Getting your dog’s teeth cleaned by your vet is important and it’s not just for the benefit of clean teeth. Cleaning is only a small part of a comprehensive oral assessment by a qualified vet. In an ‘awake’ oral exam, the vet can screen only visually. Under anesthesia and using dental tools and radiography, the vet can thoroughly examine each of the dog’s 42 teeth.
Keeping an eye on your dog’s teeth, and even daily brushing, constitute just part of responsible dental care. Regular examinations by a qualified veterinary including dental xrays are necessary for proper dental care to ensure that your dog has no broken or chipped teeth, poor tooth alignment, or has any presence of suspected abscesses at the root of injured teeth, loss of bone or ligament strength due to injury or infection, and to confirm the depth of any periodontal pockets.

You don’t clean a dog’s teeth so the dog will have a sparkling smile and minty-fresh breath. You clean a dog’s teeth for the overall health of the dog. Tartar and plaque build up in a dog’s mouth can lead to receding gums and inflammation. If left unchecked your dog could develop other, conditions such as heart disease. Tooth decay and gum disease can cut your dog’s life short.
If the vet has recommended a dental cleaning it’s because the vet believes your dog needs it to be healthy. Now you have to decide whether your dog’s health is worth the price of the procedure.
If you’re unhappy with the cost you can check other veterinary clinics to see if you can a lower price.

they have dental chew toys and bones if there is excessive build up then yeah i would do it, but afterwards you can use that liquid tartar remover you mentioned and other things like bones and such to keep the plaque away, you can also just take some dog toothepaste and put some on youre finger to rub that on his teethe but normally with persistance a dog will warm up tp the idea of having a toothebrush put in his mouth goodluck

I was wondering if that oral care worked also. I have had one of my dogs teeth cleaned professionally, I hadn’t heard of it when my oldest was growing up and now I am afraid to put him under, he has some other health issues. Meantime I use guaze on my finger to rub there teeth it is easier than brushing and so far my 9,4, are fine.I also feed dent a bones and hard bones un cooked to help with this. I know that bad teeth can lead to a mariad of other health issues..and feeding a soft diet contributes to teeth and gum problems..so bones of some type seem to be a neccessity. Good Luck

The amount of money you quote does not seem extraordinarily high to me. It is about that price in my area. If there is tartar and plaque buildup on the teeth, you risk systemic infections, gum disease, and gum recession. If the alternative works, good for you. If not, why not just go ahead and have the dental work done by the vet, and look after the tartar removal after wards?

I feel the same as the answer above. My vet is always recommending my cat get her teeth cleaned, but that would involve anesthesia. It would cost well over $200. I think the cost you’re asking about is probably reasonable and accurate, but actually doing it, not. But people tend to project human needs onto their animals and the veterinary system feeds off it.

not sure if theres something similiar
but with my cat.. his vet said my cat will need a dental visit due to plaque/tartar build up. his teeth were basically yellow.
Vet told me to try Oral Care from PerscriptionHills or Science Diet. (although these aren’t high quality pet foods) It worked awesome!
My cat now has white teeth and needed no dental visit! $20 a bag is certainly better than hundreds of dollars.
Go to a pet store and see if they have a dental care dry food. Try that first . IF it works..then great, if not you’ll have to spend the money for your pets health

if ur dog hates the tooth brush try using a finger one or get a soft cloth and rub them down. u can make a paste with baking soda and put it on his teeth and using the cloth kind of rub and polish them along with his gums. u can get dog tooth paste at walmart and mix in a liitle soda so it won’t taste so strong.i add the breath and tartar cleaner to my dogs water daily and i have seem a great improvement,u can also get this at walmart or a pet store.buy chews that have the tartar cleaner in them and give ur pooch one every day to help get the teeth looking good.when their teeth get bad and u can see dark roots or red gum lines this is when they need to be treated by ur vet,but for now try theses things and u will save a lot of money.clean his teeth weekly and get the liquid drops for his water and even his breath will smell better. good luck

Unless your dog is a movie start or is having a hard time finding a suitor because of ugly teeth, I’d skip paying off your vet’s yacht.
Like the other person said, I’ve had dogs live to be old that never had their teeth cleaned. Dog lick their…well never mind! But you know, dogs are dogs, not children!
Buy your dog some dog biscuits. Milk Bone is what I always used for my dogs.

I would try the tartar remover first. Also, maybe try harder to clean them yourself. But, if you can afford it, why not have them cleaned?
Just make sure that YOUR teeth are taken care of first. You deserve care that is at least as good as you give your pet!

