Your dog's teeth

[Michiyo-Fir]

I have some questions regarding your dog(s) teeth!

1. How old is your dog?

2. How big (lbs) is your dog?

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
If yes, how many?

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining?

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?


I'm asking because I'm having a hard time keeping Nia's teeth clean. I brush every day and give bully sticks ever few days and there are always antlers, chew toys and nylabones lying around my house that she occasionally chews on but she still gets a bit of plaque in certain areas of her teeth (not by her gumline though). I end up having to use a descaler to scrape it off every few months to half a year depending on if it builds up or not.

If I go on vacation for a week and my mom doesn't brush her teeth well, she'll have plaque when I come back. That's how quickly it builds up!!

I really will try my hardest to so that she won't need a dental in her lifetime and I'm hoping and praying that she won't need one and I can keep her teeth in the same condition as now but it's so hard!!

I really hate toy dogs' teeth!

 

[Kat09Tails]

With toy dogs you really do what you can. Booker is my oldest papillon so I'll give you some information.

He's 6 this year and a 5.5 lber. He's had two dentals and will be having another one this year. He has lost 4 teeth (in the front) and will likely lose two more this year. He did have a perfect bite. I brush, I use petzlife, but unfortunately he is very difficult to hand scale like I do with my other papillons because of how tight his mouth is.

He does have stain and he's getting a pretty bad calc buildup so it's time again for another sedated full on tooth cleaning. I also noted he does have another loose tooth unfortunately and one that looks iffy to me.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

That's not very promising. I hate the idea of sedated dentals, absolutely hate it and I refuse to have it done unless I really can't prevent it.

So far Nia's teeth doesn't seem to be any worse than a year ago which is good but it's a lot of work!! Plus she's only 2.5 yrs old..

How old was Booker when he got his first dental?

 

[Kat09Tails]

He was 3, the last one was around his 5th birthday and this year his 6th. At that point I wasn't hand scaling myself but was brushing and using petzlife. I just know he's going to be one of those toothless 10 year olds.My thinking at this point with him it that it is partially genetics.

My girl who is 4 has beautiful teeth, no dentals required. They stay clean, minor staining, they're easy to work on all the way to the back.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Thanks for the info! It's especially helpful because your dogs are Paps as well.

This the reason I prefer bigger dogs. They have so much looser lips and gunk just doesn't seem to stick to their teeth as much! Also big mouths and big teeth means easy to clean lol.

Nia's teeth with a lot of work are in really good shape though. I don't foresee her losing teeth any time soon, at least I hope not!

 

[Taqroy]

Mu and Tipper have gorgeous teeth (2 years old, between 20-25 lbs). I brush their teeth pretty randomly and they get stuff to chew on a regular basis.

Murphy is 8 years old, 50 pounds, and has pretty teeth at the moment. But that's because I just had to put him under for a removal/cleaning. He had one rotten tooth but the vet said that all of his other teeth look really healthy. We're working on a set schedule of brushing for him because his teeth get nasty FAST. He's had 3 dentals (and the removal was hopefully his last) because I didn't know anything about tooth care when I got him. And until last night he refused to chew on anything. Yesterday (just to prove me wrong lol) he ate an entire bully stick. I foresee a lot of money spent on bully sticks in my future.

 

[MicksMom]

1. How old is your dog?
Caleb will be 5 in July

2. How big (lbs) is your dog?
68 pounds

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
No

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining?
They aren't as bright white as when he was a puppy, but my vet is very happy with Caleb's teeth.

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?
I put Plaque Off in his food (for Caleb's size, a scoop twice a day). He also has antlers and Nylabones.

ETA- Our last two dogs lived to be 17 (Sibe/GSD mix) and 15 1/2 (Lab/Eng Setter mix). Neither of them ever had dentals, and we always got comments on how nice their teeth were.

 

[BTmom]

If I go on vacation for a week and my mom doesn't brush her teeth well, she'll have plaque when I come back. That's how quickly it builds up!!

I totally believe you and understand your frustration.

I have an 8 year old Chi (will be 9 in a few months). She is 5 lbs. She had her first dental cleaning with anesthesia at the age of 3. She lost 2 teeth then.

This past December, she had her second dental cleaning, but my vet and I had put it off for as long as possible since she also has a form of congenital liver disease and we wanted to avoid putting her under as much as possible.

She was only sedated this time because of that. But when they were able to get a really good look at her teeth during the cleaning, it was worse than we thought it would be.

I expected 2 front bottom teeth to be taken out as they were really loose. She actually needed all 6 taken out! Apparently my vet was debating what to do with the other 4 teeth as they were somewhat loose and when she decided she would take them out to prevent further issues and us having to sedate her again, they came out without force. 6 teeth sounds like a lot to us, but distance wise, that was just less than 1.5 cm in length.

I have to keep up with her brushing. Even if I miss a couple of days, plaque builds up. Toy teeth IS really frustrating to deal with.

I brush daily. I remember when she used to get raw meaty bones, her teeth could stay whiter longer, so I'm going to have to look into that again. I know of a small dog whose teeth was brushed every single day and yet 30+ teeth had to be removed during a dental. I hope we never get to that point!

 

[Beanie]

1. How old is your dog? Five years old

2. How big (lbs) is your dog? 14" at the shoulder and 15 pounds

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet? Nope, never

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining? I just finished scaling them on Sunday so nope! There is some staining on the ends of his canines because his bite isn't perfect, and his canines rest on the outside of his mouth when he sleeps, so they dry out in his sleep and get stained yellow. There's really nothing to be done about the staining.

