Dental care for older dog.

Dr. Marie replied:

Dental disease can be a really difficult thing to deal with. Unfortunately there is no easy solution. The only way to give a dog with dental disease good relief is to have a dental procedure done, and yes, this would be done under an anesthetic. I don't have a problem with administering an anesthetic to an older animal as long a their blood tests are ok. So, yes, blood work would be necessary.

If I have a patient that has really bad dental problems but can't go under anesthetic then I will often prescribe antibiotics. I will sometimes do something called pulse therapy antibiotics. This is where I give antibiotics for the first week of every month.

This doesn't cure the problem, but it cuts down on the infection which usually helps the dog to feel an awful lot better.

Your vet should be willing to prescribe antibiotics without doing blood tests. If not, I would perhaps seek an opinion from another veterinarian.

Unfortunately there is no human over the counter drug that I would consider safe to use in a case like this. There are some human antibiotics that could be used, but you would still need to get a prescription from your vet in order to get them. This can sometimes work out to be less expensive than getting them through your vet, but not always.

I wish I could give you better advice! I really wish there was a less expensive way to treat dental problems in dogs. Please don't pay any attention to things you will read online as miracle cures (i.e. by adding something to the water or food). If it was that easy I would be prescribing those things!

I hope things improve soon.

Dr. Marie.

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