Risks of a Teeth Cleaning on a 16-Year-Old Toy Poodle

Regular dental cleanings are essential to maintaining your dog's oral health. Oral disease is one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions in dogs, according to PetEducation.com, and intervening as early as possible is vital to ensuring the disease does not progress. It's also essential to protecting your dog's overall health, because the bacteria that causes periodontal disease can enter the bloodstream, causing infection of the heart valves, kidneys and liver. There are some risks associated with teeth cleaning, especially in older dogs, but many can be prevented by taking precautions before and after the procedure.

  1. Complications From Anesthesia

    • Even with simple medical procedures, there's risk involved with putting an animal under anesthesia, especially in senior animals, including toy poodles. Many forms of anesthesia are processed by the kidneys and liver, so if either organ is compromised, the anesthesia may not clear the dog's system properly. VetInfo.com recommends testing kidney and liver values three days before surgery, even if you have your dog's blood tested annually. Some dogs could have an allergic reaction to the anesthesia, which is rare, according to Vet Info. To prevent this reaction, your vet should monitor your dog's temperature, heart activity, respiration, blood pressure and oxygen content.

    Complications From Other Medications

    • Veterinarians sometimes use medications to help calm animals prior to dental cleanings, so that less anesthesia will be required. Even if your poodle can tolerate the anesthesia, it may be sensitive to these other drugs. Ask your vet what other drugs might be administered, so you can alert him if your toy poodle is allergic to or does not tolerate the additional medications.

    Nausea

    • Anesthesia can make some dogs queasy, both during surgery and while they're coming out of anesthesia. If your poodle has eaten within several hours prior to surgery, this increases the risk of nausea and vomiting. If the poodle vomits, it could aspirate or choke, which can be fatal. Veterinarians usually ask owners to withhold food and water for 12 hours before any procedure requiring the administration of anesthesia.

    Tooth Damage and Bleeding

    • If your toy poodle is in good dental health, the risk of complication from teeth cleaning is remote. However, if your poodle has severe dental problems, such as gum disease or decaying teeth, there is a greater risk of unexpected problems. If teeth must be extracted, there is some risk of damage to the tooth root, to the bone or to nearby healthy teeth. There is also a risk of excessive bleeding after a dental extraction. However, this risk is minimal, according to PetPlace.com.