Cracked Tooth

My wife brought our 5 year old Airedale to the vet yesterday for his annual checkup. When the vet went to check his teeth, he resisted her so my wife tried to help and he resisted mommy too so they knew something was wrong. When they finally were able to get his mouth open, the vet saw what she thought was a cracked tooth. He’s scheduled to go under next Wednesday for a cleaning and to either repair or extract the cracked tooth. Depending on what the vet needs to do, it could cost anywhere from $250-600. The strange thing is that he was eagerly gnawing on an antler the night before his appointment and was back at it again last night while we were watching TV. He doesn’t appear to be favoring one side of his mouth over the other. I’m not 100% convinced that this doggy dental visit is necessary. Anyone have experience with this?

Our last dog made it to just over 14 years old and we never had his teeth cleaned and I don’t really recall the vet even checking them. We just got the chicken flavored toothpaste and finger brush for when his breath would get bad.

Had alot of springers and as a dog gets older they will have problems with there teeth.As far as getting there teeth taken care of i firmly believe its a vet thing to make money.Took one of my older dogs in for a bad tooth that was infected.My older vet passed away and the younger vet(woman 25years old )Said tooth needs to be pulled and the rest needed to be cleaned.$850 i said the dog is 12 are you out of your mind.Last time i saw her.Put dog on antibotics and she is still hunting a year and a half later.Dogs live on the average of 12 years old. My advice is let the dog from birth chew on hard bones and feed it hard food all the time.The teeth will last as long as the dog does.

Bugle, seems like the same problem we have in the health care industry is happening in the veterinary industry. Use scare tactics to get u in for unnecessary procedures and numerous follow up visits so they can keep raking in the money. This is a pet peeve of mine big time but that's a topic for another thread. 

2 of my GSP's have had a cracked tooth. Just had them pulled and everything was just fine.

velocity

My pointer we just adopted has a dead tooth. He's had it for however long and he eats fine and it doesn't bother him. Took him in to register him at the vet today, they say if it bothers him well have to pull it. I think he's fine. It is hard to know what to do. Also the said he has plaque build up on 1 tooth so they would sedate him and clean it if I wanted. I'll give him some rawhide and let it work itself off. I love my dogs to death but spending more on them than I do my own procedures almost feels like highway robbery 

When I was a kid and everybody had a dog you never heard of anyone taking them to the vet. Back then i cant even remember ever seeing a vet anywhere and now every town has at least 3 of them. Sometimes you just have to trust them and believe its best for the dog. Imagine how you would feel if you ignored it and later the tooth gets infected and something bad happens. 

My dog went in for the tooth extraction for the cracked tooth this morning.  Just got a message from the vet there was "good news" and that the tooth wasn't cracked after all so all they had to do was clean his teeth.  I feel like the discovery of the "cracked tooth" was an excuse to get my dog in for a prophylaxis.  I've been going to this vet since our last dog was a pup but I feel like I got taken for a sucker this time.

All of my dog-owning friends have been telling me that their vets have been pressuring them to get their dog's teeth cleaned on a regular basis as well.  Since they have to sedate the dog, it runs around $250-$500 depending on the vet.  I felt like my dog was unnecessarily put at risk so a costly and unnecessary procedure could be performed.  It isn't like dogs have been dying of periodontal disease for the past few thousand years.

Fool me once...

Standard poodle we had cracked a lower incisor, vet said it could become infected and cause more trouble so out it came. Our other dog at the same time, maybe 3 yrs old broke off a lower canine and the vet put a filling in it that failed a year later. Only option after that was a root canal and a gold crown and $1700 but that lasted until she passed on at 13.

Wasnt long ago you never heard of doggy dentistry, now I think my dogs get there teeth cleaned more often than I do and I think most of the cleaning is unnecessary, however, it is a good time to thoroughly examine their teeth which is tough to do when they are awake.

One of the labs did it with a prime rib bone .  But she was about 12 or 13 and did not seem to bother her so we just left it . 

I did also did give them rawhide sticks most every night and they had clean teeth.