Dental Care
Imagine if you never brushed your teeth or had them cleaned. Pretty frightening, right? As you can imagine, things would eventually start to go very, very bad inside your mouth: teeth would rot and decay, gums would become inflamed and infected. Bacteria from those rotting teeth would eventually travel into your bloodstream and could cause other serious health problems. And we haven’t even mentioned the daily, debilitating pain.
It’s the same scenario for your dog or cat. While some people might laugh at the idea of brushing their pet’s teeth or taking them for a dental cleaning, the fact is that by age three, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some evidence of periodontal disease. Periodic dental exams help maintain proper oral hygiene and prevent future problems.
Importance of Dental Care
Dental care is very important to your pet’s health. Dental disease can affect more than your dog or cat’s mouth. It may lead to serious health problems such as heart or lung disease.
How we do Dental Cleanings at Stanley Veterinary Clinic in Overland Park:
- All patients have presurgical blood work in order to ensure they are healthy enough for anesthesia.
- I.V. catheters are placed and Propofol is used to induce anesthesia. We then start I.V. fluids, thermal support and hook them up on a monitor. We measure blood pressure, body temperature, blood oxygen, and CO2 levels.
- Full mouth radiographs or a dental C.T. scan are included in all of our dental procedures.
- A complimentary brief abdominal ultrasound is performed. We scan the kidneys, spleen, liver, and bladder. On several scans performed, disease was detected at an early stage.
- If extractions are needed, we will call you to discuss before we continue. Local nerve blocks are performed and all patients go home on pain medication of inicated.
- Cold therapy laser is performed on all dentals.
Following American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines, Stanley Veterinary Clinic only does cleanings and dental work on anesthetized pets. To ensure your pet is healthy enough to undergo anesthesia, we do require a routine blood test before the procedure.
Preventive Dental Care
Brushing your pet’s teeth several times per week is the best way to prevent plaque and tartar build-up. Interested in learning how to brush your pet’s teeth? Just ask and our veterinarians will be happy to help you get started. If you have a pet that won’t tolerate brushing, our veterinarians can also recommend products that will help keep your pet’s mouth healthy in between cleanings.
Did you know
… that dental disease is one of the most overlooked disease in pets. The disease can travel through the bloodstream if it is left untreated. This causes many potentially fatal problems, including heart, liver, and kidney disease.
The worst part of dental disease is the prevalence of the disease. It is estimated that around 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats over three years old have some form of the disease. Even when pets are extremely well taken care of, the number of those suffering from dental disease is astonishing.
Some common signs of dental disease:
- Discolored teeth
- Bad breath
- Difficulty eating
- Blood in the mouth
What You Can Do To Prevent Dental Disease In Your Pet
We believe that the disease is so prevalent because many owners don’t understand the importance of good dental health.
Key steps to protecting your pet’s dental health:
- Brush your pet’s teeth
- Dental Chews
- Routine examinations
What Happens During a Dental Exam?
Your pet’s veterinarian will look inside your pet’s mouth to try to catch any disease early. They are also there to give owners advice on the best way to care for their pet’s teeth.
Your pet’s Overland Park veterinarian may recommend a professional dental cleaning under anesthesia. We clean your pet’s teeth as your dentist cleans yours. Since your pet is under anesthesia, we can even get underneath the gums and in other hard-to-reach places.
It is important to maintain teeth brushing and dental chews to keep dental disease from coming back after a professional cleaning.
Pet Dental Cleaning in Overland Park, KS
For more information or to schedule your dog or cat dental cleaning, call us at (913) 897-2080 or contact us online.
