Dog Gum Disease

Question
My mother-in-law has a poodle that is 7 years old that has dental problem, infected gums.  I took her dog to vet today for dental cleaning, in addition to her gums bleeding she lost 5 teeth in the process because they were so loose.  The vet had me give her antibiotic Clindamycin Hydrochloride Oral Liquid 50mg twice a day for 5 days before procedure and same dose 5 days after procedure.  Vet also recommended giving dog this dose for 5 days every month from now on.  Do you think this will help the dog's teeth and gum problem?  Do you think this maintenance dose is correct for 5 days every month?  Do you have any recommendations on how to help the dog's problem?

Answer
The Clindamycin will help to clear up present infection, and the removal of plaque during the dental also aides as this is growth medium for the bacteria.  You can help her general dental health with daily brushing and oral rinses and periodic cleanings.  This should help greatly to reduce gum problems and resorption of bone that leads to loss of teeth. These procedures would hopefully make it so that antibiotics would not be necessary once the present infection is cleared up, but not being able to see her actual dental condition I can not say for certainty that the medication would be unneeded.

Apologies for this delayed response.  I was unexpectedly unavailable due to a family emergency.