Pets that come to Steele Creek Animal Hospital for dental care receive a preanesthesia evaluation including a physical exam and appropriate pre-anesthetic laboratory work. For senior pets, additional tests including chest radiographs, ECG and/or urinalysis may be necessary. After all tests have been run, an intravenous catheter is positioned and the pet is anesthetized. A doctor and technician attend the dental patient, managing anesthesia and performing the dental procedure. Patients are monitored using pulse oximetry, body temperature, blood pressure and cardiac oscilloscope.

Dental procedures follow this general outline:

1. The Dr. evaluates the patient's mouth for any dental or soft tissue problems.
2. The patient's teeth are cleaned with ultrasonic and/or rotosonic cleaner.
3. Each tooth is examined for presence of periodontal pockets, fractures, mobility-- and in cats, cervical line lesions (i.e., cavities)
4. Dental radiographs are taken where any surgical disease is suspected
5. Pain medication is administered systemically or by intraoral nerve blocks if periodontal surgery is to be performed. (Periodontal surgery includes gingivectomies, periodontal flaps and extractions.)
6. Teeth are polished thoroughly
7. Periodontal treatment gel is applied if gingiva is diseased. This gel is impregnated with doxycycline to promote healing of infected gingival
8. Fluoride gel is applied to decrease sensitivity and strengthen teeth
9. Patients receive appropriate antibiotic therapy before, during and after dental procedures
10. Owners are encouraged to follow up with regular dental home care.

Some of our favorite comments after dental procedures:

• "He feels so good.I had no idea how much his mouth must have been bothering him."
• "She has started chewing her rawhides again!"
• "He gives great kisses now"
• "Look at his hair coat. He's grooming himself again."

We have a variety of home care products available, including CET dental hygiene spray, tooth paste, finger brushes, cat & dog toothbrushes and CET chews for dogs & cats.

At Steele Creek Animal Hospital, we feel it is very important that our clients realize the impact dental care can have on their pets overall health. An infection in your pet's mouth is just like one in his kidney, heart, liver or lung. His body becomes stressed as it tries to chronically fight that infection. The infection can easily spread from the very vascular gums throughout the body via the bloodstream. Dental infections are responsible for about 80% of heart valve disease resulting in heart murmurs.

Cats have a unique oral disease referred to as cervical line disease, neck lesions, "cavities" or osteoclastic lesions. This is an inflammatory disease process whereby the tooth actually resorbs, often at or below the gum line, and eventually breaks. These lesions are quite painful. We see these inflammatory lesions in approximately 10% of our cat patients. The cause of this disease is yet to be fully understood but may be diet related, associated with other viral diseases, and/or precipitated by gingival inflammation associated with dental calculus buildup.

Click Here to start your pet's dental program today

Thank you.
The Veterinarians and Staff at Steele Creek Animal Hospital