Shocked Ashamed and Confused
 

Our 7 year old (4/19) beloved Yorkie Francie returned home from her first dental minus 15 teeth! I brush as often as she will tolerate and use dental spray often. She has an excellent diet and is given great care.
I showed our Vet a loose tooth back in Feb and she wanted me to come in and have it looked at. I am so confused. Additionally, I showed the Vet a lower canine this summer that had become loose and the gum was receeding. She said not to worry it was common to the breed etc...
There was never any talk prior of the importance of dentals, etc... and no degree of urgecy ever.
We had a dental scheduled a year ago, but Francie threw up the morning of as if she knew she was going and we cancelled. I'm concerned that this delay made her have more extractions than necessary or was that inevitable? Either way the Vet has been seeing her since she was a pup, we just brought home a baby boy named Butler and I don't want to continue on with this Vet if she was negligent and non - communicative.
Also, shouldn't they have called us to weigh our options on the extractions - money is not an issue here we'd do anything for her, but feel that the procedure was a bit aggressive, especially since we thought it was going to be one tooth! Please help!

If she needed 15 extractions, I think it is safe to say that a vet that was paying attention would have caught that a looooooong time ago, and since she is a Yorkie, dentals should be stressed anyway.

If you are already brushing daily and if you add something like OraVet, you may need to do very few dentals. It really depends on the dog...

Wow that is a lot of teeth. I would have thought the vetwould have said something. Pixie my 3 year old has terrible teeth and gums, despite brushing almost daily. Last summer after 6 months of trying to get them in better shape the vet and I decided she had to have a dental and 5 teeth pulled. They had to give her antibiotics before and after since her gums were so bad. I have kept up her cleaning at home and while they are ok they look like they are getting worse again. The vet said some dogs just have genetically bad teeth.

Thor has really bad teeth too. :( I brush every night, and I can still see plaque forming.

What else can you do to keep a dog's teeth good? I give Thor flossies, but he won't chew them unless they are really soft, so they are not very "scrape-y". I feed him kibble for the potential teeth benefits, though I know a lot of people think it doesn't a difference.

I've heard to stuff you can put in their water, but it seemed like you had to measure it really carefully and I'm always refilling his bowls, so I wasnt' sure I'd be able to do it right.

It is a lot of teeth and I can imagine your dismay. Your vet should have discussed this with you and given you some idea of what to expect. However, it is pretty common for this breed to have bad teeth.

How's your little one doing?

A lot of the problem with them is hereditary. My brother and his wife have 2 yorkies. The oldest one that is 8 goes in every year for her cleaning, has since she was young and still has problems with her teeth(lost some, etc) the 6 year old has never had to have hers cleaned and has every tooth. The vet has checked and said the 6 year olds are perfect

Thank you!
 

Thank you to all that have replied, the support is amazing. She is doing amazing. The input has given me a leg to stand on when we have the post op follow up this week. Thank you again.

teeth
 

Yorkies do have teeth problems. Yet one of my Yorkies, Toby , is 9 years old and has all of his. My other Yorkie, Buddy, age 9, died this past February while going under anesthesia to have his teeth cleaned (he had lost 4 teeth)---I was absolutely devastated....I do wonder why your dog had to have 15 removed. My dogs had fairly frequent dentals. So while I know that yorkies have teeth problems I must say that I will have to think a long time before I put another older little dog under anesthesia, just to have his teeth cleaned. I am going to try harder to brush my dogs' teeth.

Having 15 teeth pulled seems like a lot at one time. I agree that the vet should have called you to weigh your options. The final decision should have been yours to make. If this happened to my dog, I would be extremely upset and furious with the vet. I'm glad to hear that little Francie is doing fine.

As far as dental care, have you looked into Petzlife oral gel? I've been using it for a few years and it has worked wonders for my two little ones. With regular brushing and Petzlife, they're teeth are white and clean.

