It has probably happened to you or someone you know.  You take your pet to the veterinarian; they look at your pets teeth and tell you your pet needs a dental.  A price is often quoted and either you make an appointment or because you are confused and worried about the risks you don’t make the appointment and go on your way.  This guide will help you understand what is being recommended and why.

What is a dental?

Veterinarians are guilty of using a shorthand way of describing a procedure that is very important to your pet’s health and should encompass a group of diagnostic procedures and medical procedures that improve your pet’s health and relieve oral pain.

Anesthesia:  Almost everybody sites anesthesia as their biggest concern and number one reason to not pursue dental work.  It is natural to be concerned about your pet and there is some risk with anesthesia but if you do not have dental work done in a timely manner your pet could suffer with infection, constant pain, some types of heart disease, and some cases of kidney disease as a result of their dental disease.  Many will die as a result of complications from what started as a simple dental problem.  There is much lower risk of serious anesthesia complications than the risk of serious complications from untreated dental disease.  Hope Animal Hospital is also concerned about anesthesia and using good technique reduces the risk substantially.  Below are listed the extra steps we take to provide a safe and comfortable anesthetic experience for your pet.

• Pre-anesthetic blood testing
  We have all the equipment in house to test your pet the morning of surgery for any abnormalities that might cause problems with surgery or anesthesia.
  
  
• IV catheter
  A catheter allows us to give injections and fluids comfortably in the vein.  It becomes a vital life line if there are any complications.  Precious minutes can be lost trying to place an IV catheter after a problem occurs.
  
  
• IV fluids
  IV fluids support circulation and blood pressure during anesthesia.
  
  
• Pre-anesthetic pain medications
  Pain medications used early on allows us to use lower doses of anesthetics and prevents pain ‘wind up’.  Treating pain before it occurs is vital to controlling pain.
  
  
• Oxygen supplied by intubation
  Intubation is placing a tube in the airway to prevent closure of the airway during surgery.  Oxygen and gas anesthesia are given this way.
  
  
• Circulating water heating pad
  Maintaining body temperature helps a patient feel more comfortable and supports normal metabolism during anesthesia.
  
  
• Monitoring of patient temperature, heart rate, respiration, ECG, and oxygenation of the patient’s blood
  Monitoring these vital signs lets us know if a problem is occurring early on and we can respond to it appropriately.
  
  
• Trained assistant providing hands on monitoring of each patient
  Machines cannot replace having an assistant available to monitor the well being of a patient
  
  
• Sterile instruments for dental procedures
  Instruments are sterilized between each patient.
  
  
• Postoperative warm water heating pad or heating disk
  Providing heat postoperatively is important for patient comfort and recovery but it must be done safely. A normal heating pad is dangerous. We have invested in special heating pads for the safety and comfort of our patients.
  
  
• Postoperative hands on monitoring during recovery.
  Postoperative care to make sure our patients recover well and to provide for their comfort.
  
  
• Postoperative Pain Medication
  Omitting pain medication is not an option at Hope Animal Hospital.  We have seen over the years how much better pets do with pain medication and we will not deny them important part of their recovery.
  
  
• Follow up pain medication
  We will dispense pain medication to help your pet heal well. Experience and experimental evidence on people and pets overwhelmingly point to how important this is.

Once under anesthesia the following are the steps we take to provide for you pet’s dental health.

Oral Examination:  You may think this was already done on your initial visit but nothing replaces the veterinarian examining the oral cavity when you pet is under anesthesia. This important step is often left to an assistant or technician who then alerts the veterinarian to any abnormality.  At Hope Animal Hospital we believe that a veterinarian should give a complete oral examination before any procedures are performed.

Dental Scaling:  This is the removal of the tartar (a yellowish-brown crust) and calculus (off white mineralized crust) from the teeth.  The visible tooth is scaled as well as under the gum where the most dangerous disease hides.  According to where you are working on the tooth, scaling is done with an ultrasonic scaler or hand instruments.

Polishing:  Using a low speed handpiece and dental paste the teeth are polished to remove microscopic irregularities in the tooth surface to prevent even faster build up of tartar than occurred before the dental scaling.

The above constitutes a ‘routine dental’ but a majority of patients need more than the above care.  Below is listed additional care that may be recommended to provide your pet with the best care.

Dental Radiographs (X-Rays): Dental disease occurs under the gum line.  That is why your dentist does radiographs and that is why your pet needs them.  It can help us tell when your pet needs an extraction or when the tooth can be saved.  A tooth that needs extraction due to a root abscess that is not visible to the naked eye could be left behind to cause your pet unnecessary pain and discomfort. Dental radiographs can also find early disease that would allow treatment other than extraction.

Extractions:  Extractions are an unfortunate reality when periodontal disease has gone beyond a certain point.  Extractions can be traumatic if good technique and instrumentation is not used.  At Hope Animal Hospital we have invested in high speed drills and advanced hand tools in order to make extractions easier on your pet.

Suturing Extraction sites:  Many places leave extraction sites open to ‘drain’.  Good healing is dependent on suturing an extraction site closed.

Barrier sealant:  For clients interested in home care to reduce plaque build up we can apply Oravet at the time of the dental.  Pet parents can then take home the home care kit and reapply it at home once a week.