DENTISTRY
Just like humans, our animal counterparts enjoy looking great with a glistening smile. Brushing their teeth (thumbs up to you if you can do it daily) certainly helps a great deal, but there are times when your pet may need professional dental work. When you notice that their kisses are leaving an unpleasant odour, or if you find yourself cringing when they are breathing on you, we recommend coming in and letting our vets take a better look inside their mouth.
What can you expect from a professional veterinary dental cleaning?
We begin with a conscious oral exam on your pet. We will only advise a dental if it benefits your pet.
Proper dental cleaning requires the pet to undergo general anesthesia. Pre-anaesthetic blood work is always recommended. This allows us to identify any potential problems that we may need to be aware of and to determine if the pet is fit to proceed.
Under anesthesia, we will be able to perform the following:
A full cleaning under the gum-line where periodontal disease lurks. It would be impossible to clean this area on a conscious dog or cat, but this is where periodontal disease begins with bacteria ‘living’ below the gum tissue.
Professional scaling and polishing of the crown, or the visible part of your dog or cat’s teeth. Scaling or scraping the tooth is required to remove plaque and calculus build-up on the tooth crown.
Lastly, the teeth are polished leaving a completely smooth surface of the tooth which discourages plaque and bacteria from adhering to the rough tooth surface.