Question on teeth

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

I have never had Hallie's teeth cleaned, I have always brushed, scraped and flossed them myself as I wanted to avoid putting her under to have it done. Her teeth have always looked pretty clean and when I have the vet check them she always says they look great (we see the vet every 3 weeks to get Hallie's allergy shot so luckily for me I get to have the little things checked out often.)

But I have been wondering about her teeth, she loves treats but will not eat a crunchy biscuit. It has to be broken up REALLY small for her to eat it. And when she does she tips her head up and her lips kind of go back as she chews so all her molars show. Maybe this is normal? But I wonder if she has teeth that bother her and that is why she is ruluctant to chew. On the other hand she has no problem gettin' down with a bully stick.

Also whenever she kisses me and has to tip her head up at all to do so, her jaw will "pop". It makes my butt pucker when she does that...she sometimes will flinch when it does that. Maybe doggie TMJ?

I would just feel really bad if she is having some tooth or jaw pain and I don't know it and it could be something that could be fixed and I was wondering if any of you have noticed anything similar with your babies or have any input?

[Delia and girls]

I know she's always had this but I never thought about her jaw. Can you manipulate her jaw without her flinching? I seems like if that was a problem, though, she'd have let you know it hurt when you were brushing, scraping and flossing her teeth. I've never heard of doggie TMJ but that, by no means, means it doesn't exist. And she definitely needs to work that jaw to gnaw on a bully stick. I really doubt it's her teeth because they look great. I dunno ...  Will have to think on it.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Thanks Delia, I haven't really tried to manipulate her jaw other than opening her mouth to brush teeth and she seems to tolerate that well. It's very unsettling to hear that pop and see her jaw jerk ouch! Her teeth have gotten a bit behind on brushing and all so I need to really get in there again and I do notice her lower molars are yellower than they used to be but can't really brush those too well. I just would hate to ever have to take her and put her under for her teeth.

I guess I should have asked, does anyones doxies have trouble or are they reluctant to chew crunchy biscuits like this or can they eat them easily?

[Roberta]

Dee Dee she may have a very small mouth, so may not be able to cope with big bits, as Amy has difficulty with normal sized dry food. I mean manipulating it while in their mouth.
If they have a sore or loose tooth you would know about it, Emma blasted a tooth leaving the nerve exposed, Oliver had a loose one the other year, and he was not happy eating, so I ran my fingers over all his teeth and he was not happy at me touching the one in question.

roberta

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

That makes me feel a lot better Roberta. That means then that....Hallie is just a spoiled Princess! She needs her biscuits hand broken down to a proper Princess size.  :thumb: We were at a fancy art gallery and the owner was so nice, I had Hallie in my arms and the lady had a box of dog biscuits under the counter. She got one out and I said thank you very much but she won't eat it unless it is broken into tiny bits, and the lady would break it up, Hallie would sniff and turn her head away real fast, I said sorry but has to be smaller, she did that about 6 times before it pleased her highness. Then she ate the whole thing.

[Marcia from MI]

Dee Dee Eddie Angel wouldn't eat medium biscuits unless they were broken in quarters AND he wouldn't eat the mini biscuits unless they were broken in half. 

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Awww sweet Eddie...he was "delicate" also!  Hallie acts disgusted if handed a crunchy too big, it has to be small crumb size (very small) before she'll even take it in her mouth, then she will eat bigger pieces after she gets a taste of the first and will usually eat the rest. Funny little dawgs we have.

Great to hear from you Marcia, how are you doing???

[Brekkesmom]

Tee hee, I know you mentioned this before, DD, but I never really thought about it too much.  Brekke won't eat biscuits unless they are at least broken in half - unles they are very small to begin with.  She has been known to do it if no one is watching, though, if she really likes the biscuit(s) in question.  My little diva does not want an audience if she has to crunch one up - although she absolutely prefers the "you break it up for me" plan!   

[JetEd73]

when I have my dog put under anestesia I have the vet do the full blood work up. This way they have all the info they need to put them under safely.

