A Healthy Mouth Determines Your Pet’s Overall Health.
Dr. Andrea is very passionate about providing dental care for her patients! Dental disease is extremely common in cats and dogs, but as most ‘suffer in silence’, owners are not aware. Having a healthy mouth is extremely important to good overall health, as well as comfort. Even though our pets don’t demonstrate pain in the same way, we can imagine how we would feel if our mouths were in similar shape. It’s worth repeating – they don’t express pain in the same way, but they still feel it!
Dr. Andrea has completed additional training in dentistry, and is skilled in routine and complex surgical extractions, and oral mass removals. She is part of the International Veterinary Dental Institute Veterinary Dental Practitioner’s Program.
Periodontal disease is the most common condition affecting cats and dogs, and can start at a very young age. Without intervention, this will lead to tooth decay and loss – not to mention discomfort. A COHAT, or Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment and Treatment, allows us to do a thorough assessment including intra-oral dental radiographs under anesthetic, clean the teeth, and treat any problem areas. Our goal with early intervention is to save as many teeth as possible. Once disease has progressed too far, our only option is extraction.
A full anesthetic is required to do a proper cleaning and assessment – there is no substitute. Understandably, pet owners are nervous about anesthetic, just like during surgical procedures. We use the safest recommended protocols, and intensive monitoring, to ensure the safety of your pet. We are happy to discuss this in more detail during a pre-dental consult.
Other common findings include persistent ‘baby’ teeth that don’t fall out when they are supposed to, leading to crowding and escalated periodontal disease, as well as missing or unerupted teeth that can lead to damaging cyst formation. These are usually identified during the time of spay/neuter, and intervention is recommended.
Sometimes we run into cases where more advanced endodontic procedures are required, such as crown reduction and vital pulp therapy, or root canal, or orthodontics to correct a traumatic malocclusion. For these cases we have an excellent dental specialist that is able to travel to our clinic and do the procedure.
For pet parents that are motivated to provide dental care at home, we recommend products listed on the Veterinary Oral Health Care site www.vohc.org. It is important to note that hard objects such as bones and antlers are never recommended as an option for your pet to chew on, due to the high risk of tooth fracture associated with these items.
We strongly recommend against utilizing the anesthetic free “cleaning” procedures offered at some grooming facilities. These procedures are very misleading as to what they actually accomplish, and falsely claim to be beneficial to your pet. The vast majority of the veterinary community views “anesthesia free dental procedures” as malpractice, animal abuse and fraud all rolled into one.
AFTER HOURS SUPPORT
Pet EmergenciesFor emergencies outside our clinic hours, please contact
Port Hope Veterinary Emergency Clinic & Services – 905.885.5321
The Kawartha Veterinary Emergency Hospital – 705.741.5832
Quinte Regional Pet Hospital – 613.968.9956