1. The internet generation girl

"What are the chances of my dog dying on the operating table?" the internet girl asked me. I call her an internet girl because she had done all the necessary research on dentistry in older dogs and read in the internet forums about dogs dying under general anaesthesia.

Now she had made a decision to get her 7-year-old Jack Russell dental work as there are much benefits to having healthy gums and teeth for older dogs rather than bad breath and a mouth full of bacteria and ulcers and later on, oral tumours.

Her thick jet black eyebrows and hair brought out the fairness in her oval-shaped face and enhances her femininity. I thought she would be in her mid twenties but was way off the mark as she was younger.

"It is not common for old dogs to die on the operating table if they are healthy," I replied. "There are no statistics about the outcome of anaesthesia in older dogs in Singapore. Have you ever undergone general anaesthesia?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Recently I had general anaesthesia at the Singapore General Hospital. One week before the surgery, the doctors took my blood for a health test and did an ECG to check my heart. For your dog, blood test ought to be done but that adds to the veterinary costs. Do you want to do it?"

The internet girl wavered. "I will check the dog's heart condition and if he has no heart disease, I will proceed to do the dentistry," I said. It is quite difficult for the average student to foot out money for general anaesthesia dentistry and blood tests as both could be over $500.

The Jack Russell's heart was normal. His appetite and behaviour were normal and so I decided to get on with the dental work.

The Jack Russell growled as he must be fed up with me for opening his mouth so many times to examine for oral tumours and ulcers as well as to assess the condition of his teeth. I would say that loose teeth and greyish black tartar and gum diseases made his mouth painful. He was patient enough to let me open his mouth once. But he was running out of patience with this troublesome vet gripping his muzzle to open his mouth.

To prevent the dog biting and struggling, I injected him with a very low dose of xylazine tranquiliser at 0.2 ml IM. After 10 minutes, he vomiting yellow froth and was given isoflurane gas. He slept peacefully. He was all right at 1% maintainence gas. He had no problem under general anaesthesia gas as his tongue was a healthy pink.

9 loose and decayed teeth were removed. The rest were scaled. The roots of the upper premolars were exposed as bacteria had eroded the gum line. The dog may

"Wrap your forefinger in a piece of rough cloth and "brush" his back teeth at least 3 x per week," I said to the internet girl. "This will save you a lot of money in buying dog toothbrushes and tooth paste and another dentistry one year later. Also, tartar will form in 12 months time and bad breath recur if you don't maintain the teeth."

As this Jack Russell has exposed gums for his upper pre-molars, he would strenuously object to brushing. I don't know what the young lady would do. I do not know if if had heard incorrectly. Her brother had said that dogs do not dentistry as bad teeth would just drop off.