Vet cleaning of greyhound teeth

[waferswafers]

Hi all. A bit of advice needed...
Our 10 year old girl is coming to the end of her time wearing a leg bandage and splint due to two fractured bones in her foot. 
The suggested today that due to her age, they out her under sedation and x Ray her when she next goes in, to check the bones have healed properly. Assuming they have, she could then have her splint and bandage removed. 
They also suggested that, while she's under sedation, that she has her teeth heavily cleaned. We took her on as a rescue three years ago and her teeth weren't great then. She has a few missing and the existing ones are thickly caked in plaque. She's not insured and the bill would be for several hundred. We can afford it, but are slightly hesitant whether it's worth putting her through all the stress. However, if we don't strike now, it'll be more risky getting her sedated at an older age if needs must.
 
Any thoughts? One family friend told us to leave the teeth as they are and to not put her through all the stress and meds.
Anyone else had to deal with the same?  

[Ted]

I would definitely have her teeth cleaned as some of them may need to be removed and the Plaque could be hiding bad gums due to rotting teeth. It is always a worry with older Hounds, but as long as your vets know to use the Greyhound sedation and also do not give her Vetagestic as a pain killer she should be okay. My 8 year old Greyhound Mickey-Finn had to have two canines removed recently and that cost over £400 but PetPlan paid that except for the £75 excess, that was in March then three weeks ago he had to be sedated again as he was attacked by another dog the wound on his left side had to have 10 stitches and at the moment we are fighting stress related soft poo from that attack. Our vet is putting it all down against the attack, the dog walkers who were walking Mickey-Finn and Kelly at the time of the attacked will be paying the excess £75 and then try to get it back from the attacking dog's owner. PetPlan have been notified about the claim and the dog's owner details.

[vickyb]

I would absolutely have her teeth cleaned while she's under. As you say it only gets riskier with age. Then once they're clean try to brush them every night and hopefully you won't ever have to pay out for another dental.
Infected teeth can damage the heart as it gets into the bloodstream. I know a dog who almost died because of it, her owner felt dreadful.

Hope her foot is ok.

[gvgeam]

If you haven't done so already, get a quote from the vet for the procedure. At least then you'll know what the bill is likely to be!

[lurcherlot]

I believe it would be a huge mistake not to get her teeth done, particularly as you said they weren't good three years ago. Bad teeth could be slowly poisoning her system and it's the ideal opportunity whilst she's under general anaesthetic ... also vets don't suggest they be done for no reason.

[Ted]

When our vet detected Menta's teeth needed checking, as she had a coughing problem, we decided to try to clean her teeth first, however 6 months later we decided that she needed the dental urgently as her gums were getting worse. However PetPlan refused to pay as they said we had delayed having her dental too long after the first detection of bad teeth and gums. Anyway all her teeth had to come out except her 4 canines. Since then Menta a year later became blind and started to lose weight. Menta went from 35 kilos to 21.4 Kilos and on having blood tests taken and checked it was found Menta was Diabetic. Since then after injecting her twice a day with insulin Menta she now is back to 32 kilos. It is quite likely that the bad teeth and gums may have comprised her immune system causing her to become diabetic which most likely caused her to become blind. It is a lesson learned the hard way that these days I make sure that if any of my other three dogs (all Greyhounds) have a dental problem it is sorted out straight away. Menta's dental cost me £399 instead of £115 being the excess due to PetPlan' unreasonable attitude in that the reason why we had to delay the extraction of her bad teeth they would not accept--typical insurance company not wanting to pay out for a justified claim. I still have all four of my Hounds covered by PetPlan.

[2tuxedos]

If there already sedated then unlikely to be any more stressful & to leave teeth will more detrimental to health & be more costly in long run as will require another GA. It cost me an extra £40 for the dental part when my greyhound needed paw stitching recently, normally dental alone is £200min because most is the anesthesia. Her teeth weren't too bad but thought I'd take advantage of situation.

They can't always tell if extractions are needed till actually doing dental but can usually give you a quote on rough costs

[kamkay]

I would also start a daily cleaning routine asap. Hounds in this house know that the routine is, tea, then teeth cleaned. The vet always comments on how good my dogs' teeth are

[ragsysmum]

I'd definitely have her teeth done whilst she is already under the GA. Nothing like getting it all sorted at once and cheaper in the long run too I would think as well as much better for her to have her teeth dealt with.

[lilypie]

Definately then be able to hopefully keep on top of them with regular cleaning,I have always found its the anaesthetic that costs rather than cleaning and extraction so makes sense to get them done if already under. My old boy had shocking teeth and we always took the opportunity for a dental if he was in for something else, he was insured but a lot of insurance doesn't cover routine dental work so they asked the vet to separate the cost of the dental e.g. additional anaesthetic etc and it was never that bad compared to having anaesthetic solely for a dental. Your vet should be able to give you an estimated cost.

[waferswafers]

Thanks all for the help and advice. We're definitely going to go for it! Scary reading about some of the horror stories some of you have been through. What's with the daily cleaning though? My parents always had dogs when we were children and this is the first time I've ever heard of daily brushing of dog teeth! I assume greys are notorious for it, then?

[kamkay]

I'm afraid they are due to the diet they have when they are pups and young dogs.

[waferswafers]

May 12, 2015 14:02:38 GMT -5 kamkay said:

I'm afraid they are due to the diet they have when they are pups and young dogs.

Does it differ wildly to 'standard' dog food? 

[Ted]

I once went to a Racing Kennels as someone had suggested a Greyhound under threat of PTS by the rescue he was in due to the fact he had three failed homing, that rescue did not do a home check you just turned up paid the rehoming fee and the dog was yours, that he might be okay being kennelled at the racing kennels. The stench of the food being cooked some sort of stew no wonder Rescue ex-racing Greyhounds have such awful teeth. Anyway I failed those racing kennels and he went to an non-kill all breeds rescue in Cambridgeshire where he did very well.

[2tuxedos]

It can also be down to genetics much like with humans so even with same diet some will have awful teeth & others good. I don't think the narrow shape of greyhound mouth helps.