dog dental problems...

[juneyboy]

yeah it seems that its the gums

he's been having bad gum ever since i got him when he was about 2 years old

just wondering, should i try to brush his teeth more than twice a week? I heard that its recommended to brush twice a week but maybe that wasn't enough...

[lpollockandrsn]

I would expect twice a week to be enough for most but if you are noticing it to be a problem then you may need to increase that a bit. It sounds like it will be an ongoing situation for him based on his age and breed. Like others have said, teeth are not supposed to be loose at his age unless something is causing their decay. Peridontal disease is the most common cause so you probably do need to brush them often. There are some good mouth rinses to help combat that too, they seem to be helpful in dogs that are prone to such problems. Your vet can probably recommend one. Use a very soft brush to brush though, you don't want to aggrivated an already sensitve area.

[juneyboy]

yeah i feel bad now...it seems i could have done a better job brushing, i did use a soft rubber brush that you put over your finger but i think i sometimes got careless brushing him

i am hoping that the teeth are fixable...if not hopefully the rest of the teeth...

[juneyboy]

ok the vet told us to make him take antibiotics for a while and that its recommended to do a dentistry on him too...

anyone here have some experience with dog dentistry? he said it could cost as much as 600-800 dollars (canadian dollar) and I want to know if its really worth it or not

[lpollockandrsn]

Wow, that seems like a lot, I don't know the exchange rate right now but I think it would still be about 400 - 600 american. And I might look for another vet.

I do think antibiotics and a dentistry is warranted but that seems really high.

Yes, he requires anesthesia, they may want to do bloodwork first, they will probably send him home with treatments for you to do at home, maybe even a special diet, they will probably set a catheter and hook him up to IV and monitors during the cleaning. They will probably have a couple extractions, sometimes more than they can tell before they are able to look closely, but still that seems SO high. I guess I would expect to pay $200 or $250 for all that but not more, and maybe less. He is only 3, right?

[juneyboy]

yeah he is 3

I guess I can ask around at other places for their prices but the vet said that they will need to do anesthesia and probably take out the two wabbly teeth, he didn't tell us more details because my dog has pretty bad temper towards strangers and he couldn't examine him further

he said after anesthesia he'll be able to examine the mouth further and see exactly what he has to do....

[mojozen]

I know my dog i had as a child ended up having about half of his mouth absessed by the time he was in his teens. They pulled quite a few of his teeth - but i do not know how much it was. The vet who did it was a friend of my father's so he may nto have charged to have Sparky's teeth pulled. I do know if you allow this to go for too long your dog can get pretty bad.

[bubbatd]

It's been a long time ago ... one of my older Goldens had a bad molar. I know it was well under $100. I wouldn't think today's prices would be more than a spay/neuter !