Veterinary Dental Cleanings

At Arizona Veterinary Dental Specialists, your pet’s cleaning includes:

  • Complete oral exam and consultation from one of our board-certified veterinary dental specialists
  • All pre-anesthetic blood work – We test all organ function prior to anesthesia to identify any abnormalities or risks
  • IV fluids, general anesthesia, and electronic monitoring – We are highly experienced in pet anesthesia. Your pet’s anesthesia will be individualized to their specific needs and will be closely monitored throughout the entire process.
  • Digital dental x-rays – Dental radiographs allow us to get a full picture of your pet’s mouth and identify periodontal disease, fractured teeth, or oral cancer that is not visible without x-rays
  • Thorough and professional teeth cleaning (prophy) and polishing
  • Copies of dental x-rays, EKG, dental, and anesthetic charts
  • Peace of mind knowing your pet is receiving a comprehensive dental cleaning that can prevent future dental disease and save costs down the road

Pet Dentistry FAQs

Broken or fractured teeth are a common finding in veterinary practices. Objects that are notorious for breaking teeth include cow hooves, real bones, rocks, ice, large knotted rawhides, and hard plastic/nyla-bones. The result is often the fracture of a tooth that may or may not extend into the pulp canal of the tooth. The pulp canal is the chamber within the tooth that houses the pulp tissue, blood vessels, and nerves. If the fracture exposes the pulp canal, the tooth will be acutely painful. However, most pets do not show obvious signs of tooth pain even when there is severe dental disease. These pets will typically chew on the other side of the mouth or avoid using the broken tooth until the nerve dies in a matter of weeks to months. Once the nerve dies, the open pulp canal is an area that food, saliva, debris, and bacteria enter the tooth resulting in an infection of the pulp tissue. The root of the tooth then becomes infected and will eventually abscess. The pain associated with the broken tooth changes from an acute pain to a chronic pain. Antibiotics will help control the infection temporarily, but the problem recurs after discontinuing the medication. The infection will persist until the source of the infection, the infected pulp, is removed either by extracting the tooth or by root canal therapy. We advise root canal treatment for most abscessed teeth.

Periodontal disease is considered by many veterinarians to be the most common disease that affects pets. Most cats and dogs develop plaque, calculus, and gingivitis by the time they are one year of age. Lack of oral hygiene is probably the most significant reason for the development of periodontal disease in companion animals. Periodontal disease results in inflammation and destruction of the tissues around the tooth. The periodontal tissues include the gums, connective tissue, and alveolar bone (tooth socket). Gingivitis, the inflammation of the gums, is the first stage of periodontal disease. As periodontal disease progresses, there is destruction of tissue attachment between tooth and the surrounding tissues. There is visible inflammation and the loss of bone around the tooth. The loss of gum tissue attachment and bone results in “pockets” of disease below the gum line, which is called periodontal disease. Untreated periodontal disease is a constant source of infection for the rest of the body. Eventually, it leads to weakened areas of bone, mobile teeth, and tooth loss. Keeping your pets teeth clean is the best way to treat and prevent periodontal disease. Because the periodontal disease is hidden below the gum line, a professional teeth cleaning with dental x-rays under anesthesia is the only way to properly diagnose and treat periodontal disease.

Most veterinarians perform general dental examinations, teeth cleaning, and extraction of diseased teeth. A veterinary dentist is a veterinarian that has completed additional training and board certification in dentistry. Since the veterinary dentist is trained in oral surgery, medicine, and dentistry, a wide range of special treatment options can be offered for dogs and cats with oral and dental problems. In some instances, a veterinary dentist can offer alternatives to tooth extraction not available at a general veterinary office.

A complete dental examination, teeth cleaning, and dental x-rays cannot be performed on a dog or cat without anesthesia. Groomers or other organizations that claim to clean a pet’s teeth do not clean between the teeth, under the gum-line, or take x-rays of the teeth. Not cleaning these areas will lead to chronic periodontal disease. This chronic infection under the gum line will lead to abscessed teeth and can harm the heart, kidneys, and other vital organ systems. Anesthesia is most clients’ number one concern and most common reason for resisting having dental procedures done on their pets. We recognize this is a legitimate concern for pet owners and try to make every attempt to make anesthesia as safe as possible. A board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist, Dr. Victoria Lukasik, is available at our office for consultation. She is available for high-risk patients with special anesthesia needs.

We frequently meet pet owners that are worried about anesthesia since another veterinarian has previously told them that their pet was “too old for anesthesia.” Let’s consider the facts with regard to age and anesthesia risks, age is not a disease and does not directly reflect health status. We all know of healthy older people and pets as well as young people with poor health. Our doctors prefer to evaluate each pet individually to accurately assess health status. Anesthesia is individualized for patients based on their health. Health problems are addressed with well-planned anesthesia protocols. Our doctors choose anesthetic drugs based on the pet’s health status to help avoid problems with anesthesia.

Fortunately, patients with health problems can have safe anesthesia and receive excellent dental care! The risks of anesthesia are substantially reduced by the veterinary professionals providing care. Anesthetic-related deaths in pets is estimated to be less than 1%. The likelihood of pain and suffering from untreated disease approaches 100%. We prefer to treat dental disease to avoid unnecessary suffering. It is well worth the risk! Do we want our companions to live a long life with chronic pain? The services of a board-certified anesthesiologist are available at our office if requested or needed.

This FAQ content also can be found on our partner’s website Arizona Veterinary Dental Specialists