How to Clean Your Dog’s Teeth

By Scott Lackenby | Dated August 28, 2015

Confused about what really happens when your vet suggests a ‘dental’? Now you can see the entire – edited – process!

Scroll down for the entire ‘Family Friendly’ video and other options!

Dental disease is one of the major causes of illness in dogs and cats – especially heart disease. Pet insurance companies in the USA say pet owners spend more on fixing dental hygiene than they do on preventing it!

But bad breath is just the first sign something is wrong – so we took our 8yr old recently rescued min. poodle Chica – aka Chiquita – to Gordon Vet Hospital in Sydney for a checkup.

She really wasn’t eating very well and her breath did smell a bit!

Anyway the whole process took several hours from checkup to recovery and we’re VERY glad we said yes to not just a clean, but two extractions be cause she is a completely different dog now…!

Dr John – assisted by the gorgeous vet nurse Jessica – literally held our hand through the whole process as you will see.

Although you will still see parts of the actual procedure, we have created this ‘family friendly’ version to make it easier for non veterinary viewers to see what actually goes on behind the scenes in a busy veterinary hospital.

SHORT ON TIME?:
* Desktop Users – Mouse over the video timeline and click the ‘dots’ related to each part of this story to watch just that part
* iPAD/iPhone/Android Users – The links below open each section in a new browser window on our YouTube site TIME – STORY LINK

* 0:00 – The Consult – Dr John explains Chica’s problems
* 1:06 – Why is it necessary to do a blood test?
* 2:05 – Assuming all is ok, what happens next?
* 3:10 – What happens when my pet is anaesthetised?
* 4:05 – How can you tell if my pet is ‘under’ ?
* 4:30 – What is the tube you put into the pet’s throat called?
* 5:19 – How do you know if everything is ok while my pet is ‘ under’?
* 6:31 – What is scaling & polishing & how does it help my pet?
* 8:40 – What about cats – mine eats less and seems very moody! – Is it dental disease?
* 9:30 – Dr John explains why Chica needs two teeth removed
* 10:04 – Dr John polishes Chica’s teeth with Prophy Paste
* 10:40 – Uhh oh… looks like Chica needs some extractions – But why?
* 12:30 – Actual extraction of two teeth – It’s ok… Family friendly version!
* 15:26 – Dr John’s prognosis and waking Chica up!