Veterinary vs Anesthesia-Free Teeth Cleaning

In honor of Pet Dental Health Month, here’s an article I wrote for Your Dog, the newsletter of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University  (published September 2009) *** Maybe you’ve seen a sign for “Teeth cleaning without anesthesia” in your groomer’s shop or on a pet store bulletin board, and you’ve wondered:…

Pride & Prejudice: Doggie Dental Version

Corneal ulcers, periodontal disease, diabetes…  sometimes it’s hard to separate the dog from the health problems.  Or, I should say, my emotional reactions to the problems from Frankie’s far more laissez-faire attitude. I’m thinking in particular of my first experience getting Frankie’s teeth professionally cleaned, which I introduced a couple of posts ago. The Trauma…

Dental confessions: A brief digression

As those of you who read my blog regularly know, I’ve been writing a lot lately about canine dental care. It started with my New Year’s resolution to brush Frankie’s teeth; I went on to discuss the problems with anesthesia-free cleanings. I plan to continue with the topic, to review dental chews and give instructions…