Canine and Feline Dental Procedure

Dental cleaning is an important part of your pet’s health.  Cleaning is not just a matter of making your pet’s breath smell better.  Proper cleaning reduces infection in the mouth and body.   Tartar accumulation left unattended will lead to gingivitis and periodontal disease.  As periodontal disease advances teeth become loose and infected.  This causes pain.  Pets usually will eat with periodontal disease, but they do not chew on the sore teeth.  You may notice your pet swallows its food whole, because chewing hurts.  Dental procedures to clean and treat teeth with periodontal disease will improve the health and quality of your pet’s life.

Your pet’s dental experience may begin with an exam.  You may have noticed a problem with your pet’s mouth, or we may point out a problem during a routine exam.  Next, you will schedule a time to have your pet anesthetized and the teeth examined more thoroughly and cleaned.  Dental procedures are usually done on Tuesdays and Fridays. 
  • Your pet needs to be fasted from food the night before and the morning of the procedure.  No food after midnight.   However, allow your pet to have water.  Make sure your pet can not get into the garbage or another pet’s food.  Make sure everyone in the household knows so there are no chances of your pet getting an unknown meal.  
  • Bring your pet to Emery Animal Health in the morning between 8:00 and 8:30am.  You should plan to spend about 15 to 20 minutes at the hospital to check in your pet.  We will discuss the procedure and the associated costs. 
  • Owners will leave your pet with us for the day and should plan to pick it up between 3:30 and 4:30pm.  Other arrangements may be made if requested.

At the check in time a technician will discuss the dental procedure and some options available.  As mentioned before, all patients to have a dental cleaning are anesthetized.  This allows us to do a thorough job.  
As we consider anesthesia there are some things that can be done to make the procedure as safe as possible. 
  • One is blood work.  Every anesthetized patient has a minimum of a CBC and Total Protein tests run on their blood.  These are a very general check and may detect some major problems such as infection, anemia and dehydration.   We recommend that all patients have a small serum chemistry panel .  These tests help check for things like, inflammation, blood sugar levels and organ dysfunction.  Disease processes like these may affect how your pet metabolizes and recovers from anesthesia.  Knowing if any of these problems exist will help us choose the safest anesthesia available.  Occasionally we may need to delay the procedure until a disease state is corrected or controlled.
  • I.V. fluids are also recommended for all anesthetized patients.  They are required at our hospital for patients older than seven years.  I.V. fluids help maintain adequate blood pressure in the body, which in turn keeps organs oxygenated.  All anesthetized patients have an I.V. Catheter placed at our hospital.  This is to administer anesthetic drugs through and will also be in place if needed because of an unexpected problem. 
  • Dental radiographs are also used to examine your pet’s teeth.  It is impossible to evaluate the extent of disease without dental x rays.  If dental x rays are not taken, we may miss disease that could have been treated while your pet was under anesthesia. 
  • The technician will also discuss treatment in your pet’s mouth.  Treatments are difficult to estimate before anesthesia,    x rays and exam.  Usually we will try to estimate the time treatment may take and tell you the associated cost estimate.  Treatments usually include oral surgery, either extracting teeth or surgery on the gums.   We need you to schedule the dental procedure for your pet on a day when you can be reached by phone during the procedure.
  • The technician will also discuss a dental vaccine that is available for dogs only. The vaccine works against bacteria that help cause gingivitis.

Leaving your pet for the whole day may seem like a long time to just get its teeth cleaned, but there are many things that happen while you are gone.  
After the technician has checked your pet in, gotten your phone number and taken care of paperwork, she will take your dog and get it settled in a hospital kennel.  
  • Soon pets have their blood drawn to run the test discussed above. 
  • Your pet will then have an I.V. catheter placed. 
  • After blood work is evaluated, your pet will be given some pre-anesthetic drugs.  These medications will help normalize heart rate during anesthesia, control pain, and sedate your pet An antibiotic is given to prevent any problems if bacteria enter the blood stream  from around the teeth while they are being cleaned. 
  • After this, an I.V. dose of induction anesthesia is given to enable intubation.  This is placing the breathing tube in your pet’s trachea.  Oxygen and anesthetic gas are delivered through the breathing tube to maintain anesthesia.   This also prevents your pet from inhaling debris that are aerosolized as the teeth are cleaned. 
  • Dental radiographs are then taken. 
  • The teeth are scaled and polished to clean all the tartar from the crown and just below the gum line.  The teeth are also examined for disease and dental radiographs evaluated.  Treatments are done if needed.  
  • A technician monitors your pet while under anesthesia checking the oxygen in your pet’s blood, its heart, blood pressure, pulse quality and depth of anesthesia. 
  • At the end of the procedure, your pet is watched carefully as it recovers.  It is extubated (the breathing tube removed) when swallowing on its own.  It is watched on a little bed while it recovers enough to be able to be safely placed back in its kennel. 
  • Pets are checked on several times once in their kennel,  and the I.V. catheter is removed later in the day.  It does take several hours to properly take care of your pet and recover it from anesthesia.

You will be given discharge instructions when you come to pick up your pet. 
  • Often if surgery was done in the mouth, your pet will need to be fed soft/canned food for about 5 days. 
  • Many dental patients are sent home with pain medicine and antibiotics to give.  Follow the directions and finish all of the medications. 
  • Sutures, if placed, will dissolve on their own. 
  • Your pet may cough for a few days because the breathing tube can irritate the trachea. 
  • Some pets have an upset stomach after anesthesia and may vomit or not want to eat right away.  Offer water later in the evening when your pet comes home.  If it drinks, then offer a few kibbles or a small amount of canned food and monitor for vomiting.  Do not be surprised if your pet’s appetite does not return to normal until the day after the dental or even the next day.
  • Please always call with your concerns.  
  • About 1 to 2 weeks after your pet’s dental procedure, begin brushing its teeth.   Brushing will help lengthen the time between needed dental cleanings, therefore saving you money and keeping your pet’s teeth healthier.

Emery Animal Health
Large and Small Animal Veterinary Services & Supplies