By Conneaut Lake Veterinary Hospital, Inc.

Last week we discussed home dental health care for our pets. This week we will explore a typical dental procedure performed at your veterinarian’s office. It usually begins at a routine wellness physical when the veterinarian peers into your pet’s mouth, pulls away, and declares: “I’m seeing some moderate tartar on the premolars and molars with some mild gingivitis. I recommend that Buddy has a dental procedure.”

The doctor is recommending that your pet undergo general anesthesia to allow for a thorough oral exam to determine the severity of the tartar present, or there is more extensive periodontal disease present, and to perform a complete dental cleaning. General anesthesia is required for all dental procedures because the pet is still, allowing for full exposure to the oral cavity and while they are asleep they do not feel the procedure.

A thorough oral exam begins with the overall appearance of the teeth and gums. The teeth should be white or egg shell colored and the gums should be pink and smooth. Have you ever looked at a puppy or kitten’s mouth? Their teeth are much whiter than humans naturally and they can stay that way if they are properly taken care of on a daily basis. Any variance from white teeth and pink gums is considered some form of dental disease. Dental disease is progressive, so stopping it at the first signs is best if possible.

Each tooth will be examined for enamel wear, slab fractures, lesions on the tooth, pulp exposure, and receding gum lines to name a few of the many problems that can plague a pet’s mouth! At this time, the dentition of the mouth will also be graded for bite, tooth crowding, or other anatomical abnormalities that might cause problems if left untreated.

The mouth is checked for pockets at the gum line, or a loss of ligamentous attachments. These pockets allow for bacteria to accumulate. Depending on the pocket’s depth and the health of the tooth, the gum may be re-adhered to the bone with a special dental adhesive. If the pocket is too deep, or the tooth is not healthy, the best recommendation is extracting the tooth.

Complete prophylaxis, a thorough cleaning, must be accomplished before more invasive treatments, such as extractions, can occur to minimize the chance of bacterial infections. A dental cleaning begins with debriding the teeth of tartar. This is accomplished by mechanical scaling with both hand scalers and ultrasonic scalers. Hand scalers are used to remove the large, gross tarter the ultrasound scaler gets the finer deposits off. We use both to make sure that the tooth is clean before polishing. After the tartar is removed from the surface, the tooth is polished using a small rubber prophylaxis cup (as seen in human dental offices) with dental pumice paste. This seals the tooth and gives it a smooth surface to prevent the bacteria from re-adhering. Some clients suggest they can clean the teeth at home with a hand scaler. However if they don’t use an ultrasound scaler and polisher is not used it will leave small groves in the enamel which will increase the rate of tarter build up

Tooth extraction is sometimes the best way to treat the dental disease. Most owners are concerned when we recommend extraction, more often than not, the pet feels better after the diseased tooth is removed. Oral pain medications can be prescribed along with the antibiotics to manage any postoperative discomfort. Oral antibiotics are prescribed to prevent infection in the mouth from causing infection in other parts of the body.

The average dental cleaning takes approximately 30-45 minutes, while extractions will take longer. Our goal is to send dental patients home the same day, depending on how quickly they recover from the general anesthesia administered. February is National Pet Dental Month and your veterinarian may be offering specials on dental procedures. If you suspect that your pet could benefit from cleaning, call today!

Conneaut Lake Veterinary Hospital, Inc.

14405 Conneaut Lake Road

Meadville, PA 16335

(814) 382-5446