Dog with heart disease getting a sedated dental cleaning?

I have a little 8 year old Chihuahua who has the beginning stages of heart disease. She has a grade 2 heart murmur and a bit of plaque on one of her valves. She has had it for at least a year (maybe 2-3 years) and has no symptoms and is not on any medication.

She has quite a bit of tartar build-up on her teeth. The tops of her white teeth are now a yellow-y brown so she needs to get her teeth cleaned. However, that means she needs to get sedated with anesthesia. I am wondering what are people’s experience with their dogs with heart disease and dental cleanings? Is it worth the risk? I am so scared that she will not make it out of the anesthesia alive. I know that even completely healthy dogs die during dental cleanings so it makes me more nervous to get her teeth cleaned now that I know her heart is weak. But of course I know she can get worse diseases and problems if she does not get her teeth cleaned.

If anyone is wondering, her teeth were last cleaned about 5 years ago but her teeth really weren't that bad until a few months ago. Vets kept saying she could wait to get her teeth cleaned but now they are saying she really needs it done.

Also, if I do get my dog’s teeth cleaned it will be with a veterinary dentist.


I am just looking for people’s experiences with their dogs with heart disease getting dental cleanings. Like, did you opt out of a dental and why?

Or did your dog get a dental and everything was fine?

Also did you get your dog checked out by a veterinary cardiologist before getting the dental done?

I would just like to know any and all information you could give me on dogs with heart disease getting sedated dental cleanings. Thank you

Can you maybe give her specialized chew toys to chip the tarter off the teeth? or some chicken wings would work wonders. I would be hesitant to put her under anesthesia with her heart and her age.

Unfortunately she isn't a chewer :/ She has a dental bone but she rarely will touch it.
And she is allergic to chicken.

Isn't there something u can put in their food that's supposed to take the plaque off? Will google...

http://www.plaqueoff.com/for-animals/animals/. Only heard of it but maybe worth a go?

I went to a holistic vet who recommended plaque-off. It will help, but it isn't going to clean under her gums and remove the bacteria unfortunately. But it is definitely something I am going to look into using whether I get my dog's teeth cleaned or not. Thank you for the suggestion

If anyone is wondering, I think this is what I am going to do:
First I am going to have my dog thoroughly evaluated by the cardiologist at my state's veterinary university. If he or she says her heart is fine for anesthesia then I will go back to the university about 3 weeks later for the dental cleaning which will be done by the university's vet dentist and the anesthesia will be done by one of the university's vet anesthesiologists.

I took my dog in to see a vet dentist today and she said that she really does not believe anything will go wrong with my dog because her heart disease is so mild. She also said she has never had a dog have any problems or die where the dog had the same problems that my dog has. She said she can't even recall the last time she has had a patient die during the dental because it was so long ago.

I did LOADS of reading and research and I am feeling better about getting a dental done but only because I will have a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist there doing all the sedation and monitoring. I think that most deaths happen because the vet technician doing the anesthesia just is not very experienced and they do not monitor everything very well before, during, and after the procedure.

Obviously I am still nervous. I am going to do some more reading and research and I have sooo many questions for the anesthesiologist. So I am not 100% on my decision but I will most likely be doing what I said above.

Oh I should clarify that the vet dentist I saw today will not be doing the cleaning. I just went to her to see what she thought about my dog's teeth and heart.

Hi Yellowdaisy,

You are certainly right to be doing all this research. It would be wonderful if every pet owner were as attentive as you are.

I've been fortunate in that my dogs haven't yet (yet) had to have their teeth done, but mine are big dogs, and I understand that it can be a bigger problem with smaller, shorter-snooted dogs. You really have to weigh up the risks. Sedation is risky, but so is a serious tartar buildup-- it can lead to pain, infection, abscess... all not very nice things. If you can get her teeth cleaned and get her on a feeding program which can limit tartar buildup in the future, that would be ideal, but you are right to be careful and ask all the questions there are.

I do have one with heart disease. He has a grade 2 murmur over his mitral valve, which has been present for at least 2 years, and has had most of his pericardium removed-- after having fluids cleared off of his heart a few times. He has come swimmingly through these procedures and is still kicking along at the age of 14+. I am lucky to live right next to one of the best veterinary facilities in the UK, so Berkeley may have had a better chance than some, but if you are careful, as you are, you're likely to have a good chance of success. Don't take my word! Take your vet's and listen to your dog.