Saturday, June 4, 2011

Adventures in Dentistry

I admit it, I was in love with Drive's little snaggle tooth. It was another bullet point on the lengthy list of "What Makes Drive Adorable." But in my heart, I knew it was in peril.

His teeth were in bad shape, and he was due to have a dental cleaning before we left for Gettysburg. On the original date of his appointment, however, abnormalities appeared on the pre-operative ECG. The vet suggested an ultrasound of his heart, which presented a serious problem: if we opted for the ultrasound, our limited funds would no longer allow the dental. But what if there were something wrong with his heart, and he suffered a catastrophic crash under anesthesia?

We chose the ultrasound. I spent the day pacing and anxious, and Lanie was much the same. This was, after all, the very day after we had lost our beautiful old Bullie.

The ultrasound showed no abnormalities, nothing in his heart flapping or leaking that shouldn't be, nothing to thick or too weak.

His rescheduled dental took place on this past Tuesday. I expected he would lose three or four teeth, and that a couple of the extractions might even be difficult. I feared for his buckteeth.

I was not expecting to hear, "We took seventeen teeth."

His front teeth were among the casualties. Twelve of those seventeen were so loose they barely registered on the receipt; they practically fell out. Two of them were difficult but required due to bone loss and exposed root.

Here's a shot of his new, less toothy snoot. After a rough first night, he's back to himself, eating and drinking and smiling at me when I come home. And his remaining several teeth are a brilliant pearly white.


9 comments:

  1. When I saw Drives pic up there ^ I just wanted to give him a kiss. Teeth or no teeth he will always be lovable and handsome. I'm glad you were able to go thru with the dental work. As you may know unhealthy teeth can also have a negative impact on heart health not to mention general health. I find myself wondering what you are feeding him now and how well he is able to eat. I'm just glad to see his handsome face again with or without teeth :o)

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  2. Greyhounds and bad teeth, what can you do? Roxie's have been it bad shape since we got her, but she's holding on to them for now. It wouldn't surprise me to find her in a similar position to drive, with multiple extractions, one day. I'm glad to know he came through it so well, and is back to his old self. Animals are so resilient. Hug that boy for me please!

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  3. Drive, I think you're still just as handsome as you were in Gettysburg! I'm glad you're feeling okay and doing better. Did you tell your mom that you have to eat Frosty Paws for every meal now?

    Bunny

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  4. Woof! Woof! It does not sound like fun so I'm glad it went well. Happy BLOG HOP Weekend. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  5. Hi! Sam here from the Saturday Blog Hop! WOW@ That was a scary story! I am sure happy that the V-E-T gave me a clean bil of heath er teeth.
    Rrruff
    Sam

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  6. Oh boy, 17 teeth! At least the one's left are shiny and white. Drive is still looking handsome as ever although not quite as cute perhaps?

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  7. Wow! That's a lot of teeth to be pulled all at once. When you look in those pointy snouts, you don't even think they have that many to loose. Hope he recovers quickly.

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  8. Awe, poor guy. So sorry he had to go through that! Happy Blog Hop Saturday and I am glad he is feeling better! We are now following you. Come see us when you can. Thanks!

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  9. That's tough, but I'm sure he's feeling better now.

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