My dogs chew pork rawhides. My two year old Ausi/eskimo has the cleanest most beautiful teeth. bones are a natural cleaning device for your dogs teeth.
good luck.

That is pure crap. We have had dogs that lived to 10-14 and never brushed their teeth or had it done professionally. They all had good teeth when they died.

start by getting the good vet cleaning. then find a cheap thing to do year round.

Daily feeding of RAW meaty bones. Some of my dogs are nearly 8 years old and have white teeth and NO plaque.

raw bones the size that gives your dogs teeth a good workout

Yes. That seems reasonable but that fee indicates that the dog is most likely going to be sedated in order to scale (clean) his teeth. Putting any animal under for a non -emergency such as teeth cleaning can be (but doesn’t always prove to be) dangerous.
An alternative to cleaning (scaling) by the vet is just a raw not cooked bone or another type of bone called a Greenie.
The first site I list on my sources is where you can read about a product for reducing plaque and about sedation of animals for teeth cleaning and about the simple solution of cleaning their teeth yourself and giving them a raw bone to chew. I have copied SOME of the info for you to read….
“Basic Dog Tooth Care: Brush Weekly or More Often
With all of the unique products for dog teeth on the market including various toothbrush styles and specially formulated toothpastes, it is much easier to clean your dog’s teeth. Many pet owners prefer the finger brush for dog teeth. This toothbrush is very similar to a finger brush used for infants. It is made of rubber and fits over your finger. There are soft bristles, also made of rubber, on one side of the brush. (You may simulate this with our regular dog tooth brush by extending a finger onto the backside of the brush.) Some dogs are less likely to chew on the toothbrush because the dog realizes it is your finger on his teeth and not a foreign object. Dogs do, however, also grow accustomed to the plastic toothbrushes quickly.
Chew Bones and Tartar Build-up
Plaque and tarter build-up on dog teeth occur just as it does in humans. Luckily, it is easy to get rid of this build-up on dog teeth. There is no scraping in the dentist’s chair! To keep dog teeth free from tartar buildup, the dog needs something tooth friendly to chew on such as a raw marrow bone or a knuckle bone. Chewing on the bone scrapes the buildup off the dog’s teeth. You can determine how many bones your dog needs based on the size of his teeth and the condition of his teeth. For most dogs, one beef knuckle bone monthly is sufficient. When the bone is worn down, throw it out so that the dog doesn’t accidentally swallow the small pieces.
Scaling Dog Teeth
Your veterinarian can professionally clean your dog’s teeth. However, this should be a last resort as this can get very expensive and can be very dangerous and even sometimes deadly for your dog.
A Note on Chew Bones
While most people do recommend skipping bones entirely due to problems such as choking and perforated bowels, offering the right kind of bone can also eliminate these problems. Do not offer your dog cooked bones. These can splinter and cause choking. If swallowed, they can poke through the dog’s stomach or bowels. Only offer your dog raw bones that have not been cooked in any way. Raw bones are friendly for dog teeth. Raw bones remain soft so do not splinter. They also provide calcium and hours of entertainment for your dog. The only drawback to a raw bone is that it does become quite messy as your dog chews. It is a good idea to keep these bones outside or away from carpet and furniture. It is also very important that bones are not just given to your dog to chew on unsupervised so that you can remove any pieces that are worn too small so that they are not swallowed.”
The second site I used as a source is an alternative to giving your dog a raw bone to chew on—as mentioned, it is called a Greenie. Do not be deceived by a Greenies size. It is much smaller than a raw bone. HOWEVER, it CAN still present a choking hazard and you should ALWAYS supervise your dog while the dog is enjoying a Greenie. (Many local vets or pet supply big name chain stores like Petsmart and Petco carry Greenies).

You could try the tartar remover, because My nans dog had its teeth cleaned it was 7 or 8 and two days after the cleaning it died!!!!!! ;(
(By the way it was a king Charles’s Cavalier, these tend to be weaker)
We have the sister to my Nans poor dead doggie and her teeth needed doing a while back,but we didn’t want to risk it(Since then we have just semi clean her teeth) I am not saying her teeth are lovely but she is 13!! Old for the breed of dog she is! Not all dogs die from cleaning teeth though otherwise they wouldn’t do it! And we know a few other people whos dogs same age as yours had their teeth cleaned and are VERY healthy now! So yours should be just fine!!! Best of luck! And hope this has help some!