Elderly dog - dental work under general anaesthetic?

[whoshouldItalkto]

I have a 14 year old cross breed, who is incredibly fit and healthy for her age. The only problem is her teeth - she has a visible build up of tartar, her breath stinks and the vet has said she should have cleaning and possibly a few extractions under general anaesthetic. I'm torn as to whether to do this - she seems to have no discomfort whatsoever, and loves her food, which includes very hard kibble which she chews without problem. I do, however, realise she is at possible risk of infection, but find it hard to weigh that up with the risk of GA at her age - last time she had one it seemed to affect her quite badly. Obviously, if she was in obvious discomfort, or was younger, I would just get it done. Is there anything else that I could try that might help shift the plaque? I've seen lots of things advertised but don't know if they're scams, and don't just want to just mask the breath. he's not particularly co-operative with teeth cleaning and it's way beyond that now anyway.

I think if the vet is suggesting that there will be possible extractions then it's best to have it done. It sounds like some of his teeth are rotten.

Our 10 year old had to have this, and they thought there were 2 teeth needing to be extracted. When they rang to say, 'Oh he's fine now - they took 21 teeth out' I was horrified and had to Google how many teeth does a dog have?

It made a big difference to his breath, and presumably his comfort.

Im quite wary of mordern vets, its very sales driven. How would you know if the dog was in pain?

I would absolutely have it done. Tooth pain is no joke and he may well be suffering even if he's not showing it. Might well be unpleasant having a bad taste/bad breath too. Then there's all the other complications rotten teeth may cause too. I think GA is quite safe these days.
There's nothing that will shift plaque other than the vet as far as I know but seaweed plaque off supplements are effective in my experience to maintain his clean teeth once done.
You can also smear some enzyme toothpaste on chews if cleaning his teeth isn't possible.

My late MIL’s elderly dog, had clean and extractions, he also had a heart murmur. He was absolutely fine, had most of his teeth out and adapted really well, he was brighter in himself too. It was a nerve wracking few hours, I had to ring the vet as my late MIL couldn’t face it. But it was all fine.

We were told by one vet in our practice that our 13 year old dog should have GA to have her teeth properly cleaned. We decided against it because of the risks. When she had her regular check up with a different vet he commented how good her teeth were. I told him what the other vet had recommended and he rolled his and shook his head. Like a pp said I think vets have sales targets and some may be more ruthless than others.

Please don’t buy into this idea that it’s about sales - you said yourself that your dog’s breath stinks and you can see visible build up on her teeth. Animals hide pain well, and it isn’t fair to let them suffer.

OK - I think we'll go for it. I do wonder how necessary it is given how well she eats, but don't want her to suffer. It just seems a bit counter-intuitive to do something that might adversely affect her when she seems very well and happy in herself.

There are products that are designed to treat plaque in early stages, but once it becomes tartar, only dental intervention can help. Both of our (senior) cats have had GA and dental work- one of them had 15 teeth extracted!

They had seemed fine beforehand but animals can be incredibly stoical, and knowing how much pain my own tooth problems have caused, I couldn’t deal with the thought of that; seemed so unfair when there was something we could do about it.

Having said that, general anaesthetic is always a risk, it’s riskier for animals than humans, and especially for older animals, so it’s a tricky decision. In your shoes I would probably do it, as it sounds as though your dog is otherwise in good health.

Both my 15 year old plus dog and cat have had dentals and it’s been the right decision. They were so much happier afterwards. The dog had a broken tooth and cat had four teeth removed. Recovery can take a while but it’s so worth it and very low risk these days.

it’s not about the money. It’s about welfare.

My old Staffie ate kibble with relish every day - until one day she didn’t and looked really sorry for herself.
She had extractions in two sessions. She was quite groggy and couldn’t settle after the first session but fine the following day. Second session she coped with better. Aged 14.
I was distraught as I have had several dogs who have lived to 14/15 and she was the only one to need dental work. The others never had dentistix and I’m convinced they are more negative than positive.
My current dog has hard biscuits and plaque off.