Dentistry

Pet Dental Care for Your Dog or Cat

One of the most commonly overlooked and most important areas for maintaining your pet’s good health is oral and dental care. A regular regimen of care for the teeth and gums can dramatically extend the life of your pet. Best Friends Animal Health Center recommends preventive care as the key to maintaining your pet’s long-term oral health.

Part of Your Pet’s Regular Routine

From the time we first see you dog or cat, your pet will be thoroughly checked every time he or she has a regular wellness exam for:

• Bite
• Jaw injury
• Abscesses
• Fractured teeth
• Damage to enamel
• Tartar and calculus build up

Before dental procedures, we will do pre-anesthesia blood work to make sure that your pet is healthy well before we begin.  Digital dental x-rays are also taken to examine the entire tooth.  Most problems with your pets teeth will be below the gum lines.

Every time we perform any procedure for your pet’s oral health, including cleaning teeth, your pet will be placed under general anesthesia. This ensures that your pet will have no anxiety or pain. With your pet at all times will be a veterinarian, veterinary nurse, and a technician. 

All dental procedures are performed with the highest quality care and state-of-the-art techniques.  An intravenous (IV) catheter is placed and fluids are given to ensure your pet is fully hydrated. Monitoring for blood pressure, oxygen and CO2 levels, temperature, and heart rate is done continually, every 5 minutes, during all procedures. We will provide heat to keep your pet warm. Pain medication is given to ensure your pet’s comfort. Every dental instrument is sterilized with an autoclave before use on your pet. This is a step that helps minimize any risk of infection.

We document any gum pocketing and the general gum condition and we use a disclosing solution on the teeth. Your pet will have his or her teeth cleaned with the ultrasonic scaler. Polishing always follows cleaning. 

Preventable Problems

Best Friends Animal Health Center will talk with you about your pet’s habits and lifestyle. We will make suggestions, such as a special treat at bedtime that can minimize dental problems. We can recommend rawhide treats that contain enzymes that will clean teeth all night, fighting tooth and bone loss. Regular pet dental care can help you and your pet avoid costly and painful procedures.