Island Veterinary Care

Oral Health

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Does your dog or cat's breath stink? Is your pet's gums red? Do you try to brush but the tartar doesn't come off? Did you know that periodontal disease is the most common disease in dog and cats?

 

By 3 years of age, most pets already show signs of periodontal disease.  The bad breath is caused by bacteria and this same bacteria can enter the bloodstream causing heart and liver disease just to name a few.  Some dogs are more prone to developing disease than others so sometimes a dental cleaning & oral health assessment is needed several times in a pet's lifetime.  Once tartar is on the teeth, it's nearly impossible to remove it without proper anesthetic dental cleaning.

 

We can help! We start with a oral (mouth) examination, then under general anesthesia we perform full mouth x-rays to see what's going on under the gumline. There can be abnormal tooth roots or abscesses (infection) that you can't see from the surface.  We then clean the teeth with an ultrasonic cleaner, perform any extractions of teeth and finish with a polish.  

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They must be under general anesthesia for the dental cleaning, x-rays and extractions because they have to be absolutely still. Also the procedure can be stressful and painful when awake. Read from the experts about why we don't recommend anesthesia free dentals:  

https://www.aaha.org/pet_owner/lifestyle/the-truth-about-dental-anesthesia.aspx