Dental Cleaning... Absolutely terrified.

[FairAngel06]

Hi everyone.. My first post here on the forum. Unfortunately my little doggie has some dental work that needs to be done. My little one is about 8-8.5 pounds, and she's just over 12 years old, so I've been scared to death about this for quite some time. She was never neutered and has had no reason for anesthesia before, so I have no idea how she will react. We've been at our current vet for almost 2 years (just moved clear across town a couple of years ago, so driving to our usual vet wasn't a very good option), but we only see them once or twice a year for shots, so I'm not very familiar with them. She's needed the cleaning for a while (first recommended by our vet about a year and half ago, but she had teeth fall out almost three years ago), but up till now it was never my call to make (I'm a college student, so it was hard to demand for my parents to pay for a $400 elective procedure). I have all the details of the procedure from the vet clinic's website.
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Routine Dental Cleaning Package includes:

Before Dental Exam and Cleaning
In-house Blood Testing—including Blood Chemistries and manual PCV, blood clotting time for cats and dogs and Heartworm testing (dogs only).”
IV catheter and fluids during the procedure
General Anesthesia—using Isoflorane, a commonly used gas anesthesia
Vitals monitoring—prior to and during anesthesia and at recovery
Free oral exam while your pet is under anesthesia, so we can more accurately evaluate the status of your pet’s oral health
Dental X-rays (as needed)

After Dental Exam and Cleaning
Scaling and polishing your pet’s teeth with a ultrasonic scaler and high-speed polisher
Antibiotic injection
Nursing care by our trained and caring technicians
Daytime hospitalization (Pets are admitted in the morning and typically released by mid- to late-afternoon. We close at 6pm.)
Free dental products to take home
*You can’t always see dental problems when they occur UNDER the gums. This is why Dental X-Rays are an important diagnostic tool.
* For health and safety reasons, current vaccinations and a current exam that has been done here are required.

* Extractions, additional services, or procedures than what is listed above and extra medications are NOT included in our Routine Dental Cleaning Package; thus will be an additional expense and not discounted.

Veterinary Pet Hospital - University Pet Clinic
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I also noted they use Isoflorane, which I gather is preferable for yorkies. I called the vet today to ask for more details (who will be monitoring my dog, should I wait till she loses some weight, ), but they were busy and never called me back, so I will be calling again tomorrow.

I was wondering if there was anything else I should ask or be aware of? Does anyone here have any experience with overweight yorkies and dental procedures?

Also, I'm looking to switch my dog to a heathier food. She's currently eating moist and meaty, or Ol'roy moist which I read is total crap in terms of nutritional value. Any recommendations? Preferably something I can buy at walmart or petsmart, that's not terribly pricey and is soft, rather than kibble.

So sorry for the long post! Thank you in advance for any advice!

[Patti]

Welcome! My Cali just had her dental and a growth removed form her lip last week. She did fine. She is 8 and has a mild liver disease. I also had a 14 year old rescue who needed extensive dental. He had all teeth extracted and gum work done. He was so much better after. He was like a new puppy. It sounds like the vet is doing everything that mine did. She did put her on an antibiotic 3 days before and 4 days after.
I will keep her in my prayers. Please keep us posted.

[lisaly]

I had three little girls who are now at the Rainbow Bridge that had yearly dentals. We discovered that Ashley had an enlarged heart when she I took her in for a dental when she was close to eleven. Her vet didn't want her to have anesthesia unless it was absolutely necessary. She needed surgery twice for a tooth infection and an anal tumor, and she did fine, even when she was sixteen. I always worried, of course, and I never got used to it. You seem to be taking the proper precautions. I strongly believe that keeping their teeth healthy helps a great deal to improve and extend the quality of their life.

Welcome to YT. We are here to help and support you.

[FairAngel06]

Thank you for the welcome! I'm glad to hear that neither of you have had any problems with dentals before. I'll be calling my vet later today to schedule Tiffany for the usual tests, which will happen hopefully sometime early next week. I'm aiming for her to do the dental the following week before my classes start so I can look after her the entire day.

I was pretty stressed out about this these past few days, and after reading about your experiences and talking with a few friends, I've decided it's better to do what's best for her rather than putting it off because of my own fears and concerns.

Thanks again

[FairAngel06]

Just a short update. Vet called a few days ago after we took Tiffany in for tests on Wednesday. Says everything looks good; heart, kidneys and all that. Her blood tests were a little high, but he speculated that was because she was in heat at the time. I also let him know about her occasional choking, which could be from collapsed trachea, or her weight, and he told be to have the technician or the attending vet check her throat for irritation before hand. Hopefully all goes well! I'll let you know how everything goes when we pick her up. Vet says early afternoon, maybe around 1 or 2.

[intilis]

Hi & welcome,

I understand how you feel. My little 2.5# Ricky needed extensive dental work when we adopted him @ 8 yrs. He did great even though he lost most of his teeth. He lived to be 18 yrs. My Phoebe is only 3, but lost 6 teeth @ her dental last month. I was a wreck the night before her dental even though shes young & healthy. Its hard not to worry about these sweet little furbutts! Phoebe & I are sending prayers & yorkie kisses for your baby! Please update us when its over!

[FairAngel06]

Just called the vet a little while ago, said she woke up and everything went smoothly. They told me she had a few teeth pulled, but not how many or which ones. I'm guessing her right molars since those were in the worst condition. I haven't been notified that it's alright to pick her up yet, but I was told to expect around 2-3PM, and it's 2PM right now. I'm so glad this is finally over! And now I can focus on keeping her teeth healthy so she doesn't have to go back!

[107barney]

Glad to hear things went well!

[Patti]

Great news! It's so nice to have it over with and them back home.

[intilis]

Great news. So glad it went well!