Dental Care

Routine dental care can extend the life span of your pet and prevent many severe diseases ranging from tooth loss to heart disease to cancer. Most cats need a dental cleaning every 1 to 2 years. Most dogs need a dental cleaning every 1 to 3 years. Call us to schedule an examination to determine your pet's dental needs.

• Additional Recommended Services

Checks liver and kidney function to alert the doctors of any potential problems that may help decide which drugs may be the safest to use, or if the surgery needs to be postponed until the patient is healthy.

• A Detailed Look at Dentals

A Dental Prophylaxis (cleaning) is performed no only to clean the teeth, but also to evaluate the oral cavity for any other problems that might be present. The cleaning not only includes what you can see, but also under the gum line which you are unable to see. Before we can perform the cleaning, we must place the patient under general anesthesia. Once the patient is placed under anesthesia we insert an endo-tracheal tube in the patient's trachea. This will protect the lungs from bacteria that is being removed from the teeth, and provide continuous oxygen and gas anesthesia during the procedure.

Will be taken and placed on your Dental Report Card to show what the teeth looked like before the dental cleaning.

An Antibiotic injection may be given at the start of the dental procedure to help stop any infection that may be present. We will also send you home with oral antibiotics for treating infection and help reduce gingivitis.

Is used to help keep the patient's mouth open as far as possible. By doing so, this cuts out precious time your pet is under anesthesia and allows the technician to perform the best and most efficient dental cleaning possible.

Is used to remove the gross calculus (tarter) from the crown (visible portion of the tooth).

Similar to what is used for human dental cleanings, is then used to remove tarter and plaque that the double ended scraper was unable to remove. The ultrasonic dental scaler is a wide tipped scaler that mechanically, along with water, breaks away all visible tarter and plaque.

Is used to remove debris trapped between teeth and under the gum line. The small sharp tip of the hand held scaler also allows a technician to extract debris stuck in the grooves commonly found in the carnasal, lower molars, and the upper canines of cats. This step is crucial to a proper cleaning as debris under the gum line is the main cause of gingivitis and periodontal disease.

Is used to measure all four sides of each tooth for any pockets or gum recession. Deep pockets are signs of unhealthy gums and teeth. Many teeth with deep pockets are abscessed and may need to be removed.

Teeth that do have deep pockets can be evaluated by taking Dental Radiographs (x-rays). This allows a technician and doctor to take a look at what the teeth and bone structure looks like under the gum line to make an educated decision whether further treatment will be necessary.

If it is possible to save a tooth with a deep pocket we can use Doxirobe Gel. This is a yellow cement like antibiotic that is applied in the deep pocket under the gum line. The antibiotic attaches to the tooth's surface for about 2-4 weeks until the gum line can adhere to the tooth again.

The mechanical removal of plaques and calculus causes microchip roughening of the teeth. These rough spots allow plaque to adhere and restart tarter formation. Medium grit fluoride Polishing paste is applied to the polisher and placed on all surfaces of the teeth. This allows the teeth to become smooth and delay the process of tarter build up once again.

C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Rinse is the last step in your pet's dental cleaning. Bacteria start attaching to teeth just minutes after a dental cleaning. The C.E.T. Rinse is a gel like substance which is applied to your pet's teeth to create a barrier that helps prevent plaque and tarter from attaching to the teeth again. Follow up at home care is required to help keep the tarter and plaque from coming back as quick. At home, you can brush your pet's teeth daily and apply the C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Rinse daily, which can all be purchased over the counter at your Veterinarian's office.

Post-cleaning picture will be taken at this point to be placed on your Dental Report Card. This will be a picture of how the teeth look after the cleaning.

• Monitoring equipment used to help watch our patients

Is connected to the patient's endo-tracheal tube to deliver oxygen and gas anesthesia while eliminating exhaled carbon dioxide. This allows us the keep the patient calm and out of pain during the surgical procedure.

The team hard at work performing a dental cleaning.