Dentals without Anesthesia
By Joan Harris
Although I make efforts to brush the teeth of my Greys most of them just need a dental done by a professional. I have been overly reluctant to have dentals done, like most Greyhound adopters, as I am so worried about the threat that anesthesia poses to my Greys.
Someone gave me a good tip -- there is a woman in DeBary who performs “awake dentals”, totally free of anesthesia. I called her and she said these dentals are specifically geared for those dogs who are older, ill or immune compromised in some way, or are at a greater than average risk while under anesthesia.
Two of my girls, eleven year old Duchess and seven year old Chaluppa needed dentals and I had no intention of putting either under anesthesia just to get their teeth cleaned.
So, off to Joany Elder we went. Duchess is fairly squeamish about having her ears cleaned or nails clipped, so I was not expecting this to be an easy appointment. I was wrong. Joany was on the floor with Duchess across her and Duchess just let her clean her teeth. I was totally amazed. The same reaction came from Chaluppa. Their mouths were clean and I was thrilled!
A great tip from Joany was to clean their teeth daily with Chlorhexidine, an anti-bacterial solution available from the vet. I use a small cloth and clean their teeth daily, as well as my other Hounds. This has made a big difference.
Pompano Catch had his teeth done recently and he looks great. You can visit our sponsors page and get more information about this great service.
Joany will be visiting the GPA kennel and performing complimentary dentals on some of the older dogs.
We are happy to share this resource with all adopters. The fee for GPA adopters is $100 per dog, rather than the usual $120.
Joany’s phone numbers are 386-668-8267 and 407-474-4905.
Be sure to tell her you are with GPA!
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