Pet Dental Health

Oral assessment, treatment and prevention paves the way to oral health.

Assessment

• This involves reviewing the complete medical history
• Performing a physical examination including blood, urine and fecal analysis and if necessary x-rays.
• A facial and oral examination looking for extra teeth, malocclusion, retained deciduous teeth, periodontal disease, fractured or discolored teeth, tooth resorption lesions, tumors, ulcers, etc.

Treatment

Under general anesthesia there are several steps to a prophylactic treatment.

1. Supragingival cleaning-which removes plaque and calculus above the gumline.
2. Subgingival cleaning- is important and can only be done in the anesthetized pet. Specific instruments are used including ultrasonic scalers to remove plaque and calculus from beneath the gums.
3. Polishing provides a smooth surface to the teeth to decrease the ability of plaque to adhere.
4. Sulcal lavage is flushing the areas beneath the gumline with an antibacterial solution to clean any trapped debris.
5. Periodontal probing is done once the teeth are cleaned to detect any defects in the enamel.
6. Disease management Dental x-rays, extractions, root canals, etc are available to restore a healthy mouth.
7. Dental Charting provides a permanent record of the oral findings and treatment.
8. Sealants may or may not be used to provide extra protection.

Prevention

As with people preventive oral hygiene is recommended.

• Tooth brush and paste
• Dental wipes
• Tartar controlling diets e.g. Hills TD
• Plaque prevention gel e.g. Oxyfresh gel and solutions

“ A dog has lots of friends because he wags his tail and not his tongue.”