What Great advice and support.
 

We thank you again. Will add some pictures soon. A few things, Francie is a hard tugger (not chewer) and plays ball vigorously, airbourne and all! Anybody heard of this loosening canines (the majority of what she lost).
Should I be asking if any were baby teeth? Likely they weren't has a few remaining were pulled when she was spayed.
On the timeline it seems that in order to have prevented this if at all, cleanings would have had to happen well in advance of her first scheduled cleaning 14 months ago at age 6? It seems the concensus here is the Vet was negligent when checking her teeth and gums over the years.
Not good for our new pub. Our breeder says like all things some are better at dental diagnosis than others and vis versa.
What would have softened the blow is if the Vet would have simply said this was unavoidable, it was a necessary to prolonging your dog's healthy (other than the extracted teeth) life and we've done the right thing in the best interest of your loved one! Seems simple right?

Our adopted 8 year old boy goes in for his first cleaning since we got him (3 weeks ago) on Friday. Our vet said that he would need to have some teeth extracted, most likely some front teeth, but would not be able to tell how many until he got in there, started cleaning, and saw how bad it was. Still, it seems like your little one had an awful lot of them taken out considering your high level of care. We don't think our boy had any work done on his teeth before we got him. :( I hope this will be the last of the tooth problems for your family. Oh, and HI everyone! I'm a new Yorkie mom and new to YT. Shoulda done the intro sooner huh?!

Wow! I am AGAIN so happy to have discovered YT! I have decided this is the breed for life for me (though i will never regret the other breeds i have had, or my current poodle!) Sammy has no teeth and came that way, so I was unaware of the dental issues. I will say, though, that my vet has not recommended a cleaning for my poodle, who is 9, but every other dog i have had, the same vet has cleaned their teeth at various ages, so it does seem to depend on the dog. however, based on your situation and feelings about this vet, i would say you need to find one that you have better communication with!

I think I would be very upset to find out my vet distracted 15 teeth
without calling me first. You can't help but wonder why this was
not reconized with visits in the past. That is what would really
tick me off:confused:
I read, before getting Buddy, that a Yorkie can loose it's teeth
at a very young age if the teeth are not cared for. So I was
very well aware of this and very nervous about it. So far,
knock on wood, Buddy is 5yrs old and has every one with no
problems to date. We brush almost every day and I have been
using Petzlife for about three years, maybe four.
You really have tried to care for his teeth. Maybe genes, like
humans, play a big role as well. To be honest, I would be looking for a new vet.
I hope your baby is doing well today. Poor little one.

Been thinking about poor little Francie and her 15 extractions. How is she doing today?

Yorkies are known for the rapid tartar formation, and there are several things that you can do to cut down on this. While tooth brushing is important, it's really hard to do a through job on a dog, so this should be just part of the program. We have been using Petzlife gel that is said to soften tartar and make it easier to brush away. Hard kibble is another choice we have made, I also am a firm believer in Bully sticks, and think they help scrape the teeth of tartar, much like a tooth cleaning. So far so good, and the vet was very impressed with Joey's teeth, and said whatever we are doing to keep it up. Joey's breeder also had a visit with him recently, and thought I was doing a wonderful job brushing his teeth. I really think it's the Petzlife and bullysticks! ;)

Thank you so much
 

Feeling much better thank you! She actually looks like your two! Ears down though. Its been rough for me psychologically as I think I should have been more insistant, or should have done more reasearch. I thought it was normal to have a few not so good teeth by age six. Even the Vet told me that. Truth is for years until we started looking for Butler, we really thought Francie was a Silky even though her papers said Yorkie(many are mixed I know) but after joining YT, Boy is she a Yorkie. Most online look like the breed standard, I like them when they look more robust like yours and mine! She still has 2 incisors, her canines and most of the Molars and Premolars. There must have been some baby teeth in there!
Thank you so much for the kind words.

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.

