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  1. #11
    House Broken
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Spokane, WA
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    As a veterinarian for 38 years and having worked in a lab specialty practice for 9 years, I learned that what works on paper does not always work in reality. Dental work in labs should be categorized as a whole new branch of dentistry. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of labs with slab fractures of the upper fourth premolar (carnasal tooth). It goes with the territory having a big dog that likes to chew. How these are handled has been changed dramatically. We used to just have the owner watch the tooth and in my experience, most of them did fine and never had to be addressed. I have seen my own labs go to the grave with slab fractures that never caused a problem. About 25 years ago, when dental vet medicine became a specialty, things started to change. Vets became very proactive with dental problems with the intention of preventing a problem. Slab fractures were seen as a potential for bacterial invasion if the internal part of the tooth had been entered. This could lead to an abscess formation and always a possibility of bacterial invasion into the blood stream, leading to cardiac vegetative endocarditis (I have seen maybe 2 dogs with this in 38 years). So, now, the vet dentists are doing everything they can to try to restore normalcy for a problem that is probably way overblown. I might be old school but I have owned four veterinary hospitals and hired many vets and our attitude about slab fractures that had not entered the pulp was "If it becomes a problem, we will deal with it." If the slab fracture led to an abscessed tooth, then we would remove the tooth. I can just see a lab with a bone graft chewing on a big stick and, well, you can imagine what that would end up looking like. My two cents worth.

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Dennis Thomas, DVM For This Useful Post:

    OHfemail (04-23-2019), SunDance (04-13-2019)

  3. #12
    Best Friend Retriever OHfemail's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    NE Ohio
    Posts
    548
    Thanked: 292
    Update: Gabby had her surgery today, and is now home. She's quite stoned, but she ate her dinner and is resting. The skin tag was removed from her muzzle, and they only had to do 2 extractions, rather than 3. After further discussion with the vet, we did opt for the bone graft, so no going back now. They also smoothed her chipped teeth, of which there were several. Protein levels are great, heart is great...all in all, she's a healthy 7 1/2 year old girl, who will no longer have access to a couple of beef marrow bones a week. The toughest part is how we're going to get her 3 different meds in her. She sniffs them out every darn time, but the first ones worked in cheese. We'll see about tomorrow, when she's a little more alert! Thanks again to all of you...

  4. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to OHfemail For This Useful Post:

    smartrock (04-23-2019), Snowshoe (04-24-2019), SunDance (04-23-2019)

  5. #13
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
    Posts
    6,626
    Thanked: 3641
    Glad she's through with the surgery and on her way to recovery.

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to SunDance For This Useful Post:

    OHfemail (04-23-2019)

  7. #14
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    1,683
    Thanked: 787
    Glad to hear she's on the road to recovery.

    I always used hot dogs for meds and they work very well.

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to lovemylabby For This Useful Post:

    OHfemail (04-25-2019)

  9. #15
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Carolina in my mind..
    Posts
    6,391
    Thanked: 4178
    I'm glad the procedure went well. What did you learn about the bone grafting that changed you in favor of going ahead with it?
    Sue

    Chase 9/29/2006- 6/30/2017 Always in our hearts
    Lark 12/25/2012- 2/2/22
    Henry 7/14/18
    Joey 5/14/2022

    “Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”

    Mary Oliver, Hidden Content

  10. #16
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
    Posts
    6,626
    Thanked: 3641
    Friends of ours use salmon/cream cheese to disguise meds. Boy, are they well trained.

  11. #17
    House Broken
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    246
    Thanked: 158
    My human son paid $500 for a bone graft, they need to build up an area for implants. Rosie had a skin tag removed for $250, in the office with just lidocane. (Hoping the new pup has the same temperment)

 



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