DENTAL CARE

Of all the preventative health measures you can take, perhaps nothing is more important than maintaining your pet's dental health. Tartar and gum disease produces more than just "bad breath," it can also lead to disease of the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys. This page offers some details about how you can keep your pet's breath fresh, as well as maintain optimum health and longevity.

To help promote dental health in our patients, our staff is ready to answer any questions you may have. We can provide advice on preventative dental care, as well as a variety of reading materials.

Dental Prophylaxis (dental cleaning)

As part of Cherrydale Veterinary Clinic's comprehensive Wellness Program, we recommend that every pet be evaluated at least once yearly to determine if he or she is a candidate for a Dental Prophylaxis (dental cleaning). Routine dental prophylaxis usually consists of scaling, polishing, and fluoride treatment, but may also include tooth extractions and antibiotic therapy when indicated.

With recent advances in veterinary medicine, it has become increasingly obvious that good dental care is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to add years and quality to your pet's life.

Good dental care is important because:

1. The natural buildup of tartar will lead to gingivitis, a painful gum infection.
2. If your pet now has halitosis, or "bad breath", just imagine what it must be like for him to have to live with that odor in his mouth 24 hours a day!
3. Diseased gums and teeth can lead to other diseases such as endocarditis (heart valve infection) and pyelonephritis (severe kidney infection).
4. It is much less expensive to maintain your pet's oral health than it is to treat severe tooth and gum disease later in life.

While the equipment we use to perform the actual cleaning and polishing is the same type of equipment your dentist uses, there are often several additional steps involved in the practice of veterinary dentistry. The biggest difference between human and veterinary dentistry is our routine use of General Anesthesia.

Since a pet will not "open wide", the only way to do a thorough dental prophylaxis is to use anesthesia. With your pet's utmost safety in mind, your veterinarian will choose the most up-to-date anesthetics as dictated by age, weight and physical condition.

Dental disease progresses naturally with aging, so most patients who require dental care are middle-aged or older. We recommend that any animal over the age of eight receive at least a Complete Blood Count and Biochemical Screen to assess the safety of anesthesia in that pet.

Since many so-called "old age" diseases such as kidney failure or liver disease may not be apparent until they are in the final stages, blood and urine tests are the only way to catch these conditions early and thereby take steps to minimize any anesthetic complications. These precautions aren't usually standard procedure in human dentistry simply because anesthesia is not usually needed.

Possibly the most critical step in maintaining the clean teeth and healthy gums — and thereby lengthening the time until the next cleaning is needed — is Home Dental Care. While not all pets will allow routine brushing, we have several products and suggestions for how you can add this to your pet's routine health care program. This includes Hill's Prescription Diet Canine T/D, a diet specifically formulated to limit the buildup of tartar.

If you have any questions about dental prophylaxis, or any aspect of your pets health care program, please feel free to ask your veterinarian or other staff member. You can call anytime at 703-528-9001 or to e-mail us, just click here.

STEPS IN PROPHYAXIS

1. SCALING the tartar from above and below the gumline , using both hand instruments and ultrasonic scaling equipment.
2. POLISHING "smoothes down" the surfaces, making them more resistant to plaque formation.
3. FLUSHING with a special antiseptic solution rids the mouth of bacteria so they do not invade gums which may have been irritated during cleaning.
4. ANTIBIOTICS are usually required in veterinary dentistry since dental care is usually not requested or suggested until tooth and gum disease is already present.
5. FLUORIDE TREATMENT, the final step in the dental prophylaxis, strengthens the enamel and decreases the rate of plaque buildup.