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?
The last time (prior to this weekend) I scaled his teeth was March 11th... I remember because I had him up on the grooming table and was giving him a good grooming while watching the tsunami coverage on TV. But that was just because he was getting groomed anyway. I don't remember when I last scaled off his teeth before that though. Maybe once a month or every few months... just depends on what else he has chewed on and how it has progressed. When I notice it needs to be done I guess?

 

[Dizzy]

1. How old is your dog? 6 this year

2. How big (lbs) is your dog? Medium. Not sure in lbs. Smaller than a lab, bigger than a collie.

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet? Nope
If yes, how many?

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining? Not really.

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often? I don't, but she enjoys chewing up sticks and bones. All I do is check them to make sure nothing is stuck between her teeth. Once found some wood, so I just whip it out with tweezers.

 

[Greenmagick]

1. How old is your dog?

Marley is 11

Ivy is 2

2. How big (lbs) is your dog?

Marley is 80lbs

Ivy is 120

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
If yes, how many?

No on either


4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining?
Marley's teeth are a bit discolored, but no actual plaque and the vet is always very impressed


5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?
I dont, I feed raw

 

[Tankstar]

Blaze is almost 8 (may 1st he will be). He has never had a dental. he has no build up on his teeth,No rotting teeth ect his colour is almost white. i dont brush or use any thing. he chews a ton of bones, bully sticks ect..

Solo is only 7 months old, so he doesnt count lol

 

[MandyPug]

1. How old is your dog?
2.5
2. How big (lbs) is your dog?
17lbs
3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
Never
4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining?
No and no
5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?
Bones, Bully sticks, other chewies... I don't do a lot lol.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

1. How old is your dog? 13 years, 6 years, 15 months, 13 months.

2. How big (lbs) is your dog? 40 lbs, 65 lbs, 50 lbs, 45 lbs.

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet? None, ever.
If yes, how many?

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining? Not much, minimal from a slack in diet but we're getting back to pearly whites.

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often? At every other meal my dogs get raw meaty bones and with every kibble meal my dogs get Plaque Off.

 

[JessLough]

1. How old is your dog?
13 1/2 years

2. How big (lbs) is your dog?
about 48lbs

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
If yes, how many?
Nope

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining?
There is now. This is a newer occurence, since she turned 12 or so

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?
I do not. It was never really a problem before now, and now she just would not allow it. We have tried the toothbrush and toothpaste, and she hated it

 

[vanillasugar]

1. How old is your dog?
Sierra is 4 years old

2. How big (lbs) is your dog?
between 47 and 52 depending on various things. I prefer her to be on the lower end of that.

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
If yes, how many?
Never.

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining?
A tiny bit of discolouration on the rear molars (there's a groove in all four of them, that's where the discolouration is). Otherwise, no plaque or staining. Her breath also does not smell.

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often?
Brush them? Never. She does get plenty of recreational raw bones to chew on (beef necks, rib bones, assorted pork bones, lamb bones etc. etc.) usually at least one a week. Not to mention the times when she gets raw meals with bone content (chicken backs, typically). I feel this makes the most difference.

 

[JacksonsMom]

1. How old is your dog? 2.5yrs old

2. How big (lbs) is your dog? 15ish lbs.

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
If yes, how many? Nope.

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining? Yep, a bit on the canine teeth, all four of them.

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often? Not enough. I think if I did more he wouldn't have any staining or plaque build up. I brush about once every 2 weeks and try to apply Petzlife gel once a week. I just bought ProDen Plaqueoff to put in his food after hearing good reviews so I'm going to give it a shot.

I know Jackson is going to need a dental soon and I'm not looking forward to it. Mainly because he has an overbite/overshot jaw a bit and his bottom canines are poking into the roof of his mouth and I can tell it's bothering him. So something is going to have to be done about that and while he's under, I'm going to just get them cleaned too.

 

[Laurelin]

My three oldest have had dentals. Beau and Summer are almost 7, Rose is 5. Beau is missing one tooth and Rose is missing quite a few. Rose's teeth are AWFUL. I don't know why compared to the others but they're just really gross and get gross fast. The weird thing is Rose's snout is less extreme than the others. She has the broadest and longest nose and her teeth are still awful.

Nard is 3 and has a touch of staining on his canines but overall has nice teeth. No dentals yet. Mia's are pearly white with no staining, however she is missing a tooth and has been since birth. No idea why but she has an uneven amount of teeth between her upper canines.

Summer will probably get a dental next year again as will Beau and Rose. That will make it 3 years between dentals for Summer. Summer's teeth for a papillon are very good. We've not had to pull any yet and at her last checkup the vet said she looked good. Most paps will need several dentals in their lifetime. And lots will lose teeth.

I brush and use petzlife and give RMBs and it's still a problem.

My least favorite part of owning toy dogs for sure. My shelties weren't that much bigger and their teeth were about 10 times easier to clean. Trey did end up losing two teeth but I never figured out how they fell out.

 

[LostAndConfused]

1. How old is your dog?
8 years old

2. How big (lbs) is your dog?
About 50 lbs

3. Has he/she ever had a dental by a vet?
If yes, how many? yes. 3 or so. But my mom does the dental work at the clinic and sometimes I think she just likes to practice on him.

4. Is there any plaque on their teeth? Any staining? Plaque is minimal, but there is staining

5. How do you clean your dog's teeth and how often? With a vet...?

 

[Laurelin]

Interesting note for me is my three with the worst teeth are also the three siblings. However they're also the oldest so we'll see. Part of me wonders if it is genetic to an extent. So far Nard and Mia's teeth are almost perfect. By the age two, Rose had already needed a dental.