Dental Prophylaxis and Oral Surgery

As you can imagine, visits to the dentist are quite different for us than our canine and feline family members. Not only have we been taking care of our teeth on a daily basis for years, but also most of us have the ability to sit still and keep our mouths open for periods of time without sedation. Veterinary dentistry is more involved, time consuming, and complex. Since a thorough oral exam and prophylaxis for your pet’s teeth requires general anesthesia, your pet will need to spend a day at our hospital.

The first step of your pet’s teeth cleaning is a physical examination. After making sure your pet is in good general health, we administer anesthesia for the safety and comfort of your pet and our team. 

Once your pet is painlessly asleep, we begin the cleaning by removing the tartar from the teeth with a hand scaler. Next, we use an ultrasonic scaler and curette to clean both above and below the gum line. After that is complete, each tooth is examined and dental radiographs (X-rays) are obtained. Pending the degree of dental disease, either oral surgery (extractions) is performed or the pets teeth are polished. Finally, a wash with an antibacterial solution  is used to delay future tartar build-up.