Facts about dog teeth cleaning
Veterinarians in Slovenia and around the world generally clean teeth under general anesthesia. Among these are also those who publicly convince dog guardians that there is no other option, and that anesthesia is always the best solution for treating dog teeth. In "professional" arguments, they often state that everything cannot be done without anesthesia for the dog's teeth. Given that they probably haven't performed a single teeth cleaning without anesthesia themselves, the arguments naturally refer to their own classic veterinary procedures. From this point of view, we can completely agree with them and advise them to stay with narcosis.
But when "experts" start hinting at our field of work, with nonsense, lies, scaremongering and discouraging people from effective prevention, this unfortunately causes damage to both dogs and their caretakers. In doing so, of course, they never mention the real facts that are essential when it comes to cleaning and keeping a dog's teeth healthy. When veterinarians in Slovenia pretend that they know something about cleaning dogs' teeth without anesthesia, they are actually speaking from their minds. Is this a sign of professionalism? Unfortunately, we even have veterinarians in Slovenia who, with the help of some media, have been publicly convincing people for many years that prevention is "harmful". As a rule, veterinary clinics in our country are private companies, and cleaning dogs' teeth under anesthesia is not cheap. Yes, prevention is harmful, but not for dogs!
Facts about dog teeth that vets don't tell you:
- It's usually not the dogs that need anesthesia for dental work, it's the vets.
- 98% of dogs that do not have major dental diseases can get the same or better teeth cleaning results without anesthesia and chemicals.
- With the right method and knowledge, almost anything can be done for the health of a dog's teeth and gums, with much less stress than a visit to a regular veterinary clinic alone.
- Dogs that regularly and timely benefit from effective preventive methods, as a rule, never need anesthesia to clean their teeth.
- Such dogs have more beautiful and healthier teeth than those who rely only on classical methods, because their teeth are cleaned more often, because the caretakers do not have to fear anesthesia.
- The presence of tartar on a dog's teeth is not a disease, nor does it automatically mean other diseases.
- A greater amount of visible dental plaque does not mean plaque under the gums, as the plaque never begins to accumulate under the gums and it is difficult to get there with healthy periodontal tissues.
- Many dogs never have plaque and dangerous bacteria under their gums. in the periodontal pockets, despite the fact that they have a lot of calculus.
- If the gums are in good condition and the teeth are strong, only non-invasive treatment and cleaning of the dog's teeth without anesthesia makes sense.
- However, when a dog actually needs anesthesia, it is usually due to a bad condition of the teeth or advanced diseases, because teeth cleaning was delayed for too long, and as a rule, precisely because of the fear of narcosis.
- Narcosis not only has frequent side effects, but we believe it kills many more dogs than is officially recorded. Any unnecessary narcosis should be a professional error if we put the welfare of the dog first!
Dear dog guardians; Avoid doctors who don't give your dog a choice and talk by heart, as there's a chance they're making diagnoses that way too. Above all, do not expect particularly useful advice on prevention and care from doctors. There are fewer and fewer good veterinarians, but there are still a few who know that they are not omniscient.
Dogs and their caretakers should always have objective information and, above all, a choice when it comes to canine health. This is the minimum of ethics and responsibility!
Doctors treat, but we are primarily responsible for the health of dogs!
