I've just recently started using a dremel with Boo and she's taking to it wonderfully. I had already gotten her very accustomed to handling her feet and adding the dremel was surprisingly not that big of a deal. I used to clip her nails, but it scared me each time. I was worried about quicking her, because as you can probably guess, her nails are completely black. Also, she would sometimes jerk her paw away when I took too long getting the clipper in the right spot. Then I moved on to hand filing her nails...
It worked... if only I had three weeks to get one paw done!
So a few days ago I got out a dremel. Honestly, I set it in front of her, and fed her a few treats. I turned it on and fed her some more. I picked up her paw and fed her. I set the dremel on her paw and fed her. Then I just went ahead and started to dremel. We're still at the point of giving her a treat for every few seconds of dremeling, but eventually I hope to be able to get her to sit for each paw before a treat. Her nails are still WAY too long, but getting shorter daily.
This website is good.
How to Dremel Dog Nails @ DoberDawn.com
They mention that it's best to dremel nails perpendicular to the floor because you can get closer to the quick without quicking the dog.
In my opinion, it's worth a shot, definitely! I would have never guessed that my paranoid dog would sit happily the first time I got the dremel out.
Also, if you don't want to do it, some vets will dremel instead of clip if you ask. Of course, it costs way too much to keep up as often as you'd need to get the quick to recede.