I have an almost 17 year old Border Collie with very suspect teeth. We do have a call into the vet, who is aware, and obviously I’m late to the game, but does anyone have a particular rinse that they prefer? She’s actually very tolerant of a soft tooth brush, I’m just thinking we need to up our brushing game.
Chlorhexidine. It is prescribed for oral rinsing by dentistsunder the trade name Peridex, which is a 0.12 percent solution of chrorhexidine.
Chlorhexidine is available over the counter as a 2 percent solution and is used as a surgical disinfectant. My equine dentist uses the full 2% to rinse and soak his instruments. It is a bluish solution and you may have seen your vet using it also as a surgical scrub alternative to Betadine.
You can achieve a Peridex- like concentration by diluting the 2 percent solution with 8 parts water to 1 part of the 2 percent chlorhexidine. That lower 0.125 percent concentration is used as a rinse or irrigation to treat gingivitis and to flush out tooth extraction sites.
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Thank you. Do you syringe small amounts or use the toothbrush swirled in it? Or maybe a wipe? She’s really very tolerant of my shenanigans.
Usually used as a rinse just like Listerine, which BTW has been shown in human studies to be as effective for gingivitis as Peridex. I just don’t know if a dog would tolerate taste and smell of Listerine. I would elect to use the alcohol-free type of Listerine if I chose to try it.
I see no problem with syringing or brushing or sponging if the dog will tolerate any of those application choices.you just want it to stay in contact with the gum tissue for at least 30 seconds. This is the human instruction for Peridex - rinse for 30 seconds twice a day after brushing.
