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Originally Posted by 107barney  If you saw my dog Teddy's mouth with his porcelain white beautiful teeth that had no tartar on them you would never have thought that 8 teeth needed to come out. Without dental X-rays you do not know what the health of the teeth is under the gumline.
The risk of anesthesia is not increased due to age. The risks are due to underlying health concerns. Thankfully the risk of anesthetic death is very small when an up to date protocol is used. I think dogs need an IV catheter placed and fluids being run during the procedure with appropriate drugs and monitoring. If you are doing that, then the risk of driving to the vet to drop your dog off is far greater than the risk of anesthetic death.
I still understand the different view point. I just happen to think that oral health is very important to many other health issues in Yorkies. I had a dog with a shoulder tendinitis and it went away after the teeth were cleaned (and he had very mild tartar). There is now evidence that bad teeth or underlying periodontal disease causes inflammation elsewhere in the body.
I don't understand why anyone would give prophylactic antibiotics to dogs that don't have dental issues. What's the rationale for that? I am genuinely curious. |
Me too! As I understand it, prophylactic antibiotics is to prevent complications from infections traveling through the bloodstream. I am just conflicted about what is best for my babies. My husband doesn't trust vets at all. He thinks they are all about the money, but I have known my vet since we went through Lamaze 38 years ago. Our oldest sons are the same age.