Dental

[dottiesyrky]

Wow, that is cute! You are so great keeping up with the tooth brushing. Hopefully you will not need to get stressed out with dentals on your dog. I am afraid my dog does not tolerate home tooth cleaning, even with tasty toothpaste and belly rubs.

[yorkiemini]

I started by using a childres toothbrush and pushing the toothpaste way down into the bristle and she sort of brush her own teeth while chewing the toopaste out of the bristled. So,etimes when I am am in a hurry I do that now too.

If your dog is a chewer there is a gadget on Facebook you can out the toothpaste on and they chew to get it out. It is rubber and kind of T shaped and she likes that also. And, it can be put in the dishwasher. It is called Bristly I think.

I use PetSmile tooth paste and have been very pleased with it and it is VOHC approved and recommended. She loves the taste.

I also use Healthymouth in her water. Just try to keep her from losing any more teeth

[dottiesyrky]

Thank you for your helpful hints, I will try them.
My dog is nearly ten years old now, so it may by hard for him to adapt. So far he has only lost one molar and recently three tiny lower front teeth that were loosened after he attacked a drape trying to kill the noisy gardener!! The X-rays of the front lower teeth showed so little attachment, I am amazed they have kept in so long. There seemed to be little or no bone and mainly ligament and soft tissue,unlike humans whose tooth roots are strongly held into jawbones. The vet said it is usual for toy dogs to have this situation. He said they are often constantly slightly loose. I hope my dog has learned to accept the noisy gardener and not try to get at him, LOL!

[ladyjane]

Just seeing this thread. Glad all went well with the dental. I chuckled at the attacking of drapes ... I go through hell every Friday with my gang....they hate that noise. LOL I doubt this caused the issue with those teeth....it is VERY common for them to lose those little front teeth. There just isn't much bone there. It is great that your vet does dental xrays! Often there are problems under the gum line and they cannot see them during a dental. A board certified vet dentist told me years ago that dentals really should not be done without xrays. I used her until my vet started doing xrays.

[dottiesyrky]

Welcome back!! I hope all is well with you and yours as we have not seen you for some time.
So my dog is not the only one who hates the gardeners and their noisy tools! I must say I hate them too. Just blow dust from one place to another!
The poor drapes behind the windows took all the heat!! I think the teeth were loose anyway and this was the last straw. Good in many ways as it made me notice the loose teeth.
The vet had only examined my boy the day before and apart from a little tartar on the molars all looked well. I was going to do a dental next February. So when I took him in as an emergency on the following Monday and was shown an X-ray from his last dental, I wondered how the teeth could have stayed so long. I know from my personal bad teeth that we have so much more bone to secure teeth than these little dogs.I agree the X-rays are essential to see what is going on unseen below the gum line. The rest of his mouth and gums looked good from on top! There was also infection at the root bases.
This vet is very good and some don’t like him as he likes to cover everything and they don’t like the costs! Nor do I but I usually do what he suggests. He explains everything and gives options and costs for what he thinks is needed for best care. He even came in on his day off to check the pre op tests.
So all I have to do now is to keep the dog away from windows on gardener day. I know I have to get him out of the house when the cleaners use the vacuum as he hates that too.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

Thank you for your helpful hints, I will try them.
My dog is nearly ten years old now, so it may by hard for him to adapt. So far he has only lost one molar and recently three tiny lower front teeth that were loosened after he attacked a drape trying to kill the noisy gardener!! The X-rays of the front lower teeth showed so little attachment, I am amazed they have kept in so long. There seemed to be little or no bone and mainly ligament and soft tissue,unlike humans whose tooth roots are strongly held into jawbones. The vet said it is usual for toy dogs to have this situation. He said they are often constantly slightly loose. I hope my dog has learned to accept the noisy gardener and not try to get at him, LOL!

I don't brush either bc I didn't start that when they were puppies. One thing I can recommend is adding Healthy Mouth - it is one of the very few pet health dental products that is VOHC approved:

https://www.healthymouth.com/Articles.asp?ID=246

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

Welcome back!! I hope all is well with you and yours as we have not seen you for some time.
So my dog is not the only one who hates the gardeners and their noisy tools! I must say I hate them too. Just blow dust from one place to another!
The poor drapes behind the windows took all the heat!! I think the teeth were loose anyway and this was the last straw. Good in many ways as it made me notice the loose teeth.
The vet had only examined my boy the day before and apart from a little tartar on the molars all looked well. I was going to do a dental next February. So when I took him in as an emergency on the following Monday and was shown an X-ray from his last dental, I wondered how the teeth could have stayed so long. I know from my personal bad teeth that we have so much more bone to secure teeth than these little dogs.I agree the X-rays are essential to see what is going on unseen below the gum line. The rest of his mouth and gums looked good from on top! There was also infection at the root bases.
This vet is very good and some don’t like him as he likes to cover everything and they don’t like the costs! Nor do I but I usually do what he suggests. He explains everything and gives options and costs for what he thinks is needed for best care. He even came in on his day off to check the pre op tests.
So all I have to do now is to keep the dog away from windows on gardener day. I know I have to get him out of the house when the cleaners use the vacuum as he hates that too.

I have had wood blinds destroyed...finally learned to just raise them. It is insane on Fridays when they come. Nothing I have ever tried has stopped it.

That's great you have a vet you like!

[dottiesyrky]

Ann. Thanks I will try the Healthy Mouth. Glad I am not the only one who doesn’t brush teeth! But I do do regular checks and dentals.
LadyJane. Sorry about your blinds. Mine are kind of soft blinds that I could raise, but then he might attack the window and break it!!! Only way is to keep him out of the room, but the gardener and his helper seem to be everywhere!! I do wish blowers could be banned. Talk about noise pollution.

[KatysMom]

Originally Posted by yorkiemini

Just started laughing while reading these posts because my Cali just came running down the hall and dropped one of her tooth brushes in my lap asking to get her teeth brushed. Have not gotten around to it this morning and she is not being patient. Loves that toothpaste and the belly rub that goes with the brushing!

I'm jealous ... I have told Little Dutch about Cali's behavior and hope it will rub off on my little one. We are working on the experience. Dutch doesn't really object to the brush, but would much prefer to gnaw away at it without my involvement. (She takes to the brush and comb similarly.) My sweetie also doesn't object to the toothpaste.

We will persist. --KatysMom

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

Ann. Thanks I will try the Healthy Mouth. Glad I am not the only one who doesn’t brush teeth! But I do do regular checks and dentals.
LadyJane. Sorry about your blinds. Mine are kind of soft blinds that I could raise, but then he might attack the window and break it!!! Only way is to keep him out of the room, but the gardener and his helper seem to be everywhere!! I do wish blowers could be banned. Talk about noise pollution.

LOL mine have not shattered any windows yet. All of that stuff they have is noisy.....hate it so much!