Dental Care / Gum Disease

Question
Hi Jennifer,
Our male boxer is 9 years old and just went to a new vet for his annual exam and for current vaccinations.  We sorta inherited this boxer when he was about 4 years old, and previous to now have sorta jumped from vet to vet depending on who could give us discounted rates for his basic check-up and vaccinations.  This new vet seemed sympathetic to our strained financial circumstances (we're both students), but highly recommended that he get a dental cleaning and suggested that the extra gum (that boxers are prone to have) be removed.  We agreed to the dental, but asked that any "extras" like removing the gum be discussed with us first.  Sure enough, the vet called during the procedure and told us that he had periodontal disease and that the costs associated with treatment would run about $1500, on top of the $300 dental exam.  This is something we cannot afford right now and are a bit wary in how pushy the vet was about cutting away the gum.  In your opinion is this problem something we can treat with vigilant teeth brushing and diet, or was the vet honest in her opinion that the gum must be removed or else his teeth are likely to start falling out, infection could spread, etc?  We were also told that we should expect our dog's life span to be from 15 to 20 years, when I had always heard that boxers health starts deteriorating around 10 to 12...?  He's otherwise in great health.  Should we bite the bullet and get the dental work that the vet is recommending?  Do you have experience with boxers who have had this issue?
Thank you!

Answer
Hi Lori,

I've had Boxers with gum overgrowth (both hyperplasia and epulides), and the vet is correct that leaving it could cause infections and/or tooth loss (depending on the extent of the overgrowth) - but $1500 seems an extremely high price.  I've had three dogs undergo gum surgery (one twice) with three different vets, and the most expensive bill was still only around $500.  Granted I'm in the Great Lakes area, so prices are not as high as they might be on the coasts, but I still wouldn't expect them to be triple.

Teeth brushing and diet can help slow down further deterioration and in milder cases may reverse the periodontitis.  If the gums are not sore and the dog is not a 'power-chewer', a raw marrow bone or knuckle bone on which he can chew may work as a natural toothbrush.  (You might scoop out the marrow at first; it can be too rich for some dogs.)  There's also a product called "Easy Brush" which looks interesting - I haven't tried it myself yet, and it's still rather new so I've only heard a few scattered reviews, but they've been favorable.  http://www.easybrush.com/

A good article about periodontal disease in dogs is here:
http://www.dentalvet.com/vets/periodontics/periodontal_disease.htm

There are a couple of alternative products you might try; again, I haven't used them myself so can't exactly recommend them, but I have heard mostly positive reviews so they're certainly something you might want to explore further.  One is called Leba III - http://www.lebalab.com/ , and the other is PetzLife - http://www.petzlife.com/  

If the gums are bad enough that surgery is the best option, you might look into CareCredit - http://www.carecredit.com - which provides financing for (among other things) veterinary care.  

As for the lifespan - 15 is exceptionally long-lived for a Boxer, and I don't think I've ever heard of one living to 20.  That's more typical of a smaller breed like a Yorkie.  The average Boxer lifespan is, sadly, closer to 10-12, though there are quite a few who live to 13-14.  

Good luck!

~Jennifer