BTAH

Dental cleanings are essential for maintaining your pet’s oral health and preventing dental disease. Upon scheduling a dental cleaning with us, you will drop off your fasted pet early in the morning. We recommend all our patients obtain blood work prior to anesthesia in order to ensure they are healthy and a good candidate for anesthesia. After your pet’s blood work has been reviewed by one of our veterinarians, we use an injectable agent to induce sedation. Your pet is then intubated using an endotracheal tube and anesthetized. During all dental cleanings, we monitor our patients’ vital signs, including heart rate and oxygen saturation in the blood.

Our dental cleanings are very thorough. We begin by charting your pet’s teeth- recording whether any teeth are missing, loose or require extraction. During this process, we also examine the mouth for abscesses, masses or other abnormalities. Sometimes dental x-rays are taken in order to assess tooth root health. After fully assessing a pet’s mouth, a technician uses a sonic scaler to remove plaque and bacteria from your pet’s teeth. This scaler can remove bacteria from both above and below the gum line. Once this is completed, your pet’s teeth are polished using a mint-flavored paste. Polishing serves to create a slick surface on teeth that temporarily protects them from plaque build-up. The last step of a dental cleaning involves applying a sealant to your pet’s teeth. Sealant serves to temporarily protect newly cleaned teeth from bacteria. Once the dental cleaning procedure is complete, we remove the patient from anesthetic gas. Your pet will slowly wake up approximately 5-10 minutes later. At this point, we will call you with updates on the procedure and the doctor’s findings. We monitor your pet throughout the day to ensure it is recovering from the procedure well.

In the afternoon, when you arrive at our clinic to pick up your pet, a veterinarian or technician will thoroughly discuss post-procedure instructions. Antibiotics and pain medications may be sent home depending on the severity of plaque on your pet’s teeth and whether or not any teeth were removed. We will also help you create a dental home care plan to maintain your pet’s clean and healthy teeth. Dental home care can include daily brushing of your pet’s teeth, dental hygiene chews, and tartar control treats.