Beverly Anne- you're a nurse, so I know you know there's a risk with any procedure, and that the benefits should always outweight the risks. It sounds like Francis needs some dental work, and I would go ahead with it, but just for the record I thought I should post this:
Our 14 year old dachschund Gretel aspirated during dental surgery a few years ago, developed pneumonia, and died.
It shouldn't have happened, but it did.
After that happened, her brother Hansel needed dental surgery, and we went ahead with it because he had some pretty serious dental problems and was in pain. He was the same age, and came through the surgery fine.
Murray has so many allergies and reacts so badly to drugs that I will only have him put under for an absolute emergency. He has his teeth scaled without anesthesia every year, and he gets supervised bully sticks a few tiems each week. His teeth are looking great at 5 years.
Good luck to Francis!