Dentistry

Dental hygiene is an important part of your pet's health, because dental disease can be associated with other serious health problems such as heart disease and kidney disease. But how do you know if your pet has a healthy mouth? Let us examine your pet’s teeth and gums to help determine if there are any dental issues you should know about. After a brief visual examination, we may recommend a more detailed examination (which requires sedation), a dental cleaning, or options for at-home dental care.

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Dental Care includes: Ultrasonic scaling/cleaning of your pet's teeth, as well as probing of the gum line to check for any deep pockets or abscesses. After cleaning, teeth are polished and the entire mouth is given a fluoride treatment. Dental Radiographs are also performed during this time, to check for any teeth abnormalities underneath the gum line which cannot be determined by only visual oral exam. If needed, tooth extractions may need to be performed  - ranging from retained baby teeth, to more complex extractions which will require a high speed drill in order to remove. To help your pet deal with any pain that may occur, dental blocks are always performed, and to help your pet feel comfortable after returning home, we will send home pain medications.

Dental Radiography

Many animal patients presenting for a routine teeth cleaning procedure have additional oral problems, and full-mouth radiographs allow your veterinarian to view the internal anatomy of the teeth, the teeth roots, and the bone that surrounds the roots. Additionally, the initial x-rays provide a base line for future comparison as your animal ages.

Common abnormalities found on dental radiographs include:

• Fractured tooth roots

• Retained deciduous teeth (baby teeth that failed to erupt at the proper time)

• Tooth root abscesses or infections

• Impacted teeth (teeth that are wedged in and can’t erupt normally)

• Feline Resorptive Lesions
  (painful holes or erosions on the surface of the teeth found mainly in cats)

• Bone or soft tissue tumors

• Degree of periodontal disease

Information gathered from dental radiographs will help us provide you the best treatment options available for your pets teeth.