[sollysmom]

Dee Dee, it's sound like SRSP to me.   :scratch:  Of course we all know SRSP stands for Spoiled Rotten Sweet Princess Syndrome.  While it isn't fatal, it is a lifetime condition.  Hope this is helpful.   

Darcel

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

LOL good to know Brekke is a sister Princess.  The "peel a grape for me" mentality indeed!  :thumb: Much rather have that than a real tooth problem. You GO Brekke!

That is a good thing to do for sure JetEd. Yet there is always a risk and it's such a scary and miserable thing to put them through unless absolutely necessary, I was able to keep my last 2 kids clean enough on my own, my Dane and standard longhair doxie, I'm doing OK with Hallie too so far, she does let me scrape with a dental tool but her mouth is so much smaller, it's hard to get to the back teeth and her lips are soooo tight. My Dane was super easy you just fold back the big lip and lay it there and all his teeth were exposed!  I just got to worrying with Hallie (since I just didn't have quite enough to worry about already heh) that maybe a tooth was bothering her and I needed to get it looked at. I will ask the vet next week though when we go in for her every 3 week allergy shot if she could reach in there and take a look.

ROTFL Darcel. Yes that does help...if only we had come to you first we could have saved a lot of time . How are you with doxie backs and human stomachs the vets and docs (dox!) sure haven't been successful with her or I so far LOL!

[sollysmom]

ROTFL Darcel. Yes that does help...if only we had come to you first we could have saved a lot of time . How are you with doxie backs and human stomachs the vets and docs (dox!) sure haven't been successful with her or I so far LOL!

I am sorry to say that back and tummy's are not my forte.  Being an owner/companion of a Princess myself now and previously is how I came to  understand the SRSP Syndrome.  Sorry I couldn't help you on the other problems. 

Darcel

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

LOL Darcel well you got the most important one, I'll have to tell Hallie's vet about SRSP I'm betting that isn't in her vet books!

[David C.]

I was able to keep Rudy-angel from having a dental until he was 10 or 11 by staying on top of his teeth care.   However, even with the best dental care by us hoomans, the time comes where they are going to need to go under for a thorough teeth cleaning.   I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I haven't been as religious with the Zs teeth as I was with Rudy & Max.   They, so far, have been unable to avoid having dentals on an annual basis.   I may be able to stretch them to two years if I was a bit more on top of it.   

When Rudy was just a pup, the vet told me the number one thing you could do to prolong your dog's life was to take care of their teeth. 

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

That is great to get to 10-11 years with Rudy. I agree about the importance of keeping their teeth clean for their overall health. I am going to have her vet take a good look next week on her allergy shot visit and tell me what she thinks. I'd never forgive myself if more was going on in there than I realized and she had problems with it.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

You could get whats called Petzlife or Leballl,  good products to use on teeth. I have always heard that if the teeth are scaled they should also be sealed. I know my vet scales under the gumlines and also seals the teeth.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

I tried to google LeBalll but it couldn't find it (maybe spelled wrong?) but the Petzlife sounds awesome! I've never heard of that. I think I will get some and try it. I also didn't know about sealing the teeth after scaling, is this up around the gum line? Do you use Petzlife on your kids and if so for how long and how did it work for you? I suppose grapefruit seed extract (I think is what I read) must be safe for them...I'm wondering if the gel might be better tolerated for her than the spray.

thanks so much for that info!

[LUVMYGUNNER]

I use Petzlife and love it, you can get the best bargain at www.petedge.com I got both the spray and the gel--for the gel I use a soft baby toothbrush, if you get the spray cover her eyes so you don't get anything in them. I bought the regular flavor and mine love it.... I love the spray on days when I'm lazy..... I will get the link for LebaIII----  the link is working... When a vet cleans the teeth,  he goes under the gum lines to get impacted food out,  then they are sealed. If you scale and do not seal they are more prone to cavities and problems with their teeth..
http://www.lebalab.com/




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LEBA III balances the chemistry of the mouth keeping the teeth clean and healthy
for the entire life of your pet, without side effects.
The key to a long healthy life is balance.
Products that kill the bacteria have an antibiotic action, damaging the environment of the mouth.
The safety and efficacy of LEBA III was proven by a renowned university
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[Dee Dee and Hallie]

This is such great info Irma thank you SO much. Hallie will be relieved to not have to be scraped so often. She is very good but does not like it. Thanks!!

