For anyone who's interested, check out these side-by-side before & after pictures... you'd never believe it's the same dog...
Below is a link for the scaler I bought in case anybody else is in the same predicament. It was like $7 with shipping. It took me a couple hours per tooth--and that's with the calmest dog in the world! You HAVE to be careful and go gently and SLOW--if your dog is jumpy you will likely cut him (I nicked his gums a couple times myself). It's weird, though, after a while the tartar cracks off like the shell of a hard boiled egg.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i00