Advanced Dentistry for Pets: Veterinary Dental Services in MA
Diet and nutrition, vaccinations, preventive parasitic treatments, and emergency services are what most people think about when they visit their Southeastern Massachusetts veterinarian. During a thorough check-up, you will notice the vet at our Dartmouth animal hospital will check the temperature, breath sounds, look at your pet’s eyes, and even check out their mouth. Veterinary dentistry services are not something pet owners often think about unless their pet has trouble with their teeth. However, the time to consider advanced dentistry for pets is not when there is a problem but as a preventive measure before the dental disease even begins.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The truth is that between 70-80 percent of all cats and dogs have some degree of dental disease by the time they are just three years of age. That is a significant number of pets that are impacted by dental issues. Some of the symptoms of dental disease can include bad breath, painful mouth, difficulty eating, and lethargy. If you have ever had mouth pain or trouble with your gums and teeth, you know what this can mean for your pets. Unfortunately, pets cannot tell us when their mouth hurts or indicate that a particular tooth is loose or is causing them pain when they eat.
Like those offered at our Dartmouth animal hospital, veterinary dentistry services are designed to prevent dental disease from starting or stop it from progressing. If your pet already has kidney or heart disease, dental disease can even complicate those conditions, resulting in serious side effects. Our Southeastern Massachusetts veterinarian team recommends that you brush your cat or dog’s teeth to slow down the development of plaque and bring them in at least once a year for a routine dental cleaning. During the cleaning, we can also better evaluate your pet’s teeth, clean and polish, provide a fluoride treatment, and do x-rays to determine the health of teeth underneath the gumline.
What to Expect
A routine dental cleaning requires that your pet be put under anesthesia. This allows our team to perform their duties safely and thoroughly for the best results. While your pet is under anesthesia, they will be monitored continuously on our cutting-edge, multi-parameter machine. It helps our team to track both respiratory and heart rates, oxygen saturation, end-tidal CO2, blood pressure, and temperature. We watch each pet closely during exams and treatments of advanced dentistry for pets with the assistance of the veterinarian in charge of the veterinary dentistry services and one of our highly trained staff members.
We go above and beyond to ensure your pet’s safety during any and all procedures. We perform a pre-anesthetic blood screening before this type of work, which helps us to be aware of any potential problems so we can plan accordingly. This is highly recommended for all pets, regardless of age, and is mandatory for senior pets in our care. The veterinarian develops an individualized anesthetic protocol for your pet based on their unique needs and requirements to ensure adequate pain relief and a smooth recovery. Your pet’s teeth will be checked for problems like tartar, gingivitis, mobility, and other pathology. We strongly recommend a full mouth digital radiograph to determine the sub-gingival health of your pet’s teeth.
A Healthy Mouth
Our team has all of the latest and most advanced equipment available for our veterinary dentistry services, and every member of our staff has been thoroughly trained to provide the very best of care. We can assist you with training to perform at-home dental care between cleanings to reduce the amount of scraping and cleaning work that will need to be done at our Dartmouth animal hospital. Pet toothpaste and specially formulated dental rinses, along with a tartar control diet and CET dental chews, can also help to provide your pet with a cleaner, healthier mouth all year round. Not sure what your pet needs with regard to veterinary dentistry services? Speak with one of our veterinarians or vet techs the next time you visit Anchor Animal Hospital to discuss your pet’s health and determine whether any dental procedures are necessary. Call today at 508-996-3731 to speak with one of our team members or to schedule a veterinary check-up.