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The importance of Dental Health in our pets.

"Periodontal disease, an infection of the gums, is incredibly common in pets, and it can be quite serious," explains Dr. Niemiec, a board certified veterinary dental specialist. "It's estimated that by the age of two, 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats have some form of periodontal disease. Periodontal infections have been linked to diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and other life threatening disorders. The best way to prevent periodontal disease is by regularly brushing your pet's teeth and by regularly visiting your veterinarian."

Periodontal disease: Please note the red gum line along the back teeth where there is tartar build-up.

At our hospital we preform a dental examination every time we see your pet. We pride ourselves in providing superior dental care for your pet. If our doctors or technicians find anything that causes us to recommend a dental for your pet, ie: fractured tooth, severe gingivitis, dental tartar build up into calculus, tooth root abcesses, or resorptive lesions, the following Is what you can expect.

During our dental cleanings, we first scale off the tartar and calculus that has built up over the years. Second we evaluate the gum line and check for pockets and other subtle signs of abcessation of the teeth. If this evaluation raises any concerns, we routinely will take a digital dental radiograph to evaluate the root of the tooth.

This is a radiograph of a tooth root abcess: Appreciate the loss of bone around the tooth compared to the normal tooth (canine tooth) to the right.

If there is abcessation we have to perform a dental extraction, which for multi-rooted teeth requires drilling to section the teeth, as well as sutures to close the site. For canine teeth this regularly requires a surgical extraction where oral surgery is required to ensure proper healing of the extraction site.

If there is no abcess, but a significant pocket we will apply a long acting antibiotic that will help the gum to re-adhear to the tooth and seal the pocket while preventing abcessation.

After cleaning, extractions, and treatment of pockets if necessary, the remaining teeth are polished with a special sealant to prevent bacteria and tartar from developing on the teeth.

After dental cleaning we always recommend regular brushing of your pets teeth with special animal toothpaste (some human toothpastes can be toxic to animals). We also suggest CET dental rawhide chews that are specially formulated with enzymes to prevent bacteria on the teeth, as well as other CET products. We also recommend the T/D diet by Hills which is engineered to keep your animals teeth healthy. Please ask one of our staff members to discuss all of our dental items with you at our clinic.

Click here for a video on brushing your pets teeth