I’m fortunate that a lot of my dogs will let me use a dental scaler on them to help keep their teeth nice. But sometimes that is not enough, and the teeth need to be professionally cleaned. The dog must be put under anesthesia so there is a slight risk involved, and it does cost money.  That’s why I encourage all of you to start brushing your dog’s teeth when you get it as a  puppy. Granted, you should still have your vet exam them when you go in for your dog’s check-ups though.

Here’s an example why. I checked my dogs teeth and decided it was time to take a couple in and have them professionally done. Reba’s looked a little dirty, so she was first on my list. Noah’s weren’t bad, but I didn’t want to wait until they were “bad”. Did you know that dental disease can affect other vital organs in the body (for humans too)? And for a Cavalier, I want to do everything I can to keep that heart healthy!

So early Monday morning the kids were loaded up and we headed to the vet’s for their appointment.

Yep, that’s about as excited as I look when I go to the dentist too, Reba. 😉

Can you see the white muzzle in there? 🙂

After dropping the pups off and driving back home; I got a call from the doctor to let me know that Reba had a few loose teeth that needed to come out. But that wasn’t the worst of it. One of her molars had a slab fracture that was exposing the pulp! You’d think that would hurt. But I’m convinced that dogs indeed have a higher threshold for pain than we humans do. Anyways, that is one good example why you should have your vet check your dogs teeth occasionally. Even with me checking her mouth, I wasn’t aware of the broken tooth.

Noah’s thankfully ended up just being a routine clean and polish with no surprises. Which was a blessing since Reba’s mouth cost me about three times the amount of Noah’s. Ouch says my bank account. 😛

See…..all clean!