Dirty teeth problem

[rubyduby]

Topaz (13) has only a couple of mouth teeth left and her canines, unfortunately because of her lack of chewing teeth she does get hard chews etc, as a result her teeth are quite bad, I am very reluctant to take her to the vets as I know they with suggest anaesthetic and teeth cleaning, but I worry because of her age and also as she suffers with Pancreatitis I am terrified of stressing her, and she gets REALLY stressed at the vets, she wont stop barking. I am stumped what to do, and am desperate to know of anything I can try to remove the plaque, tried using a finger nail to get behind it, but it wont budge and she is a nightmare very headshy and any head work is always a major battle, again stressing her....any ideas. I did wonder why they could do the teeth under sedation, but no-one seems to offer that.........

[bizzylizzy]

Is there anywhere local to you that offers teeth cleaning using ultra sound?
I bought a brush, its good but was it expensive and since then I‘ve seen advertisments here (Germany) by various places offering teeth cleaning using it. Possibly a vet or a groomer‘s might offer it?
Basically its just like an electric toothbrush but it‘s silent, doesn’t vibrate and you don’t even have to move the brush. The ultra sound waves work by way of the toothpaste and gradually break up the plaque which I can then scrape off. If the plaque is very bad, it takes a few goes but I do one tooth at a time and it takes just a couple of minutes.
Mine is called Emmi Pet but there are probably other ones on the market in UK, however I‘d either try and hire one.  (which I did initially, I just bought a new brush head)  or go for treatment before you invest in it.
Perhaps google it and see if there are any Youtube videos or similar so you can see how it works.

[rubyduby]

Thankyou for the information I will look into it, the problem being she is so headshy I doubt she would sit still long enough to use it, she had lip issues when younger and had to have them operated on , now she is extremely sensitive, but worth a try....

[Jaysmumagain]

I used to use Vets Best dental finger wipes (Pets at Home have them)

While sure it wont remove plaque it does remove the fresh brown stuff when you rub, think they are just soaked in a none stinging liquid, only way Ollie would let me near his remaining teeth.

The groomer I take Harry to has some kind of dental cleaning system - so if Topaz has a regular groomer maybe could see.

J