 How Often for Dentals (when teeth aren't *that* bad)
I'm just curious what the teeth 'should' look like when a dental under anesthesia is acceptable.
Jackson is 4 now (turned it in October). He had a dental cleaning in November 2011. Well it's now been over a year, and I see tarter starting to creep back up. I admit, I've been slacking. I had been brushing every single day, and it's went down considerably, which I swore I wouldn't do. But he's getting brushed about every other day now but sometimes we stretch it longer. Bad dog mom.
Anyway, his tarter is weird tho. I'm not even sure if it's tarter? It's kind of green ish in color, and it's not coming from the gumline, it's just in random places on the front teeth. So I didn't know if it was just staining or not. Vet said tarter can be all different colors, and that's most likely what it is. But she didn't recommend a cleaning again yet.
Mostly, his teeth are still really white. It's just those front teeth that have these spots (I'm guessing because when he chews on things, he's using back teeth so that's why they stay so white). And a bit of the top canine teeth.
He practically just had a dental, but to be honest, I wouldn't mind getting him another in 2013. Even though they're not awful, and most of what creeps up is easily brushed away with toothpaste and using the HealthyMouth gel that we have.
But what is the general consensus on when a dog should get a dental? I just really like his teeth being super shiny and white, and if getting professional dentals every year and a half is what is takes, I wouldn't mind doing it. Unless it's totally unnecessary. And I should just get better at brushing every day.
Thoughts? |