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February 2021

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NATIONAL VETERINARY DENTAL MONTH EDITION Periodontal disease and why we should care about it Why your pet needs professional teeth cleaning annually Dental Home Care made easy Discounted Program Sign up Through March 15th - pricing information In Other News Cutest pet contest with Los Angeles Magazine Allergic to cats? Fix it with special cat food

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FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL VETERINARY DENTAL MONTH

This is a time for awareness of this very significant and often forgotten aspect of pet health care. To bring the importance of oral health to the forefront, we offer deep discounts in the teeth cleaning process as well as educational materials. Here we present the Dental Edition of our Newsletter:

PERIODONTAL DISEASE AND WHY WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT

(original graphic by marvistavet.com)

Periodontal disease literally means disease around the tooth. Food, bacteria (which together form plaque) and even hair get trapped in the small space between the gum and the tooth. This material mineralizes in a few days into tartar and clings to the tooth surface digging down further in the gum causing sensitivity and inflammation. More food and bacteria collect until the attachment of the tooth is destroyed along with the local bone. If the teeth are crowded (as in a small dog's mouth), the entire jaw bone can be eaten away. The consequences of periodontal disease are:

All this is true whether you are a dog, a cat, a person or any other animal. This the disease we are aiming at when we brush our teeth and use mouthwashes. It is why we are supposed to see the dentist twice a year for cleaning

Most people never do any sort of dental home care for their pets so it is not surprising that many pet mouths are in bad shape when dentistry is recommended and tooth extractions are common. We hope that by improving awareness, this trend can be reversed and we can end up with healthier mouths and more maintenance cleanings.

WHY DOES A PET NEED A FULL SIX STEP TEETH CLEANING ONCE A YEAR

Proper teeth cleaning is a bit of a production. For one thing, the pet has to have general anesthesia which, in turn, means some blood testing prior, plus special monitoring equipment and personnel. Many people wonder why they can't just get non-anesthetic dentistry from one of numerous services. While these services are not without merit, they do not provide what is needed as it is not possible to do without dental radiography and it is not possible to do dental radiography without anesthesia.

• Periodontal disease (see above) is graded and evaluated based on the dental xray.
• The bulk of the tooth disease is happening at the root which is not visible and the decision to extract or not rides heavily on those findings.
• Extractions cannot readily be performed on an awake patient. This is precision work with sharp instruments, not to mention the stitches that must be placed.
• Measuring and cleaning out the periodontal spaces cannot be done on an awake patient.

Here is the American College of Veterinary Dentistry Statement on non-anesthetic dentistry:

https://afd.avdc.org/

Proper teeth cleaning involves: Dental Radiographs, Cleaning the teeth (the crowns), Measuring and cleaning the periodontal spaces, polishing the teeth, disinfecting the mouth, and creating a proper dental chart for the record.

Here is a video from one of our colleagues:

HOW CAN WE EASILY DO HOME CARE FOR OUR PET'S TEETH

Most of us brush our teeth at least once a day and see the dentist for cleaning at least once a year. There are all sorts of dental product options: brushing, gum, mouthwash, flosses and the list goes on. The human dentists can direct human patients to do whatever is best and the consensus is that brushing is best and the same is true for pets.

Brushing allows for toothbrush bristles to pick out all the bits of food and bacteria from the periodontal spaces and from the area between teeth. It takes a couple of days for plaque to mineralize into tartar that must be professionally scaled off so the goal is to remove the plaque before that happens if possible. This means brushing your pet's teeth 2-3 times per week.

See the AVMA video on how to brush your pet's teeth:

YOU DON'T NEED TO BRUSH THE INNER SURFACE OF THE TEETH
(THE PET'S SALIVA WILL HANDLE THAT PART).

NOT EVERYONE'S SCHEDULE WILL WORK WITH THAT AND NOT EVERY PET WILL ACCEPT THAT:

This is where other products come in.

• Water Additives go right into the drinking water to reduce plaque formation.
• Oravet gel - applied at the gum line once a week with a swab.
• Special dental chews (remember not to substitute bones, antlers or hooves as these will break teeth) such as Oravet, CET or Greenies but they must be used daily.
• Dental diets with special kibbles to help remove plaque.

Look for the VOHC (Veterinary Oral Health Council) Seal of Approval to know you are using a product proven to be effective and make sure you at least do one of these things.

VISIT   VOHC.ORG   to see what has been approved.

WHAT IS THE SPECIAL AND HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?

25% DISCOUNT
on lab work, anesthesia, cleaning, xrays, and extractions

• Every pet will need some kind of blood testing before anesthesia. Senior pets need a full panel while younger healthy animals are OK with a mini-panel. Many people like to run their senior pet's annual lab work during National Veterinary Dental Month so as to get a substantial discount.
• Anesthesia is needed to do a proper cleaning and this is also discounted. Intravenous fluid support and assorted monitoring equipment is included plus each pet has a dedicated anethesia technician whose soul job is to monitor and run the anesthesia for the procedure. (In other words, the dental hygienist does the cleaning and a separate anesthesia technician runs the anesthesia).
• A full mouth set of dental xrays is taken to evaluate each tooth. This is included in the discount.
• The cleaning as described above is discounted.
• Extractions are also discounted but it is very difficult to know which (if any) teeth need to be extracted until the xrays are taken. This makes an accurate estimate challenging especially if the mouth is in bad shape.

Most Dogs: $408.00

Most Cats: $436.50

Most Seniors: $686.25

Extractions not included in above estimates for reasons explained above

Ask our Receptionist to put together a dental estimate for your pet.

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TO HELP BRING YOUR PET THE BEST POSSIBLY CARE.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Los Angeles Magazine launches a search for the cutest pet. Is it yours? It costs $25 to enter the contest with the photo of your choice. Proceeds go to SPCALA. Winner is announced June 11, 2021 but photos remain on display for the entire year. You have until March 10, 2021 to submit a photo. Voting begins March 11, 2021 and extends through April 8th, 2021. Prize is a professional photoshoot and feature in L.A. Magazine https://www.lamag.com/petfest

(Photocredit: Morguefile.com)

KNOW ANYONE ALLERGIC TO CATS?

People are allergic to the Fel d1 allergen that comes from the cat's mouth. The cat licks itself and spreads the allergen all over its body. What if the allergen could be captured in the cat's mouth before it is licked all over the fur? It turns out that there is cat food designed to do just that. An egg-based protein has been developed to bind and inactivate Fel d1 in the mouth which makes the cat about 47% less allergenic after about 2 weeks. This will hopefully be able to open up more homes to cats and help cats and humans improve their relationships in households were humans are cat allergic. Yes we stock this diet. It is called Purina Pro Plan Live Clear and it is available in Turkey or chicken flavored kibble.    For more information visit: www.purina.com/pro-plan/cats/liveclear-cat-allergen-reducing-food

(Photocredit: Morguefile.com)

DON'T FORGET TO "LIKE" US ON FACEBOOK SO YOU CAN GET TIPS AND LINKS

TO HELP BRING YOUR PET THE BEST POSSIBLY CARE.

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