ROTTEN TEETH
1. Stink – To you, and even more so, to your dog.
2. Taste Bad – Imagine eating food with those teeth
3. Create a mist of germs for the lungs, with every inward breath
4. They hurt. Can you look at that and think it’s painless?
5. Last but not least the germs gain access to the blood stream. Ewwww.
If your dog’s teeth are rotting out, it can be incredibly painful and miserable for them. Think about how difficult it must be for your dog to eat, play, or even be comfortable with such ongoing dental pain and infection. Now, compare that discomfort and suffering to the risks involved with anesthesia for a dental procedure. I want to be clear—it’s NOT a decision you make lightly or quickly. It’s an important and serious choice that requires careful consideration.
That said, from my experience, anesthesia today is much safer than it was decades ago. Since 1996, I have never lost a pet under anesthesia, and advances in veterinary medicine have made the process far more reliable than it was in the eighties. Safety protocols, monitoring technology, and anesthesia drugs have all improved immensely, reducing the risks involved.
If I had a dog dealing with a rotting mouth, I’d personally see it as a no-brainer to go ahead with the dental treatment. For me, giving my dog relief from that constant pain and infection outweighs the relatively small risk of anesthesia. Honestly, I believe it is kinder to allow my dog a chance at a comfortable, healthier life, rather than leaving them to suffer.
Don’t be shocked by my perspective—but I would rather take my chances on “Buddy” being among the extremely small percentage (about 0.005%) of pets that experience complications from the anesthetic process, than have Buddy live with a decaying and painful mouth for an extended period. Ultimately, the priority should be improving the dog’s quality of life, and in many cases, a dental procedure under anesthesia is the best choice to achieve that.
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