Dentistry

Dental health is an vital part of your pet's overall health, and we recognize the three components of good dental care:

1) Prevention: Preventing a dental problem is always better than having to treat it. There are several things we recommend as part of your pet's preventative dental health plan.

Chews/Treats- we recommend and carry OraVet Chews, one of the few dental treats that is actually clinically proven to reduce plaque and improve breath.
Brushing the teeth- Considered by many veterinary dental experts to be the best way to keep the teeth healthy, we recommend and carry pet-specific toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Dental Diets- Certain prescription veterinary diets like Hills T/D are very helpful in cleaning the teeth and gums.
Routine Dental procedures- One of the best ways to keep your pet’s mouth healthy is to schedule routine cleanings to remove plaque and mild infection before they cause health problems.

Dental Chews

Teeth Brushing

Dental Diets

Dental Prophy Prodecure

Dental Cleaning Procedure

2) Diagnosis: We are one of the few local veterinary clinics with dedicated digital dental radiography. This means we can take x-rays of the teeth just like a human dentist. The advantage of this is that broken and infected teeth can be treated more thoroughly with less risk of recurrence, and diseases that begin under the gums can be diagnosed and treated earlier.

Feline Dentistry Dental Radiographs Dental disease cavaties infected teeth broken premolar

Canine Dentistry Dental Radiographs Fracture gum erosion infection problems tooth decay

To see additional dental radiographs, please see our Diagnostic Imaging page!

3) Treatment: With the aid of our dental x-ray capability, the doctors are able to perform extractions, biopsies, routine teeth cleanings, and many other dental procedures.

Common Dental Conditions:

Reasons not to Choose Anesthesia-Free Dentals for Your Pet:

Those that provide Anesthesia Free Dentistry or No Anesthesia Dentistry (NAD) would like you to believe by removing visible tartar from the teeth they are improving oral health. This is just not the case and the AVDC wants you to consider the following reasons not to choose an anesthesia-free dental for your pet:

Scaling (scraping surface of the tooth with an instrument) the plaque and tartar from the outside surfaces of the teeth does not remove the plaque and bacteria from beneath your pet’s gumline and does not decrease the risk of your pet getting periodontal disease. Consider this, the same level of “gross” build up you see on your pet’s teeth, is also thriving beneath their gumline where you can’t see it or the damage it’s doing. Cleaning and scaling below the gum line is most important because it’s where periodontal disease is most active. This can’t be done without anesthesia.
Anesthesia free dental cleanings require your pet to be restrained while the visible tartar is removed. In some cases this is stressful and painful. It is not fair to put your beloved dog or cat through the process without anesthesia.

Risk of Anesthesia Free Dental in Pets

Dental scaling prophylaxis pets risk of anesthesia free dentals

After years of anesthesia-free pet dental, this dog had lost so much bone structure due to undetected periodontal disease the probe goes through the entire jaw.

There are few visible signs of periodontal infection before it has progressed too far to treat and save teeth. Anesthesia is needed to best evaluate periodontal disease with the help of a dental probe and x-ray examination to truly sense what is going on below the gumline.
A thorough oral health exam can’t be done on a dog or cat that is awake. During a thorough oral health exam, all surfaces of your pet’s mouth are evaluated and radiographs are taken. This allows a veterinarian to identify painful problems including broken teeth, periodontal disease or even oral tumors. An oral health exam and x-rays can’t be done on an awake pet.
Teeth that have been scaled and not polished are a prime breeding ground for more bacteria growth which perpetuates oral disease.
Anesthesia free dental cleanings provide no benefit to your pet and do not prevent periodontal disease at any level. In fact, it gives you a false sense of security as a pet owner that because the teeth look whiter that they are healthier.
The costs of anesthesia-free dental cleanings are cheap to begin with. The ultimate costs to both your wallet, and pet’s dental health, are far more of an expense.

For more information on anesthesia-free dental procedures, please visit:

Useful Handouts:

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