Dental Exams and Teeth Cleaning

Around 70% of dogs and cats over the age of three years old need some sort of dental treatment. It has also been shown that by keeping your pet’s gums and teeth healthy you can add one to two years to their life and reduce the amount of pain they feel significantly!

The cornerstone to this is daily brushing, (at least four times per week). Brushing removes plaque, which is a totally invisible film, (If you see it, it is not plaque). The plaque comes off very easily because it is simply a soft layer of slime.

When the plaque is not removed, it turns into calculus and tartar. The damage that this causes cannot no longer be helped by brushing because all the damage is under the gums. The teeth themselves are rarely damaged but the ligaments that hold the roots into the bony sockets and the sockets themselves are gradually eroded and eaten away by the huge number of bacteria.

We perform thorough and complete oral examinations while under anesthesia for dental cleaning. The combination of an examination maps out the best plan for your pet and determines if any teeth need to get extracted, if any surgery needs to be performed. We then perform ultrasonic scaling of the teeth and under the gum line to thoroughly clean the teeth. We finish by polishing the teeth. Prior to, during, and after anesthesia, we monitor your pet’s physical stats visually and with state-of-the-art anesthetic monitoring equipment. We are also keeping them warm with our Bair Hugger Warming system and supporting their blood pressure and hydration with intravenous fluids.

We want to let you know that our Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians are confident with our anesthesia skills and perform dental surgery on a range of patients, from low-risk young and healthy pets to high risk cardiac disease patients. We would not place your pet under anesthesia unless it is necessary and as safe as possible.