Imagine how your teeth would look and feel if you didn’t brush them every day. Your pet’s teeth are no different. Unless you regularly provide some form of dental care, you are ignoring an important part of your pet’s overall health and wellness.
Dental disease is an infection of the teeth, gums, and surrounding structures and is by far the most common major health problem of cats and dogs. More than eighty percent of dogs and seventy percent of cats show signs of oral disease by the time they are three years old.
It starts with a build-up of plaque. Plaque eventually turns to tarter and quickly forms small pockets where an animals gums meet its teeth. The gums can separate from the tooth, which allows more bacteria and food to accumulate. This build-up leads to periodontal disease, which can allow bacteria to now enter the bloodstream leading to more serious health problems including heart, lung, and kidney disease if left untreated.
Symptoms of dental disease may include bad breath; lethargy, inactivity, or depression; poor grooming; salivating; red, swollen, or bleeding gums; decreased or loss of appetite and weight loss; dropping of food from the mouth while eating; facial swelling; discharge from the nose or eyes; pawing at the face; and loose teeth, which may even fall out. The key to managing dental disease is prevention.
Daily tooth brushing is the best way to slow (and possibly prevent) the recurrence of dental problems. Feeding dry dental diets or dental chews may slow, but not prevent, the development of recurrent periodontal disease. Daily use products to keep your pet’s teeth clean and the gum tissues and bone around the roots healthy.
We stock certain products to help prevent dental disease and maintain your pet’s teeth for longer between dentals. However, they often still do need dentals as scaling is the only way to remove plaque and tartar.
Animals are placed under full anaesthetic for a dental. This is because animals won’t tolerate the sound of the scaler (the same type of machine that your dentist uses to clean your teeth). We also need to access both sides of the teeth. An alert animal will never tolerate this. Another reason for full anaesthetic is that we need to place swabs in the mouth to prevent choking on the water used during a dental. This means that a breathing tube is placed into your pet’s airway, all in all making it actually safer and far less traumatising for your pet.
It is important to discuss any health concerns you may have regarding your pet’s health with your vet before the procedure. Pre-anaesthetic bloods are advisable in older pets and placing them on IV fluids helps make anaesthetic even safer. If there are any concerns picked up on the bloodwork, we can intervene sooner. Bloods are run at our clinic and usually done prior to administering any anaesthetic.
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