Poor boy had a difficult time with it.  The doc had to take extra x-rays and spent almost an hour longer than usual.  They had to extract 10 teeth, fortunately his canines were saved.  When he had is last oral procedure the vet said he would probably lose more in the future.  He is pretty much OK, but in obvious pain.  He's got an anti-inflamatory, but no pain meds.  He's a brave little man keeping it to a low wimper and he is so tired, he is falling asleep sitting.  But he we wants to be with his peoples and we have out of town company this evening.  The surgeon started giving Janie h-e-double-hockey-sticks over not caring for his teeth until she explained...manycountry vets aren't up dental care.

OK, here's the deal...TAKE CARE OF YOUR DOGS TEETH.  If your vet doesn't do regular checkups and knows what he/she is doing when it comes to oral care get another vet.

Poor little guy.  I must admit... we don't brush our dog's teeth.  Thanks for the wake up call on this.

Poor baby

Awww,  poor Ratty.  I give my dogs raw bones now and then and it does pretty good at keeping their teeth scraped clean.   I think I'll try giving them PetzLife,  I've heard of people getting good results with it.   http://www.petzlife.com/

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.  He slept, but cried frequently during the night, although I was zonked since 10PM, Janie said it work her up serveral times.  We were up at 5 AM this morning as our friend needed to get back to his big rig and head out on the highway to meet his morning appointment time.  Rattagan is more moaning than crying now. He has got to be soooo hungry, he hasn't had anything to eat since Monday evening.  OK, we cheated and let him swallow down a few pieces of ham to get his meds in him.  Those go right past the teeth and down the gullet non-stop so nothing would get stuck in an incicision.

And I can tell you that a lifetime's supply of whatever tooth brushes and toothpaste you use will cost far, far less than an extended stay on the operating table.

Poor Rattagan

After breakfast update:  he's stopped crying and moaning now that he's got something in his belly.  He got a full serving of slightly watered down canned soft food which he had no trouble getting down.  I think we all feel a little better now, I'm sure he does.  It was some 38 hours since his last meal so poor baby had to be half-starved.  After our early morning wakeup we all got about another hour or so sleep until Cameo decided it was time to kiss us awake, which she does every morning, of course, little sweetheart

Phil/Janie,

I just went through this with 2 of my babies, with 1 to go.  Sandy lost 15 teeth - Kaci lost 8.  I always take pride in making sure my dogs only have the best......... and I did wrong by them by ignoring their dental health, not thinking it was "that" important.  It's very important!

I hope Rattagan feels better soon.  Poor baby.

Dink and I are sending  ((HUGS))  Rattagan's way.....Sure hope he gets to feeling better soon.  Y'all are great parents, Rattagan's as lucky to have you as you are lucky to have him. 

Our vet in Miami started on C.E.T. products.  Our new vet here suggested C.E.T. as well. They have a line of dog dental care products, many pet stores will have them.  I'm suprised your vet hasn't said anything, you might ask if they have C.E.T.  We use the finger brushes, but there are people-like toothbrushes also.  There is also a gauze type of brushing pad that we might try with Rattagan.  They have a couple of different paste flavors.  Cameo and Rattagan like the chicken flavor.  Putting some of the paste on a dental chew toy (nylabone like) won't hurt anything either.  Janie did this with Cameo when she was teething and that helped keep her from chewing on other things she shouldn't.

I'm so sorry that Rattagan had to go through this.... and hope he's feeling better real soon!    Lucy & Holly neither one are very "good" about having their teeth brushed... so I'm not very "good" about doing it either.   

Ski - Thanks so much for posting the link to the petzlife website. I hadn't heard of this before, and was very interested in learning more about it. I called the owner of the company & talked to him, and ended up buying a wholesale package to offer in my grooming shop. When I went to grooming school they offered "tooth brushing" with the groom for $5 extra. We had these little tooth brushes that came pre-packaged with dog toothpaste on them, and we would brush their teeth while they had a bath. It just seemed to pointless to me... the only dogs that GOT their teeth brushed were way beyond "one brushing" doing anything... and a total waste of $5 IMO. After learning more about the Petzlife program, I know it will be something I can actually "do" with no problem for Lucy & Holly... and will also be glad to offer this to my grooming clients!