Dental trouble

[Dunton4]

Tilly is only three, but for the past six months I have been very concerned about her teeth.  She is fed dry food (Arden Grange) and the occasional "Coachie" or other dog biscuit (very occasional as she is on a diet!).  She has no human food at all and yet her teeth are dirty and her breath smells.  I brush her teeth with Logic toothpaste three times a week, which seems to help a bit, but not for long.

Today my vet advised me to have Tilly's teeth cleaned under a GA  .  She said there was some tartar and it would be better to do this procedure now before any decay sets in.  She would then advise me to brush with Logic every day to prevent the problem recurring.

Has anyone here had this dental procedure done for their dogs?  Was it successful?  It seems drastic, but I would love her to have her lovely white teeth back again, although a GA seems a high price to pay.  If anyone's had it done, did it keep the problem away for long?  Do you think changing her food might help?  I can't give her any of the commercial teeth cleaning products (eg Dentarask) as they all give her the squits .

Thanks for sharing any experience you might have.

Sue and Tilly

[*Jay*]

I think some dogs are just prone to dental problems no matter how hard you try to keep their teeth clean. Vegas & Dallas both needed their teeth descaled and polished when they were 3 years old despite more or less daily brushing - I combined that with getting their lip folds done.  I think its been nearly a year since Dallas had his done and his teeth are still gleaming. I brush his teeth everyday, alternating between toothpaste and Logic. I also use Fragaria with him which you can get from Dorwest herbs. He is on a maintenance dose of 1 tablet weekly. Mine have been on every type of dry food going but I can't say one helped their teeth more than another.

[Danni n Betty]

I recently came across a product called Plaque Off at a kind of product show ( not sure what you'd call it, was tagging along with my mum!)
Got talking to the guy on the stand, he told me its a totally natural product made from seaweed. They had sets of teeth, showing before and after, it it looked great, sorted out all the build up and stains on the teeth.
Took a leaflet to the vets to see if they could get it, but they'd never heard of it.
There are loads of websites that sell it though
http://www.naturalpetcare.co.uk/petshop/product_info.php?products_id=406
Maybe you could ask your vet about it?

[Wendy G]

Hi Sue

You can buy Plaque Off at our local Pet shop (Blaby) tried it on Spud but I think it was too late, sure he will be in for a dental
under GA when I take him for his booster in December.I also think that like humans "good" teeth are inherited.

[Dunton4]

Thank you everyone for your recommendations and suggestions.  I will give everything a try .  I was worried that once she'd had a dental procedure under GA she'd need them periodically, but from your comments it seems this may not necessarily be the case.  Thanks.

I agree with you Wendy, I do think, like humans, some dogs don't have good teeth and others just do.  One of the Guide Dogs I boarded had eaten all sorts of rubbish over her life (she was a terrible scrounger  ) and yet her teeth were still dazzlingly white at the age of nearly 11.  She'd steal half-a-loaf of bread, scoff the lot and then give you a beautiful pearly white grin 

Sue and TIlly