Your pet’s teeth are vitally important to their overall health and should be examined frequently. Just like us, regular dental cleanings are necessary to help maintain your pet’s health and promote an overall good quality of life.
All our dental patients have a complete anaesthetic work-up before their procedure including a physical exam and the appropriate blood profiles, to help ensure there is minimal risk in proceeding with an anaesthetic. Our dental patients are then started on intravenous fluids to help maintain blood pressure during their cleaning.
Once under a general anesthetic your pet will receive a complete series of dental radiographs to give their veterinarian a picture of your pet’s overall oral health. Our Registered Veterinary Technicians then scale above the gum line, the part of the tooth that you can see, using an ultrasonic scaler. Each tooth is then charted and reviewed by your pet’s veterinarian. Curretting then is performed to remove the tarter below the gums that cannot be seen. This tartar is the most dangerous for your pet as it allows bacteria to get below the gum-line and cause erosion of the roots of the teeth, which we cannot see with the naked eye. To make sure all the plaque and tartar has been removed we apply a red plaque disclosing solution that makes the “invisible” plaque turn bright red so we can remove any remaining. Each tooth is then polished with a dental paste and the mouth is rinsed with a chlorhexidine solution to help minimize further plaque formation.
Each pet goes home with a before and after photograph, a copy of their radiographs, a dental chart, and a custom dental care plan including tooth brushing, diet recommendation, and treat options to help maintain their oral health. “At home” is care important since plaque begins to build on the teeth within 3 hours and tarter within 3 days of having a dental cleaning. “At home” care can consist of regular teeth brushing (daily, or ideally at least 3 times per week), or the veterinary Medical dental diet which contains enzymes to bind to the minerals in your pet’s saliva and preventing the minerals from building tarter on the teeth.
If you are interested in oral health care for your pet, please call and talk to one of our veterinary team members.
