Dental Services

What is a Professional Veterinary Dental Cleaning?

• As a pet owner, you have your pet’s best interest at heart and want to make the best choice for their care. When choosing your pet’s dental care, be sure to learn about a comprehensive veterinary dental cleaning, also known as a professional dental cleaning, and its long term benefits for your pet’s overall health.

What you can expect from a professional veterinary dental cleaning:

• A veterinary dental cleaning always begins with an initial awake oral exam of your dog or cat’s mouth by a veterinarian .  Your pet may then have blood drawn for analysis to identify any potential problems that the doctor needs to be aware of and to determine if the pet is healthy enough to undergo anesthesia.
• Your pet is anesthetized. This is what often worries most pet owners, however, under proper protocols anesthesia is very safe. We encourage pet owners to ask their veterinarian about their anesthesia protocol and experience prior to scheduling a procedure. 
• A complete oral exam while your pet is sedated. Common painful problems that could be identified are broken teeth and roots, periodontal disease, dead teeth, abscesses or infected teeth.

While under anesthesia, a comprehensive veterinary dental cleaning by a veterinary technician will include the following, without any pain or discomfort to your pet:

• A full cleaning under the gum-line where periodontal disease lurks. It would be impossible to clean this area on an awake dog or cat, but this is where periodontal disease begins with bacteria ‘living’ below the gum tissue.
• Professional scaling and polishing of the crown, or visible part of your dog or cat’s teeth. A veterinary cleaning does require scaling or scraping the tooth to remove plaque and calculus. Scaling is completed to remove plaque and tartar build-up on the tooth crown. Last, the teeth are polished leaving a completely smooth surface of the tooth which discourages plaque and bacteria from adhering to the rough tooth surface.

After recovery, your dog or cat is most often able to go home and unless an additional procedure has been done, your pet can eat and return to normal. 

Questions about anesthesia?