Bad Teeth

I saw a 13 year old beagle Thursday for a cough and check eye.  I asked how long has he been coughing, "two years".  No report of increased intensity or frequency.  His heart and lungs were fine.  His teeth were terrible.  He is breathing in, swallowing and absorbing all of this.  Oh, and his eye had a pressure of 84, normal is 15-25 so it had glaucoma and was blind in that eye.  Glaucoma is very painful.  I said we usually don't want to do a dental along with a major surgery (removing the eye) but I was making an exception in this case because both things needed to be done right away. 

                      Before (that is hair, tartar and just plain yuck stuck in there)

                                                                After

                                                             Before

                     I said it looked like a cave with stalactites and stalagmites. 

After

19 teeth pulled, I know it looks like more but several of the 2 and 3 rooted teeth had to be split to pull them one root at a time.  I will spare you the eye.  He was eating canned food 2 1/2 hours after surgery.  Hopefully, he will be feeling like a new dog soon.  
 Don't make your senior dogs live with a mouth like this just because you are scared of anesthesia.  They are suffering.