Whatcha Think??

[Jennifer and Jack]

My mom lives in the adult version of Disney World... They have all kinds of clubs, She belongs to the dog lovers club. Tonight they had a Doggie Dentist come in and speak...  This women ONLY does cat and dog's teeth. They do cleaning, root canal and other services.

I have always used Petzlife and Jack to date has always had since then mild tarter build up.. We are coming up on his fourth birthday in March. 

This Dentist states that even if you don't see any visible tarter that doesn't mean that your dog is free from disease. Jack does have stink breath at times ( sorry Jack) She said dogs need a full exam. She does a full set of x rays (just like humans get) to make sure nothing is growing in the mouth.  Then she puts them to sleep and does a full exam and cleaning. She will fill cavities and do root canals if the owners want.

She said just brushing your dogs teeth alone does not get up under the gums where the bacteria is hiding and it can cause all kinds of disease from kidney, liver and heart. Also  she said dogs are very stolic (she doesn't know Jack) and they can be walking around with a broken tooth and root exposed and we would never know.

Needless to say she is against bones and chewing on hard surfaces... 

So her fee is almost $400.00 for full x rays, cleaning and lab work to be done in advance.  I just logged on to Pet Plan to see if our insurance covers it.. It looks like it does from what I can tell... 

Points of interest.. his insurance says that if a vet recommends a dental procedure and you don't do it, they are not responsible for any disease that occurs.. To date Jack has not been officially recommended to have teeth cleaning, but Molly has.

So if Jack were to get sick and it was linked somehow to his teeth... His insurance is null and void.

I really hate, especially given he is adrenal insufficient to be put under. He doesn't have any signs of disease that I can see but what do I know????  

I am torn.... I know his insurance will cover the bulk of it but do you think she is just trying to drum up business??? I think she has some valid points but ??

Also as a side note., as I was going through Pet Plan exclusions do you know if your dog gets LEPTO and you have not kept up with vaccinations, they don't have to pay for any care related to the disease or any of the other diseases you CAN but are not required to get shots for as well.

I never noticed that before????

Why can't I ever make a rational decision when it comes to Jack ever? I swear I am educated. I swear I am not an air head but when it comes to him I just love him so much.

Do you all go to regular dog dentists? Do you let you dog get put to sleep? She said that if you don't let the dog go to sleep they can't do proper exams. 

Thanks in advance.

Signed

Crazy, Paranoid Doodle Mom.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Thank you, Jennifer

[Jennifer and Jack]

:)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I would make my decision based on the recommendation of my regular Vet.  Murph is three and Guinness will be four next month and they've never had their teeth cleaned.  I do brush, but I'm not sure how much good that actually does....it's tough to get into their mouths and do a thorough brushing. 

[Pam & Trixie]

I would only have my dogs teeth cleaned if they needed it. if they look good (not much tarter on them) Id say they are in good shape.

With that said I did have Trixies teeth cleaned in Dec. Only because she was under for a Broken Molar extraction. My vet said her teeth looked fantastic-clean (duh- I new that)

She has not chewed on a bone since then- it has only been about 2 months & her molars are already getting more tarter then they ever had... : (
I have the petzlife- I need to remember to use it everyday. And find something for her to safely chew on.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

I have not had success cleaning Monty's or now Auggie's teeth at all. I barely manage to spray the PetzLife into their mouth if I remember once a month. Forget the toothbrush. Auggie bolts and Monty's tongue is all over the place and licks the toothpaste before it even gets to his molars. I have been taking Monty once a year for an anesthesia free teeth cleaning. They do scrape off the tartar and check his mouth and so far they have not noticed anything bad. I will be taking Auggie in May as well. I don't like the thought of a dog being sedated for dental cleaning, but I also know that this anesthesia free cleaning is not as thorough as a regular cleaning would be. But so far it has been sufficient.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I remember you telling me about the anesthesia free cleaning.. I would love that for Jack, Jack would sit okay for that.. Molly would have nothing to do with that, would most likely pee herself if not worse...and it wouldn't be right to put her through that.. It doesn't really matter though because I can't find that type of service here.

I guess it is one of those things.... just like not really having a safe way to strap him in the car, not knowing what is right or wrong with dental cleanings... I just will add it to my list of hoping a good answer comes up soon...

I am going to wait and see what they say at his four year.. If they recommend it, I will go to this dentist.. if not we will keep on keeping on with the Petzlife... Jack will hold still for me and lets me brush pretty easily

Thanks for all the help

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I read something somewhere about the anesthesia free cleaning being bad because it loosens the tarter and can cause it to get into the blood stream.  I'll try to find a link to that article later today and post it for you to read (just food for thought).

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't see how this would work. Loose tartar would either stay under the gum or be swallowed.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I had never heard of it before moving to WA and now I see the anesthesia free cleaning things everywhere.  We have a distribution list at work where people email back and forth about dog stuff and someone mentioned it and someone else posted a couple really good articles about the cons (not that I necessarily agreed with it) but I can't find those right now.  I did a quick search and found these though:

 

http://www.creaturehealth.com/site/dangers-of-pet-dentistry-without...

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_11/features/Canine-Teeth-...

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think all these concerns are valid. If you are going to do cleaning I would think doing a good job, under anesthesia, would be my choice.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Yeah, it's a common practice in the Denver area. I have not heard of what you are saying, I just read that it really does not do an entirely good job on cleaning. But it's hard to know who is saying the truth: the ones that do the anesthesia free cleaning or those who put the dogs under...

[Jennifer and Jack]

why the dentist here says she must put them to sleep is because they will no doubt jump or bite down and they can cut their gums and the plaque can get in that way....