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Originally Posted by kalina82  i'm sorry to hear that your pup had to have 15 teeth pulled. Sometimes there is no way of knowing what needs to come out until you get in there. Did she have a lot of tater on her teeth or did she have gingivitis?
sometimes when doing a dental on a dog or cat once you start scraping the tarter off you notice that the teeth are basically held in by the tarter so once you remove it the teeth are too loose to keep in. Or the gingivitis or peridontal disease is so bad that the pockets above the teeth are too deep. there is a tool used that slides in under the gum line to check the depth of the pockets. these pockets are just loose gum that isn't really holding the tooth in place. when the pockets are really deep that means the tooth isn't held in place very well and teh pockets are just deep bacteria breeding grounds. so the tooth needs to come out and the hole needs to be sutured shut. |
Very informative post! That does explain why they sometimes want to remove more than seems necessary. My mom recently had to have several of her little dachshund's teeth removed. They wondered whether that many really needed to come out. I will pass along this info. I learn something new almost everyday on this site!
I wonder why some breeds are more prone to bad teeth. I know for people, dry mouths can lead to a lot of dental problems. I worry about Ben, my male yorkie. I don't think he drinks enough water -- his urine is always very yellow. I know he is heading for dental problems, but it has not been mentioned at the vet's so far. Hope I am not in for a surprise down the line like the OP here! Think I will bring up the subject next visit.