Riley's Tooth Fairy is not Coming

I am very adamant on Riley's oral hygiene. I have seen too many dogs with bad oral hygiene, teeth rotting, teeth falling out, and the owners wonder why their dog's health is failing. If you think about it in human terms, you would be more concerned about rotting teeth. Why should we fail to realize that oral hygiend is equally important in our pets? That was a rhetorical question. The answer is always most likely: LAZINESS. And the fact that most pets will not willingly open their mouths and stay still long enough for you to scrub their teeth. It takes dedication and training them to enjoy getting their teeth brushed. But think about it...if you trained your dog for a week straight to be calm while brushing their teeth, then it would set them up for success in the oral hygiene department for the remainder of their lifetime. But of course, everyone sees the hardship for what it is now.

Anyways, as much as I tried to brush Riley's teeth everyday, I still made a mistake in another department, which cost me $1,200 in his oral surgery procedure. I was not aware that certain pet edibles could cause fractures in the tooth. We think that Riley was chewing on a piece of cow bone, (the ones with yummy marrow in the middle), caused a fracture, and finally gave out. His canine broke in half laterally, and the pulp chamber was exposed. Oops. I knew that had to be taken care of soon, because if it didn't get treated, bacteria and other pathogens could migrate up the opening and into the bloodstream From thereon, it would spread to all areas of the body, causing organ failure, and may be fatal. So I decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with the surgery.

I called four clinics, and the best one was Cordova Veterinary Hospital (http://www.cordovavet.com/). Dr. Melissa Gates is the owner, and also performed the surgery on Riley. She was very patient with me as I told her he is fear aggressive and to take extra measures when examining him. His surgery went very well, and he recovered quickly as if nothing had ever happened.

What's the lesson here? I learned that you should never give your dog any edibles or chew toys that you cannot bend or break with your own hands, ie. no cow bones, deer antlers, cow hooves, etc. The vet provides many resources on dental health. Here are some FAQs on dental care:
http://www.cordovavet.com/pet-dental/faq.html

Extraction of the upper left canine

Look at the root of that canine tooth!