarded than usual..

I've also been being sure to do more activities with him recently and that's significantly improved his hacking, and his general activeness. He's basically trained for agility, so we've been doing some jumps, a little fetching the ball ( he only fetches for me, drives me kids nuts ). So hoping to get those teeth fixed up a little as well.

I might see if Toni would meet me at mom's shop and try a non-sedative scraping if I dropped him off there. She could bring the tools from the clinic. Since my mom quit grooming there we're kind of not welcome there anymore, lol. Her quitting started a little quitting spree ( a lot of people don't like the owner ) which included two of the three other vets that worked there including my chin vet... 8 / LOL but yea... It would beat driving to Denver, and I trust her to do it. I didn't think about it until just now though!