Our three and half year old Border Collie has quite a bit of plaque on
his teeth.
We bought him from a trainer at the age of two and we have continued
feeding him Precise Foundation (chicken based) kibble.
We feed him about a cup twice a day with one-third cup of green beans.
These kibbles are very small and he tends to chew his food the minimum
amount necessary.
The Vet suggested mixing in some larger kibbles that will force him to
chew.

I went to a pet store to purchase some Science Diet Oral Care kibble
and
the manager recommended a dental spray named 'Leba-3'.
Supposedly, it changes the PH factor in the mouth and the plaque
becomes
so soft that it falls off.

Does anyone have any knowledge (either good or bad) of this spray?
Can there be any harmful side effects of chaging the PF factor in a
dog's
mouth?

Thank you in advance.

Our three and half year old Border Collie has quite a bit of plaque on
his teeth.

Have you scheduled a dental prophy for your dog?

On Dec 11, 5:46 pm, "Sharon Too"
wrote:
Our three and half year old Border Collie has quite a bit of plaque on
his teeth.Have you scheduled a dental prophy for your dog?

Sorry, but I am not familiar with the term 'prophy'.

Sorry, but I am not familiar with the term 'prophy'.

Dental prophylaxis is a procedure similar to our dental cleanings where
placque is removed and gums/teeth are examined and treated. It's done under
general anesthesia for obvious reasons. Some dogs/cats have to have it done
yearly, others not so much. Our dog after 9 months has a big build up.
Genetics have as much to do with it as diet and preventive care. Maintaining
good oral health is vital for the general health of the pet. Gums and mouth
tissue are an easy avenue for bacteria that can get into the blood stream
and affect the heart and other organs.

Here's a good explanation with pics.

http://www.dentalvet.com/patients/procare/12steps.htm

On Dec 11, 6:44 pm, "Sharon Too"
wrote:
Sorry, but I am not familiar with the term 'prophy'.Dental prophylaxis is a procedure similar to our dental cleanings where
placque is removed and gums/teeth are examined and treated. It's done under
general anesthesia for obvious reasons.
No, our Vet did not suggest that our dog's teeth be cleaned.
He only recommended larger kibble that is specially designed to remove
the plaque.

I can't see anything that is supposed to soften plaque be good for a dogs
mouth. Seriously have you had your teeth cleaned that stuff is on there
like cement that's why they need those little pics to chisel it off. You
really need to schedule the dog for a teeth cleaning and get this taken care
of properly.

Celeste

"allanc" wrote in message
ups.com...
Our three and half year old Border Collie has quite a bit of plaque on
his teeth.
We bought him from a trainer at the age of two and we have continued
feeding him Precise Foundation (chicken based) kibble.
We feed him about a cup twice a day with one-third cup of green beans.
These kibbles are very small and he tends to chew his food the minimum
amount necessary.
The Vet suggested mixing in some larger kibbles that will force him to
chew.

I went to a pet store to purchase some Science Diet Oral Care kibble
and
the manager recommended a dental spray named 'Leba-3'.
Supposedly, it changes the PH factor in the mouth and the plaque
becomes
so soft that it falls off.

Does anyone have any knowledge (either good or bad) of this spray?
Can there be any harmful side effects of chaging the PF factor in a
dog's
mouth?

Thank you in advance.

"Spot" wrote in
news:K%yfh.3425$_55.2857@trndny09:

I can't see anything that is supposed to soften plaque be good for a
dogs mouth. Seriously have you had your teeth cleaned that stuff is
on there like cement that's why they need those little pics to chisel
it off. You really need to schedule the dog for a teeth cleaning and
get this taken care of properly.

Plus, my understanding is that the plaque that is *under* the gumline is
the biggest problem. My cat Ben (R.I.P.) had awful plaque problems. I used
to try to get my vet to do some of his dentistries under just a local, but
she always refused, saying that scraping the plaque off the outer part of
the teeth was mostly cosmetic. She said in order to get deep enough *under*
the gumline to prevent infections and deep decay, you had to put the animal
under full anesthesia.

Though, if the OPs vet isn't recommending a full dentistry, maybe the
problem isn't that bad yet, and the vet is just trying to be proactive.

FWIW, I used to fast Finn about once a week (sometimes once every two
weeks) and give him a raw lamb shank to work on instead of his food. Kep
his teeth really nice. I did this with Buster as well, and it actually
caused the vet to change how old she thought he was (she'd aged him based
on his teeth, which weren't that great when I first found him. After a few
shanks, they were pearly white :-)

Be careful though, as you need to be careful when giving your dog raw bones
to nosh. Supervision, and even help if they tend to inhale such things,
might be required.

Tara

Plus, my understanding is that the plaque that is *under* the gumline is
the biggest problem. My cat Ben (R.I.P.) had awful plaque problems.

And once the placque is thick enough to chunck off it should be done
professionally. One of the problems with people picking it off, groomers
doing it themsleves or hoping chewing on nuggets or a bone will do it is
that doing it these ways may cause gum injury opening up a great avenue for
the bacteria to enter. A professional cleaning addresses this using special
equipment and skill and pets also go home with antibiotics just in case.

I used to regularly give Barney carrots to eat. He would eat a couple big
carrots weekly. I feel the extra chewing he had to do helped keep his teeth
clean. Other than the regular kibble and some milk bones that's the only
extras he got. My vet told me at his last teeth cleaning at age 11 that he
had remarkable good teeth for a dog his age.

Too bad I can't convince the two dogs I have now that carrots are a good
snack. Where Barney loved anything from the garden these two turn their
nose at the stuff.

Celeste

"Tara" wrote in message
4.196...
"Spot" wrote in
news:K%yfh.3425$_55.2857@trndny09:

I can't see anything that is supposed to soften plaque be good for a
dogs mouth. Seriously have you had your teeth cleaned that stuff is
on there like cement that's why they need those little pics to chisel
it off. You really need to schedule the dog for a teeth cleaning and
get this taken care of properly.

Plus, my understanding is that the plaque that is *under* the gumline is
the biggest problem. My cat Ben (R.I.P.) had awful plaque problems. I used
to try to get my vet to do some of his dentistries under just a local, but
she always refused, saying that scraping the plaque off the outer part of
the teeth was mostly cosmetic. She said in order to get deep enough
*under*
the gumline to prevent infections and deep decay, you had to put the
animal
under full anesthesia.

Though, if the OPs vet isn't recommending a full dentistry, maybe the
problem isn't that bad yet, and the vet is just trying to be proactive.

FWIW, I used to fast Finn about once a week (sometimes once every two
weeks) and give him a raw lamb shank to work on instead of his food. Kep
his teeth really nice. I did this with Buster as well, and it actually
caused the vet to change how old she thought he was (she'd aged him based
on his teeth, which weren't that great when I first found him. After a few
shanks, they were pearly white :-)

Be careful though, as you need to be careful when giving your dog raw
bones
to nosh. Supervision, and even help if they tend to inhale such things,
might be required.

Tara

"Sharon Too" wrote in
:


And once the placque is thick enough to chunck off it should be done
professionally. One of the problems with people picking it off,
groomers doing it themsleves or hoping chewing on nuggets or a bone
will do it is that doing it these ways may cause gum injury opening up
a great avenue for the bacteria to enter. A professional cleaning
addresses this using special equipment and skill and pets also go home
with antibiotics just in case.


That's right. That's one of the things my vet said. That doing a half assed
job of getting off the plaque was worse than not doing it at all. But
that's for bad plaque that has gone next to or under the gumline.

Tara