[papbouv]

If the dog acts tipsy both the Petz Life (grain alcohol) the Leba Labs Inc ( Ethyl alcohol) guess it is like mouth wash for humans the only thing is dogs cannot spit.Was surprised to see Grain Alcohol too much of that causes blindness in humans same thing as Moonshine.Since Patches  last dental was $220.00 with no teeth pulled just a cleaning I try to brush her teeth everyday or at least three times a week.Also put that stuff in their water can't remember the name of it.They also make the chew sticks that clean teeth the Vet uses them.May try the Petz might be easier at present I use a Braun oral care tooth brush with the battery in it has a small round soft head works really well.It is really hard to get to the back teeth with those tight lips usually get my fingers chewed on when trying to hold her mouth open. Seems like the bigger dogs do not have as much problems with their teeth.Buddy has the biggest teeth I have ever seen on a dog huge teeth.Hope he never gets mad at anything.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Oh yikes OK I do not need to see a drunk Hallie. LOL. I had wondered if an electric brush might work but my sonicare has the big head. That's a good idea about the braun I didn't know they came in small heads. I will try using my brush on her front teeth to see how well she will tolerate it. (I hear gagging...I mean when I'm ready to switch it to a new one  :thumb: ) Is it CET you use? Some vet we saw gave me that for her teeth but it's over a year old now (and I had never used it but meant to, I'm always afraid to try something new) so I don't know if it's expired or not (expiration date was blank on it). I agree the big dog teeth are a lot easier to get to and work on. I can't picture Buddy getting too mad at anything he looks so sweet.

[papbouv]

Have been using the Braun tooth brush when I had my Papillon Gizmo she was little 7 # so it works much better on Patches bigger mouth.The little round brush was soft I think made for a child. Good Luck Brushing

[scootersmom]

For what it's worth, I use CET on Scooter, and it came highly recommended by the Vet Dentist Specialist Smartypants Doctor...of course, you may want to take any knowledge I have with a grain of salt, as I cannot seem to keep Scooter's teeth IN his mouth no matter what I do.  *sigh*

However!  My friend David's dog, Sparky, insists on having his treats broken into the teensiest little bits - and his teeth are perfectly healthy.  He too loves a good bully stick.  Perhaps certain pups just enjoy being dainty and tidy.   

I'm really glad you asked this question, though, as now I have two new products to check out/try - Petzlife and that LebaIII -

Oh!  And I echo everyone's sentiments on how darn difficult it is to brush those back lower molars.  GOOD GRIEF - the amount of time my fingers spend poked down in poor Scooter's cheeks (Scooter: NO KIDDING) - thank goodness he's a very patient boy.

I'm actually wondering if I could get away with using an electric toothbrush on him.  I'm desperate to try and save his few remaining teethies!

[papbouv]

If you do the battery tooth brush let him check it out, put doggie toothpaste on it ,do not turn it on yet just do one tooth per day until you get them all.Then start over turn it on do the same thing all over again by then he should be OK with it.Good Luck
I bought Gizmo's Braun battery brush years ago but I think they still make them they have the little round head fits better when trying to do the back toothies.Know when Gizmo died just took it a part cleaned it up new batteries found new brush heads at Walgreen's.Papbouv

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

That is such a good idea Papbouv I will look for a braun for Hallie. Great idea! I am also going to look for the products Irma suggested.

Hey Noel and Scooter!! I'd love to hear if you try the Petz Life too, and the braun toothbrush on Scootie. Do you happen to know the shelf life of the CET? I will call the vet and ask, just my luck it wasn't stamped on the box. (I also have a home urine strip kit much to the chagrin of my vet who I pummel with questions everytime anything may be a little off.. )

How is Scooter doing with his less-teefies mouth?

LOL. Dainty and tidy indeed!