Quote:
Originally Posted by my2boyz  Is there a way to 'twilight' them so they are relaxed during a cleaning rather than put them completely under? Seems that would be safer for the dog and cheaper for the owner. I understand putting them under if they need extractions but it seems there should be a better way to do just a cleaning. |
No because there'd still be way too great of a risk of the vet or tech getting bitten (probably even more so if they were under mild anesthetic because they'd get scared and clench their jaw). Unfortunatly pet dentals are expensive because of everthing that goes along with it - IV, bloodwork, etc. As a formor vet tech who has assisted in MANY dentals - it's HARD work and takes a really long time. The time alone (cost of anesthesia and paying a tech by the hour) is a large part if the cost even for just a cleaning. Start to finish (from bloodwork and IV placement to recovery of the pet and clean up of the work area) you are talking about 2 hours time and if there's extractions, longer - we had a 4 hour dental on a 7 year old german shephard once
. If our pups would open up and say "ahhhh" it would be sooo much cheaper LOL. Brush brush brush those teeth
