Ultrasonic Teeth Cleaning on an OTJ Catty ???

Hello !!

My vet told me last month when I took Crash in for a checkup that he should have his teeth cleaned. Everything else looked really good.

He had them cleaned when he was about 5. He's 15 now. He's been OTJ (Lantus)for 1.5 years now and doing really well with his numbers. He still eats ravenously, and does not seem to notice that he has plaque on his teeth. He does not have bad breath.

If I go to the vettie bean to have him cleaned, he would need to be checked to see if he can be anesthetized, and the cleaning on top will add up to about $700.

I saw an ad at my pet food store the other day about ultrasonic teeth cleaning (takes 15 minutes, no anesthesia - $105).

My questions:
1) had anyone else experienced the ultrasonic cleaning?
2) do you think cleaning is a good thing with an elderly cat, or will it open up a can of health worms?
3) if I do have his teeth cleaned, is there anything to watch for health-wise after the procedure?
4) if I don't have them cleaned, can he chew a chicken neck bone or something to do it naturally or is that bad (read that in another post here)

I guess I am worried about if I take the tarter off, he will have more sensitivity to cold, or maybe a cavity or something under the plaque will be exposed. I think he would let me brush his teeth if I tried. (he lets me do everything else to him - LOL)

I've never anesthetized an older cat unless it was really necessary, so am thinking more about the ultrasonic than the vet.

I'd really appreciate some wisdom from my FDM family - thanks so much!!! Love and miss you all!!!

 

B.K. has a dental a few weeks ago and he is what we politely refer to as a geriatric kitty (Shhhh...don't tell him I said that, he HATES when people call him things that make him sound old!). He had to be anesthetized and ended up, in addition to a good cleaning, having three teeth extracted. I must tell you, he came through it with flying colors! I'm sure the vet did particularly monitor how he was doing while under, and keep a close eye on him post-op, but he had no problems at all. B.K. came home with a few syringes of bupe for pain relief (he didn't use all of them), and he was back to eating, sleeping, and playing normally as soon as he hit the door.

I don't know about ultrasonic cleaning of a cat's teeth. I do know I had a dentist that cleaned my teeth that way once and it was OK, but pretty superficial. It didn't get any of the gunk under the gum line or between the teeth.

 

I don't know about the age thing and the safety, but the longer you wait, the worse any cavities will get.

By leaving the tartar and everything on the teeth and covering up any cavities, I am not sure what that will accomplish.
The cavity will still be there and it will not go away on its own, but rather will just get worse.

if it is safe, I would go with the regular, proper dental because you will not get the cavity part handled with some cheap process. You mentioned that the cleaning would uncover cavities and increase sensitivity, but would this cheap process not do the same thing?

For all you know, the teeth may be just fine, but there could also be one tooth or more that is causing a great deal of pain, so I am sure that you would want that tooth problem fixed, yes?

 

Please do not subject your cat to this procedure. The only way to effectively clean a cat's teeth is under GA. There is NO substitute.

Think about it....what cat is going to allow a human to PROBE UNDER THE GUM LINE while awake? Even IF a cat would allow some of the tartar to be removed while awake, that is not the whole issue.

Your idea of tartar being protective in some way is not sound. Sorry...not meaning to sound harsh here but am in a hurry and can't type out all that needs to be typed out.

I completely understand your fear of GA but please do not fall for the non-GA cleanings.

 

Ultrasonic or sonic (depends up the frequency) is the standard method used now for descaling teeth. It is said to be a little painful so I do not understand how it could be successfully done on an un-anesthetized animal. In reality, cats almost never never get cavities. Instead they get feline oral resorptive lesions
http://www.avds-online.org/info/felinelesions.html
periodontal disease (the attachment between the teeth and the bone).

I would do a dental if needed especially since you said he had not had one in ten years.

 

http://avdc.org/Dental_Scaling_Without_Anesthesia.pdf

 

Thank you all, I really appreciate the input.

Choy Fong- that was a great article - thank you.
Larry - ditto on the article. Crash's mouth does not look anything like that tho - just a little molar tartar as far as I can see. That is good. Good to know catties dont get cavities - didnt know that!
Dr. Lisa - thank you soooo much for the input. I guess the ' protective tartar shield' idea is a bit silly. Thanks for the thumbs up on GA.
Gayle - after reading all this, it sounds like catties hide pain pretty well. Not sure anything is wrong in there, but might be good to clean since there is tartar.
Jana - glad to hear BK is all clean and happy now. I guess you get what you pay for - superficial for $100 or real for $700. Was your vet that much? Not sure if my vet is kicking up the price on me.

Thanks again!!

 

Hey..but it sounded good on paper!

VERY true!

Regarding $700...that is very high for a routine cleaning but...if a cat has not had a dental in 10 years and is 15 years old...most dentals end up being much more than 'routine'. Maybe your vet is anticipating extractions.