Many animals have some form of periodontal disease. The severity can be based on breed, diet, and regular dental hygiene. Prolonged buildup of plaque and tartar can lead to systemic diseases such as heart and kidney disease. Pets can have fractured teeth, periodontal pockets, or dental abscesses. These things cause a lot of oral pain and often need to be fixed via a dental procedure and cleaning.
What to expect:
A dental procedure is performed under general anesthesia. Your pet will come into the clinic the morning of their procedure, fasted (12 hours without food). Upon arrival a veterinary technician will go over pre-operative paperwork. Blood will then be drawn to complete a preanesthetic profile, making sure your pet is safe for sedation. Our veterinarian will then review the lab work, and give us a confirmation that your pet is healthy. A mild sedative will be given to allow us to place an IV catheter without stress to your animal. After that, intravenous anesthetic medications will be given to your pet. This will put your pet into a deep plane of anesthesia allowing us to place an endotracheal tube and start gas anesthesia. The endotracheal tube prevents fluid from entering the airway and provides oxygen and gas anesthesia. IV fluids will begin at this time, to regulate blood pressure and protect the kidneys. A veterinary technician will begin to scale the teeth, removing any plaque or tartar on the teeth and under the gum line. Then complete full-mouth radiographs will be taken. A veterinarian will do an oral exam looking for masses, periodontal pockets, fractured teeth, or any teeth diseased below the gumline which can be visualized via radiographs. Extractions will be performed if necessary. Following this, a technician will polish your pet’s teeth, removing any ‘scratches’ to help prevent plaque build up. Your companion will then be recovered until they are able to swallow and lift their head on their own. A discharge time will be set up for pickup that afternoon.
Preventative dental hygiene:
At a young age, or following a dental cleaning, your pet’s oral health should be maintained to help decrease the frequency of needing a dental cleaning. We can do this by brushing our pets teeth daily or using dental chews. For cats we would recommend using a Greenies brand chew, and for dogs we prefer Oravet chews. An oral exam will be completed at your companion’s yearly wellness where we can update you on their dental health and if they would require another cleaning. At each yearly visit, our veterinarians stage your pet’s dental disease.
Dental Pricing:
Our pricing can vary based on each pet’s oral health. We often try to ‘stage’ a dental, and give an owner a quote of what we think the total cost will be. Staging is often done at a yearly wellness or pre-op visit. The estimate includes, bloodwork, anesthesia, radiographs, cleaning, extractions, and any needed medications.