Oh My! I feel your pain, that is a shock to say the least! and poor Francine. We had a similiar event with one of our Yorkies. He went in for a routine cleaning and when I went to pick him up, they handed me a semi-drugged dog with 8 teeth missing! I was SHOCKED! I just burst out crying in the vets lobby like a lunatic, it was so devastating. So I do understand because we had no warning, no phone call, and just assumed he was in for a cleaning. Unfortunately, yorkies are notorious for bad teeth. However; I never went back to that vet I was so upset. I hope you are both feeling better and sending you both a big cyber hug.:animal36

Please don't beat yourself up! Rebel is only 2, and recently had to have 9 permanent teeth removed. He has a genetic defect that results in the enamel not forming correctly on his teeth. Our vet consulted with the vet school at UGA before he diagnosed Reb. My baby is very well taken care of, with teeth brushed and regular cleanings, it's just something that's happened that I have to learn to live with. His teeth are brownish, not pearly white like Lucy's - and it breaks my heart to know that he may lose more teeth in the future, but all I can do is take the very best care of him that I can.

And..that's all you can do, too! Hugs to you.

Thank you to All
 

Thank you to all who responded to my post. Your advice, comments and genuine concern really helped us here at home to deal with the shock and frustration. A very special group of folks indeed!
Francie is doing fine and enjoying her new brother Butler. We'll post a photo today! Thank you again.

What a difference there is in vets and their practices. Mine always gives an estimate of cost and lists exactly what they plan to do. My Phoebe had an estimate for several extractions a few years back, but, while she was under, they found she needed a few more. Then they only charged me for the planned extractions...nothing for the extras. So, I was mostly forewarned, at least. Good grief, 15 teeth. I would be very unhappy and shocked with a surprise of that magnitude.

Wriddle Dog had 12 pulled a couple of months ago. I knew he would have to have a few extracted but 12 geez. When I went to get him the Vet told me he didn't like to put yorkies under so instead of doing a few at a time he took them instead of waiting. Plus he said the other bad teeth would cause more bad ones if we waited to long. So I am glad he did it all at once so that it was easier for Wriddle (and Mommy). But he did great and was eating kibble (stolen from Buddy's bowl) later in the evening. I couldn't tell the difference in him except he was sleeping more.
Hope your furbaby is doing as well as Wriddle did.

It Petzlife gel different from the spray? How is it used?

Just put a small amount on his toothbrush and brush like you would do with doggie toothpaste. Don't let him drink water for at least 30 minutes after brushing. I sometimes mix his C.E.T. toothpaste with the Petzlife gel, and brush. I've never used the spray...I'm afraid I'd get it in his eyes and nose.

Same stuff, just different application methods, I find that the spray is easiest to use, really fast, the gel takes a little more time, and you apply it with either you finger or q-tip. Some dogs don't like a spray, but it's never bothered Joey, but we never used spays as a aversive punishment, and I know some people do this to reduce barking.

Petzlife shouldn't be used as toothpaste, it's possible for them to swallow too much, and remember it does contain alcohol. Dog toothpaste contains ingredients that they can safely swallow, they why you can't use human toothpaste either because it contains an artificial sweetner that could make a dog sick if swallowed. Petzlife needs to sit on the teeth for 30 minutes to soften tartar, so tooth brushing with it isn't effective either.

Thank you, I will look for the gel. I tried the spray, but it was like I was firing a gun into Thor's mouth every time I squirted!

Thor has bad teeth, and reading all these stories really makes me want to do absolutely everything possible to keep them healthy.

:thumbup: 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.

u can still use the spray..... u spray it on a cotton gauze wrap it around ur finger and rub the teeth and gums with it ...on the site they said for best results u use the spray in the morning and the gel at night ... i have not tried it but am reading up on the different options...petzlife...leba III ...denta clean herbal toothpaste and also found a neem toothpaste they say people using neem get beautiful white teeth