I just pm'd you as i am so nervous as my maltese has her dental on thursday -- i am going to board certified dentist because of my fear of this so hoping all will go well but I do not have a choice as she has periodontal disease and needs some teeth that are loose removed because i was so fearful to put her under and now she has a bun of 28 and bun creatinine ratio of 31 and +30 protein in urine due to her horrible teeth. It is a catch 22 as with small breeds you have to do the dentals as they can get gum disease which leads to kidney, liver and heart disease. All we can do is do our best and that is what you did as if you did not do dental she would have became sicker over time and possibly been in more pain going that way. I have been reading everything on dentals lately for fear of demi's and this is what i have found -- best to not feed soft food in small breeds, brush twice if not once daily, dentals yearly and at latest 2 years, pre-anesthetic propofol is safest as ket/val should not be given to dogs having any seizure activity, isoflurine is best for toy breeds but sevo is safe as well but for some reason iso is best for the toy breeds, always make sure they use catheterization and iv fluids in case something goes wrong-- so all we can do is try our best but they have to be done as now because of my fear of this my demi has periodontal disease which is irreverseable and her teeth are loose so i feel horrible not doing the proper maintenance and now she has health issues
you did the right thing as you loved her and put her in the best hands you knew - please find peace in you did what was best for her as non-anesthetic dentals i am finding do not get below the gum line and very hard to get a good cleaning as dogs teeth are 1 to 1 - 1 part above and 1 part below the gum line so to get below gum line you have to put them under to get the best cleaning and the bacteria below the gum line is the bacteria that causes the most problem as that is the stuff that gets into the blood stream and leads to other diseases. It also leads to gum disease and bone loss and loss of teeth.
If your baby has bad breath then get them in asap as bad breath can be gum disease and kidney disease as i made the mistake of thinking it was a digestive issue of which it was not in my demi's case - it is gum disease for her and now her kidney values are affected so i believe i caught it in time but now we need to do more aggressive home care with gum disease as it is not reverseable
hang in there you did the right thing