Hello,
Brushing her teeth daily will help, and will not harm anything while you wait. It may even help alleviate some of the discomfort from her gums.
You can clean the teeth at home, though it is not quite as good as a professionally job and because she needs a deep cleaning this is not a good substitution for the deep cleaning she needs done. You will need to purchase a dental scaling tool for dogs. This tool has a plastic handle with a curved metal blade for scraping the dog's teeth. You will need to get the dog to sit or lie down, whichever position the dog normally assumes during regular dental care. Lift the dog's lip and begin the scaling on the tooth that needs the most attention. Use the side of the scaling tool to scrape from the gum line toward the bottom of the tooth. You must move the scaling tool in a downward motion to prevent injuring the gums. Clean in several small sessions rather than trying to force the dog to endure a long scraping session. Unless the dogs are is highly trained or anesthetized, they are not going to submit to more than a minute or two of scraping. You can do three teeth a day until all the teeth are done. You will wan to repeat this every month as well as brush the dogs teeth every day.
Your daughter may also want to consider calling Care Credit which is a financing company that will give her credit for the procedure which she can pay back in monthly installments. Here is a link to this company: http://www.carecredit.com/ - http://carecredit.com/vetmed/whycc.html
There are also other programs which may help her financially with this procedure. Here is a link with the programs currently helping people: http://www.speakingforspot.com/helppayingforveterinarycare.html Walter
Breeder
Breeder and pet health consultant. Have spent a number of years with dog rescue, training and health