Canine Dental Hygiene | Roxxi’s Missing Teeth
Dental hygiene is essential for all of us. I always had cavities as a child. I have a huge sweet tooth, and it showed at every dentist appointment. I've learned to cut back on sweets as an adult, not only for my mouth's sake but also for my skin and body. I brush my teeth twice a day, floss at night, take my toothbrush with me if I know I will have lots of sugar that day, and I’ve cut back on sodas and teas to keep my teeth healthy.
I'm one of those parents who feed their dogs a bit of everything that I eat. If I'm eating cereal, Maxx, Roxxi, and Sisi are staring at me and begging. You can hear 12 paws running down the hall like clockwork every day at 6 PM when I begin dinner. Maxx and Sisi sit in the living room until I'm done cooking (so that they can be close enough to ask for food when dinner's ready), but Roxxi stands in the kitchen with me and patiently waits for food to fall so that she can have a pre-dinner snack. I shouldn't have said patient. Roxxie doesn't have a patient bone in her body, but she is persistent.
Because I often share table scraps with my dogs, I've cleaned up my diet significantly so that I'm not giving them too many sugars or unhealthy foods. It's helped with all of our weight, energy, and overall health. I'm huge on making sure my dogs are their healthiest, as I'm sure anyone reading this post is, but in the past, I haven't paid as much attention to their dental health as I should have.
Maxx has always had pretty teeth and excellent dental health. Roxxi, not so much. I won't speak much on Sisi in this post because she just joined our home, but I will say that I have noticed she has bad breath and tartar build-up. I will be taking her to the vet soon for a check-up.
Roxxi will be the focus of this post.
She has all kinds of health issues, including skin issues, spinal issues, allergies, and poor dental health. Her doctor thinks she may have an autoimmune disease because of how many skin issues we deal with throughout the year and the number of teeth she has lost.
Roxxi has lost about three teeth throughout her life, and a doctor has pulled a few. I noticed another tooth was missing while playing with her a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure if it was just something I hadn't seen from a previous tooth falling out, so I monitored her for a few days to make sure she was feeling well and not fidgeting with her mouth. I found the missing tooth while folding laundry a few days later, so I made a vet appointment. Her previous vet changed clinics, so I'm adjusting to her new doctor. There were a few complications due to a lack of communication of the doctor's part, but we finally have a scheduled tooth cleaning. You can hear all about the vet visit on my YouTube channel.
This will be Roxxi's second tooth cleaning. She has to be put under anesthesia. I'm always worried about any procedure that requires the dogs, or anyone, to go under anesthesia. Roxxi has collapsed trachea and has been on antibiotics for two weeks to help with another skin flair up, so that adds concern as well. I will keep you posted on how her visit goes over on our Instagram. Also, look out for an upcoming blog post where I go through our dental hygiene routine. Our current method works well for Maxx, but I will be making some tweaks for Roxxi and Sisi. I think I will schedule cleanings for Maxx and Sisi soon.
Let me know if your dogs have lost teeth and some of your canine dental hygiene tips in the comments!
Thanks for checking in and I'll talk to you soon,
Maxx's Mom
