True or False?
Q. Oral hygiene isn't important for my pet.
A. FALSE. Regular dental cleanings along with regular tooth brushing will help keep your pet’s mouth healthy and avoid potentially deadly heart and kidney conditions. Routine cleanings
help to avoid costly extractions.
Q. Cats don’t need dental care.
A. FALSE. Cats and small breed dogs often require more dental care than large breed dogs.
Q. Dentals are not worth the risk or expense for senior patients.
A. FALSE. Stone House Animal Hospital believes that pets of all ages should have a healthy, pain free mouth. Geriatric surgeries and dentals are all given extra support at our
hospital. Age alone shouldn't force a pet to live in pain!
A. TRUE. By age 3 most pets have some tartar buildup. The extent of build-up will determine whether or not a dental cleaning is recommended. The sooner routine dental care is started, the healthier your pet will be and the less chance for a painful mouth.
Signs your pet has dental disease.
- bad breath
- red, not pink, gums
- facial swelling
- yellow or brownish buildup on teeth
- no longer eager to eat regular food
Dentals
Just like for humans, it's the tartar under the gumline that causes kidney and heart damage. To remove this tartar anesthetic is necessary. Stone House does pre-anesthetic blood work so that the anesthesia can be tailored to each patient. Once the patient is anesthetized, the teeth can be thoroughly cleaned. Not until they are cleaned is it possible to determine whether or not extractions are necessary. Once all necessary work is completed the teeth are polished. An antibiotic injection and an anti-inflammatory injection are administered for every dental.
Dental Extractions
Dental extractions are done differently depending on the tooth and extent of damage. Simply twisting and pulling of larger teeth can damage surrounding bone, leaving a painful hole that will not heal. For this reason our doctors do surgical extractions or section the tooth prior to extraction . This lessens damage to surrounding bone and tissue and decreases pain as well!
It is not possible to create an accurate estimate for dental procedures as extractions can not be determined until teeth are cleaned under an anesthetic. We offer two
routes to better accommodate our clients:
- Anesthetic, cleaning, extractions without an estimate.
- Anesthetic, cleaning, determine extractions so that an estimate can be created and discussed the next day. To do the extractions would then require another anesthetic fee.
For the safety of your pet, it is not an option to call with an estimate while your pet is under anesthesia.
Pain Medications
All dentals requiring extractions are given pain medication immediately following surgery as well as medications to go home.
Stone House Animal Hospital believes very strongly that optimum patient care includes annual dental cleanings and quality pain management.