Persistent gingivitis in a dog

RE: Persistent gingivitis in a dog

Thomas Johnson — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 11:40:50 GMT

The owner's seem happy with the advice on the gums, thank you.

RE: Persistent gingivitis in a dog

Thomas Johnson — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:35:04 GMT

Thank you Normal, that's very helpful. I think having not had any involvement in the first scale and polish, and not being able to ask the vet who did it what the mouth looked like (she has moved back to Spain) I've over-complicated it in my head. I'm seeing the owners in a couple of days so I'll have a chat to them then.

RE: Persistent gingivitis in a dog

Rob Davis — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 12:35:45 GMT

As above, but it may be worth applying Sanos to assist the ongoing plaque control.

RE: Persistent gingivitis in a dog

Norman Johnston — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 17:02:25 GMT

The gingivitis shown is not surprising with no effective plaque control for five months. There is already calculus accumulation too. You will need to scale and polish the teeth again to resolve the inflammation. Keeping it under control is now your challenge because daily removal of the plaque film above and below the gum line is necessary. Clearly the chlorhexidine gel is ineffective on its own.
Brushing daily with an enzymatic paste is by far the most effective and cheapest method. Teaching the owners how to do this proactively via your staff might work but if it’s simply not on then you might need to consider more expensive and less effective methods such as dental chews, dry plaque control diets and, unfortunately, more often professional scaling and polishing.
There will be no magic bullet and the owners need to know what is realistic for their dog. If they give you any trouble ask them to stop brushing their own teeth for a fortnight to see what happens. If they already have no teeth you might need to reconsider this strategy!