As a regular part of their yearly exams doctors look at patients teeth and may recommend a dental prophylaxis (cleaning and preventative care). Dentals are an anesthetic procedure that require a day long stay here at the clinic. The actual cleaning procedure includes:

• ultrasonic scaling
• assessment of the gum condition
• polishing
• fluoride treatment

Extractions are performed only when the doctor determines it is necessary for the continued health of the mouth. We can also take dental x-rays to determine the condition of teeth. Some pets have dental done on a yearly basis while others have them more or less frequently depending on the overall health of the mouth.

Some owners are able to brush their pets teeth at home. If you are interested in doing this we have some products here including animal toothbrushes and specially flavored and detergent free toothpastes to make the job easier. Never use human toothpaste on pets, they can upset their stomachs. Brushing a pet's teeth is a process that should be started when the teeth are already clean as brushing the teeth will not remove any plaque that has already formed. To Learn How to Brush Teeth...

Another item we have here is food made by Hill's Pet Nutrition called T/D that is specially constructed to help scrape the teeth when they chew on it. It is different from other hard food in that it will not shatter when the pet bites into it. It thereby scrapes the teeth. This should be used in conjunction with a dental cleaning.

The safety of your pet is always our main concern. Our anesthesia safety sheet reviews the precautions we take so your pet has a safe anesthesia experience. Please print out to review and contact us if you have any questions.