Buddha is my 9 year old wire-hair dachshund. He's simply adorable, looks cute and has a great temperament. Keeps to himself most of the time. In almost all confrontational situations he walks away and rather than fight. He's timid and takes a long time to get friendly with most people (both Che and My Mom were exceptions, he took to them right away), so is loved even by non-doggy people. All in all he's all buddha, saint-like, wise and almost always meditating.
Around New Year's Buddha broke his front-right-lower canine. He didn't seem to be in a lot of pain or discomfort at that point in time so we let him be to see how things would progress. Things seemed fine for a while and we left for TfN. In the middle of the tour Preeti who runs Windward Kennels where my dogs board, called to say she was concerned about his tooth and wanted to take him to the vet. He was becoming finicky about his food, not using the right side of his mouth, losing weight and seemed to be in some pain.
So, off Buddha went to the vet. The Doctors at Cessna looked at it and realised Buddha was in a fair bit of discomfort as there was a lot of sensitivity. Also canine's are important teeth for dogs. Buddha has already lost some of his front teeth due to age so losing this one would make things difficult for him. They decided to try and save the tooth by doing a root canal and restructuring the tooth.
When Preeti called me with this news, I had a mini panic attack. My dog was doing into the OT and I wouldn't be there for him (also a little bit miffed that I would get to watch a one of a kind procedure :D ). There was no question of not doing the procedure; if it would help Buddha, we had to get it done but we'd rather have been there. This is where Preeti comes in, she's someone I trust, I know her and with her I don't need to worry. Buddha couldn't be in better hands.
The guys at Cessna did the procedure and it was a success. Within a few days Buddha got less cranky, started eating on the right side and put on some weight too. And I became the proud Mum of a dog with a root canal and restructured tooth!
Here's are photos of before and after. Check out more photos taken by the Cessna guys on Buddha's first of a kind root canal.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="423" caption="Before"]
[/caption][caption id="" align="alignnone" width="423" caption="After"]
[/caption]Of course it doesn't all end with the root canal. We now need to take care of the tooth to make sure he doesn't break it. At his age a repeat procedure is just traumatic and best avoided. The cost of doing it again is also a great deterrent. :P
Taking care of his tooth isn't as much work as it sounds. Buddha doesn't like toys much so there isn't much random chewing that he does. Most chewing only happens with food. So we have to watch what he eats and while he eats. Chicken bones are just fine and don't hamper his teeth. It's beef bones that we have to be careful about. Initially we stopped giving him beef bones completely but Buddha loves bones and not getting any upset him and he started to try an steal bones from the other two.
Over time I also started getting a bit confident so we started with very small pieces of bones. I now give him larger bones but still not big enough to have contact with the canine. He grinds most bones with his molars at the back, so as long as the bone size is such that it doesn't touch the canine in his chewing, all's well. This took some time and learning but I think I've got a grasp of what bones he likes and what is safe for him so, both he and me are happy.
Buddha also has a heart condition and arthritis which means a controlled diet and exercise to keep the weight down along with medication. But he seems to be dealing with it all in his usual Buddhaisque manner and no one looking at him would know his secrets.
Now why did I make this post? Just. I wanted to tell the world about Buddha and his Root Canal. Also this is a thank you and recommendation of Cessna. The Docs there do such good work! Thanks Doc :)
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