Dog Teeth Cleaning by Vet?

[hu4luv]

I am looking for someone who does non-anesthesia teeth cleaning for my older dog who does not
do well with anesthesia. I am in Utah does anyone know of someone close by?

[tigafan]

Originally Posted by hu4luv

I am looking for someone who does non-anesthesia teeth cleaning for my older dog who does not
do well with anesthesia. I am in Utah does anyone know of someone close by?

You need to find a vet that does appropriate anesthetics for your dog. We did a terrier mix that was 19 years old with Propofol and Isoflurane but the dog was on an iv drip the whole time as well as a heart monitor and blood oxygen monitor. The great thing about Isoflurane is that it when you disconnect the gas, the dog wakes up. The ooooolllllld timey gasses that are cheaper are much more of a problem with older pets. Sometimes we even just used the gas alone (no iv induction), but with more anxious pets, the severe stress is not good for being put under anesthesia (kinda stressful smelling gas and feeling woozy for some).

[kotis]

call around to vets and try to find one who doesn't put the dog under, or try calling around to your local groomers and see if anyone does teeth scraping. (Make sure you ask for scraping and not brushing)
Around here, quite a few of us groomers have taken special courses in things like reflexology, doggy massage and teeth cleaning.

[tigafan]

Sigh.....As a dog groomer and a vet tech, I absolutely know that a groomer has to be VERY careful about what would be termed practicing medicine. I would never use a groomer to clean a dog's teeth. Especially if the whole reason to clean them is to prevent health problems, you can NOT get the teeth cleaned under the gumline, administer antibiotics, flush and polish teeth. You as a groomer can get in extreme trouble for practicing veterinary medicine. Not that it helps that much to do this but there are groomers that do brush teeth, but that is not scraping and polishing. And if you knew all of the bacteria in that mouth and you are scraping, getting it in the bloodstream and sticking to the valves of the heart, not knowing if that dog has a heart murmur or not, health problems or not, really you should not be doing something like that. What's next, I go to my hair stylist to get my teeth cleaned? Boy I hope you don't ever get in trouble for scraping teeth...

[kotis]

Originally Posted by tigafan

Sigh.....As a dog groomer and a vet tech, I absolutely know that a groomer has to be VERY careful about what would be termed practicing medicine. I would never use a groomer to clean a dog's teeth. Especially if the whole reason to clean them is to prevent health problems, you can NOT get the teeth cleaned under the gumline, administer antibiotics, flush and polish teeth. You as a groomer can get in extreme trouble for practicing veterinary medicine. Not that it helps that much to do this but there are groomers that do brush teeth, but that is not scraping and polishing. And if you knew all of the bacteria in that mouth and you are scraping, getting it in the bloodstream and sticking to the valves of the heart, not knowing if that dog has a heart murmur or not, health problems or not, really you should not be doing something like that. What's next, I go to my hair stylist to get my teeth cleaned? Boy I hope you don't ever get in trouble for scraping teeth...

I'm not talking about a groomer who hangs up a sign and figures, "hey, I can scratch hard stuff off a dog's tooth!".
Obviously, you check into it and see where the person learned, if they have some sort certificate and at least a vet referral.
It honestly didn't occur to me that a groomer who didn't know what they were doing would attempt that.
We have a vet college that teaches specialized courses in anal gland expression, teeth cleaning and scraping, etc.
I am simply assuming this is something that is available elsewhere as well.
It took me over a year to earn the right to properly clean a dogs teeth, and advertise such, as well I have a little piece of paper that gives me the legal right.
I require the name and phone number of the dogs vet so that I can check with him before touching the dog, if there is any sort of problem obviously I'm not going to do it.
I don't appreciate assumptions that I am ignorant or irresponsible.

[chickyfllicky]

Originally Posted by riveree

Yikes - those are some pricey vets!

My vet runs a special once a year where teeth cleanings are $75 if you do it during a certain month, other wise it's closer to $100 or so.

It's a same day service and they use a mild anesthesia, you pick up your sleepy dog at the end of the day .

He's a top notch vet too.

HI ur vet cleans teeth for that little where is he/she located what id their name is it anestacha or anastacha free

[spinx]

There's a dental month that vets will often offer discounts. Is it February? I can't remember.

I think an average dental for a medium size dog is about 300$ to 400$ including pre-op bloodwork - cbc, liver, kidneys, glucose and total protein - and pain meds. I would not go cheaper (you get what you pay for, imo). I would not go higher unless there were extractions, etc.