BAD teeth

[jfb]

We acquired our toy poodle in 1994 and have provided "reasonable" dental care over the years. We acquired a 5-year old Yorkie in April of this year.

Took them in last week for annual shots, examins. Vet pointed out dental problems and the need for tartar removable and some loose teeth, etc....

Took them in today....

$1,100 later, the Yorkie has only 2 lower canines remaining, the Poodle, 13 Yo, fared somewhat better....

We don't begrudge the outcomes to date.

Moral???

[jfb]

We acquired our toy poodle in 1994 and have provided "reasonable" dental care over the years. We acquired a 5-year old Yorkie in April of this year.

Took them in last week for annual shots, examins. Vet pointed out dental problems and the need for tartar removable and some loose teeth, etc....

Took them in today....

$1,100 later, the Yorkie has only 2 lower canines remaining, the Poodle, 13 Yo, fared somewhat better....

We don't begrudge the outcomes to date.

Moral???

[Brigadoon]

I have to say, I think this teeth cleaning deal is the latest push by vets to raise their revenue intake. We have been using the same vet for years and the last two times we have had our pets in for routine shots, etc., the vet has made a strong push to have our pets teeth cleaned. Of course, the vet points out all the evils that may occur to our animals if we do not have their teeth cleaned. In our case the estimated price per pet was $400.

Being a suspicious person by nature, I started asking friends that are pet owners if their vet had pushed teeth cleaning. To my amazement, almost everyone I conferred with stated that they had been advised to have their pets teeth cleaned also! They also said that this had started within the last two years.

Now I thought that this was a South Florida thing (scam?), but this past summer while traveling in the Maryville, TN area, one of our cats became ill and we took the cat to a local vet. While there I ask the vet about teeth cleaning. Sure enough the vet said that we should have the cats teeth cleaned regularly! However, the vet said that our cat did not need teeth cleaning at that time. Funny thing is, that was the same cat that the South Florida vet said needed teeth cleaning 3 months before.

Until I have strong evidence that the cat's teeth need cleaning- I smell a scam!

[TXiceman]

I have to agree on the revenue boost for some vets. You have to shop around and maybe even go across town to get a better deal. The vet we use is and older fellow and a small practice. He is very reasonable on the pet care.

I know some folks in our area pay double what we do for the same or less care.

Now some dogs are more prone to tartar build up than others, just like people. It also helps to keep your dog on a dry food to help keep the gunk scrubbed off his teeth.

Our 14 year old schnauzer has had his teeth cleaned 3 times in his life.

Ken

[Brigadoon]

There definitely are price differences. As mentioned above we took one of our cats to a vet in Maryville, TN. He had a sinus infection. The total bill was $48 including an antibiotic.

Two years ago we had to take the same cat to our S. Fla. vet for the same problem. It cost $120 including the antibiotic.

It does pay to shop around.

Or move out of South Florida!

[cameo23]

doing the dogs teeth is a big thing here in arizona also. They have special dental clinics
that do just the teeth. I think its a big money making thing for vets too. The weekly mailbox ads always contain coupons for dog dentals, usually can get one for $250 and have heard some cost as much as 1250. I do know people that
have dogs that have no teeth left at all and the
poor dog has nothing to keep its tongue in its mouth so it hangs out to the side. I have a 13 year old dog with all his teeth and he needs a
dental but I also have a 18 month old and the vet is trying to sell me a dental on that one too. No thanks, I'll buy an extra box of milkbones.

[mom2mastiffs]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cameo23:
doing the dogs teeth is a big thing here in arizona also. They have special dental clinics
that do just the teeth.

We had a dog fight at our home between our 2 males and there was a broken tooth--we went to that special dental clinic--he had to have a root canal--we chose to do that instead of pulling the tooth and the cost was high!!

I have found that giving our mastiffs bones to chew on has kept their teeth clean. We have not cleaned any of their teeth and vets often ask us how we keep their teeth so clean!

[Doris]

I started working for a veterinarian in 1978 (retired as an animal lab tech in 1996). Teeth cleaning was always a big part of the animals health to us. It's nothing new..we always had several dentistry's lined up each week. It's amazing what we used to "crack" off their teeth, and what gook we'd fine in there (it was often really big chunks of tartar..yuck!). I don't know if your animals were having problems, but most of the ones we cleaned were having eating and or sinus problems, or would be shortly. Plus, the idea was to save the teeth, before they got bad. It seems to have been worse in animals who eat a lot of soft food, or table scraps.