You can call me dentist Kristi EDITED: picture!!

[Kristi]

Apr 24, 2011 19:07:32 GMT Kelly said:

Kristi, can you recommend some dental tools we could use for scaling at home? We're going to start, since my two are pretty good about being still when I give them "the eye".

Kelly I just use the ones they sell at the drug store, one looks like a little grim reaper majjiger, and one is a pique. But like I said, I try to avoid the surface of the teeth and instead just pop plaque/tarter off. Scraping does put teeny scratches on the surface of the teeth--a perfect place to make tarter build back up!! but if there are "chunks" that are hard enough to be popped off rather than needing scrapping (dif. between plaque and tarter), you can use the tools to pop them off. Ivy had a giant piece of tarter on a baby tooth that popped off whole, and I never had to touch the tooth. Same w/ Laurel's mouth.

[Paula]

Apr 24, 2011 19:53:59 GMT Kristi said:

Paula its better to brush and be patient if its not too bad...the reason being that scaling DOES put teeny little scratches on the surface of the teeth, actually making it easier for plaque to gather. I only scale if there is a CHUNK of tarter...something where I can actually avoid using the tool on the teeth and actually pop the tarter off...in a chunk. I just bought an oral b thing they had at Wal*greens, came in a pack of 2, and one tool is more of a "pick" and one is more of a scaler.

ok gotcha, thanks Kristi. I'm glad I asked. She has some minor buildup on her canines. At the moment I'm only using gel as I can't get her used to the brushing yet. Baby steps with that.

[brodysmom]

I do use a scaler on Brody's teeth, especially at the gumline if there's any buildup. I do a gentle scraping, like they do on our teeth at the dentist. Afterward, he gets polished with an oral B ultrasonic. The heads are too big, but I manage and let it sit on his teeth for a few seconds with medium pressure and I feel that helps to smooth out any microscopic scraping gauges I might have put on there.

If you are going to scale and really scrape - be sure and polish afterward.

[Kristi]

Apr 24, 2011 20:59:23 GMT brodysmom said:

I do use a scaler on Brody's teeth, especially at the gumline if there's any buildup. I do a gentle scraping, like they do on our teeth at the dentist. Afterward, he gets polished with an oral B ultrasonic. The heads are too big, but I manage and let it sit on his teeth for a few seconds with medium pressure and I feel that helps to smooth out any microscopic scraping gauges I might have put on there.

If you are going to scale and really scrape - be sure and polish afterward.

Haha Tracy -- guess what I've been using on Laurel after the scraping? Her teeth are FINALLY starting to look a hare better...her mouth was a war zone, and it REAKED of dead and rotten lol. So gross. I nearly gag every time I do it but slowly I am seeing some improvement.

[brodysmom]

Keep up the good work Kristi!!

[Kristi]

Her mouth bleeds like crazy still...I wonder how long that will last...she had a dental 2 years ago but only recently has she been calm enough to not bite me to let me in there to work on it.

[Paula]

I can't believe she used to bite you! Laurel is wild! lol.

[Kristi]

Paula she is NAUGHTY. She still will bite--we put a sock on her head to do her nails. She isn't well bred, I just really think she can't help herself, she gets really worked up. We also have been told by a trainer and a vet its likely she might have some mental difficulty? Like just not very trainable. IDK, its not that bad but she can be WICKED! Just one more reason to never buy a poorly bred dog as you don't know what it will be like as an adult, ya know? We aren't sure what we will do if she is still around and we have toddlers, because she can NOT be around children I guess we'll cross that when we have to.