Dental Care
Good oral hygiene is important for your pet's health and well being. While bad breath and trouble chewing can be a sign of dental problems, many pets show no signs that they're suffering from potentially severe dental disease.
Daily tooth brushing is ideal for keeping your pet's teeth in good shape, however many pets will not tolerate it. Most pets will eventually develop tartar and gingivitis, requiring a dental cleaning. A comprehensive dental cleaning is done as an anesthetic procedure, for which you to drop your pet off in the morning and get them back home later in the day.
Our comprehensive dental cleaning includes:
- hand scaling the teeth to remove tartar
- ultrasonic cleaning of teeth and gums
- high speed polishing with fluoride
Our Dentalaire high speed drill allows safe removal of any diseased teeth with minimal trauma to your pet.
We suggest you visit Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) for diets and treats that promote stronger teeth and better breath.
When your pet comes in for a comprehensive dental cleaning it is more than a simple cleaning! Pets have to be anesthetized for complete and thorough dental assessment and completion of necessary work. Anesthesia is a risk and the veterinarian would not have suggested the dental work if the benefit of the cleaning did not outweigh the risk of anesthesia. If the idea of anesthesia makes you uncomfortable, please discuss your concerns with the veterinarian, because inaction carries other complications.
How exactly is a dental cleaning performed?
STEP 1: safely and completely anesthetize your pet for a comfortable procedure
STEP 2: scale the tooth surface by hand with dental tools
Scaling involves scraping or chipping the adherent tarter and plaque from the visible part of the tooth on all surfaces.
STEP 3: ultrasonic scaling of tooth and gum line
An ultrasonic tool is used to clean the tooth surface but more importantly the groove in between the tooth and gum on all surfaces.
STEP 4: inspection of all teeth
Each tooth is individually inspected for periodontal pockets, mobility, chips, fractures or other signs of tooth disease.
STEP 5: extraction of diseased, painful or infected teeth, if needed
STEP 6: polish teeth with a fluoride treatment
Teeth are polished to be made as smooth as possible to slow or decrease the formation of more tarter/plaque. Fluoride will strengthen the tooth enamel.
STEP 7: recover your pet peacefully after a pedicure (nail trim)
Last but not least we will try to successfully communicate what happened during your pet's procedure and how to keep your pet's mouth as healthy as possible. Other topics may include other treatments for the mouth including antibiotics and pain relievers.
Some pets require routine, repeated dental work to keep a healthy mouth. For others, a once in a lifetime procedure is all that is needed!
Our goal is not cosmetic, but to preserve healthy teeth in a clean mouth and to remove weak or diseased teeth for a more comfortable mouth. Our dental techniques are very routine and basic, but advanced dental procedures are available locally from veterinary dentists.
