Frosty

I don't use dental instruments to clean my dog's teeth, but I do provide them with bones to chew very regularly, as well as feeding them a raw diet.  Before going raw, the doxies needed dentals every 7-10 months.  Since going raw, 17 months ago, they haven't needed dentals.  Their teeth are still very clean, & I expect that they will stay that way.

I know some folks who do scale their dog's teeth but honestly it's not a good idea because you can do more 'wear' than good.  My vet doesn't fully sedate and anesthetize -- he simply masks them down which is less worrisome.

I do the above in providing raw bones and brushing.

Good for you on not giving in to the vaccines -- annuals are not needed and more and even the vet's own vet hospital association is saying NO to annuals. 

I brush Frosty and Myrt's teeth but I need to do it more often.I know Myrt and Frosty would love to do some serious chewing on a raw bone but I have never gave them anything I that.

Myrt's back teeth are getting plaque build up and I really do not want to have her sedated.Callie could you explain  a little more about what your vet does please?

What would a good choice of raw bone for Myrt and Frosty? They are strong chewers.

calliecritturs

I know some folks who do scale their dog's teeth but honestly it's not a good idea because you can do more 'wear' than good.  My vet doesn't fully sedate and anesthetize -- he simply masks them down which is less worrisome.

I do the above in providing raw bones and brushing.

Good for you on not giving in to the vaccines -- annuals are not needed and more and even the vet's own vet hospital association is saying NO to annuals. 

 I assume he means he doesn't use IV sedation and masks them down to sedation before tubing/keeping the gas on?

As the person who does the dog and cat dentals I can't imagine trying to do a full dental, at least one on an animal with really gross teeth, on an animal not fully out. Not to mention, animals masked down "come out of it" really quickly..so if you remove the mask to do the teeth, you have a dog or cat constantly waking up, which not only keeps them under longer, (you have to wait for them to fall asleep again) but seems stressful for them.  

 I've had Ginger masked down, rather than having IV sedation, but then she's tubed and kept anesthetized.  There are a few dogs that come in every six months (between "normal" dentals) for just a hand scale and polish. They aren't sedated and just sit there, but it's really just light scaling of a few teeth. Jules has some plaque on both top canines that I can't get to budge with bones and raw food (though it's done an excellent job on the rest of his teeth) so he may have those scaled at some point.