Wellness Tips

DENTAL PROPHYLAXIS

Much attention has been focused on veterinary dentistry in the last year. Research clearly shows that proper dental care is probably the most important thing that you can do to add years of length and quality life for .

Pet dental care is important because:

Proper dental prophylaxis involves the following steps:

LABORATORY TESTING:

Enhances sedation safety and provides a prognosis of Internal organ problems that can affect the health of your pet after the dental cleaning. As the pet grows older, internal organs begin to fail. Even though your pet seems to be in “good health,” blood testing often reveals sub-clinical problems that are treatable when caught in time. This step is not standard procedure in human dentistry.

ANESTHESIA

Required since your pet will not “open wide.” Anesthesia also allows us to do a much more thorough job below the gum line, which, although unable to be seen, is where most of the real problem is located. The part of the tooth under the gum line must be cleaned, as well as the exposed portion to really help them long-term. Our anesthetic protocols are chosen with your pets utmost safety in mind, and is dictated by age, weight, and physical condition. The cost of anesthesia is a major reason that a dental cleaning costs more in animals than in people.

SCALING of the teeth:

To remove tartar above and below the gum line is done with both hand instruments and ultrasonic cleaning equipment.

PREVENT NEW PLAQUE FORMATION:

Just like using fine grit sandpaper after using coarse grit, we must polish to make the teeth smooth. Polishing the teeth after scaling is important to “smooth down” the surfaces and will be more resistant to the formation of plaque. Without polishing, dental specialists say we are really doing your pet very little good, and in fact the plaque would return very quickly if the teeth were not polished after scaling.

ANTISEPTIC FLUSHING:

It is important after polishing to rid the mouth of the ever-present bacteria so they do not invade the gums irritated during the cleaning. Solutions are actually flushed beneath the gum line to get rid of these germs.

Are usually required in veterinary dentistry because teeth cleaning is not usually performed until tooth and gum disease is already present. Oral Medications are sometimes prescribed, depending upon the severity of infection. This is not routinely needed in human dentistry because we don’t let our teeth get that bad before seeking professional help.

Once the dental cleaning procedure has been completed, it is important that you follow the dental hygiene recommendations made for your particular pet to keep ’s mouth as healthy as possible.