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DENTAL SPECIAL ISSUE February/March 2024 Monthly Newsletter Would you like an eMail each month when this page is updated? Click here and ask to be notified whenever a new “What’s New” page is added.

THE 2024 DENTAL SPECIAL IS UNDERWAY

20% OFF TEETH-CLEANING,

PRE-ANESTHETIC LAB WORK,

AND EXTRACTIONS

DENTAL X-RAYS NOW INCLUDED 

DON'T MISS OUT    

CLICK HERE FOR PRICING

YOU MUST SIGN UP BY MARCH 15TH, TO GET THE DISCOUNT

CALL NOW: 310-391-6741

What's Included and Pricing Why Pets Need Teeth Cleaning What's Involved In Teeth Cleaning Home Care Options Using Pet Insurance To Pay For Teeth Cleaning

TO OBTAIN SPECIAL PRICING YOU MUST CALL BEFORE MARCH 15TH, 2024

WHAT'S INCLUDED AND PRICING

20% OFF PRE-DENTAL LABWORK, GENERAL ANESTHESIA AND TEETH CLEANING

mini panels for younger pets

complete blood panel/urinalysis for older pets

heart disease screening blood test when appropriate (Now recommended for all cats and all senior pets)

GENERAL ANESTHESIA INCLUDING:

intravenous fluids

pulse oximetry

EKG

blood pressure monitoring

dedicated anesthesia technician throughout the procedure                                                         

DENTAL RADIOGRAPHY (X-RAYS)

Teeth are imaged to assess root structure, bone attachment, or positioning

SIX STEP TEETH CLEANING

ultrasonic and hand scaling

periodontal pocket measurement

root planing as needed

polishing

disinfection and Oravet^® gel application

complete dental chart

CATS RECEIVE A SAMPLE BAG OF ROYAL CANIN DENTAL DIET

DOGS RECEIVE A SAMPLE OF THREE ORAVET DENTAL CHEWS

To Insure the Discounted Price
You Must Call and Schedule
You Pet's Appointment
By March 15, 2024
(The actual cleaning date may be later, but that later date
must be in the appointment book by March 15, 2024)

WHY CLEAN YOUR PET'S TEETH?

FLIP THE LIP: CONSIDERING YOUR PET'S TEETH

(Photocredit: SonofErat via Wikimedia Commons)

Go ahead. Lift up your pet's upper lip. Opening the mouth is unnecessary. Just lift up the lip and see how the teeth look. Are they white and clean with smooth pink gums or are there brownish deposits of tartar extending from the gums halfway up the teeth? If the tartar situation is advanced, there may be teeth that are completely encased in tartar. How is your pet's breath? If you see tartar deposits and your pet's breath is unpleasant, it is time to consider teeth cleaning. Periodontal disease is significant in 85% of dogs and cats over age 3 years. This means that there is a good chance your pet needs a teeth cleaning. Most pets need their teeth cleaned annually.

ORAL HEALTH AFFECTS THE ENTIRE BODY Plaque is the mixture of saliva, bacteria, and food particles that bathes each tooth. We brush it away every time we brush our teeth. If we don't brush our teeth, the plaque mineralizes into tartar in a matter of hours, usually around the neck of the tooth (where the tooth emerges from the gum line). If the tartar is not cleaned away, it will continue to deposit on the tooth and destroy the attachment of the tooth causing pain and loss of chewing function. But all those bacteria in the mouth seed the rest of the body whenever the pet chews. The immune system handles it pretty well but all that infectious material is looking for a place to lodge elsewhere in the body. Alternatively, the infection travels the length of the tooth root and weakens the bone leading to broken jaw, chronic nasal discharge and/or sneezing.

(Photocredit: Morguefile.com)

WHAT'S INVOLVED IN TEETH CLEANING

AND WHY IS GENERAL ANESTHESIA NEEDED?

	Before Teeth Cleaning		After Teeth Cleaning

To properly clean the pet's mouth, full access to all the teeth is needed. The pet will need to allow very delicate exploration under the gum line with pointed instruments, flushing with water, and the sound of the ultrasonic scaler and low speed polisher, just as you do when you see your own dentist. Unfortunately, we can't simply explain this to your dog or cat and expect them to hold their mouth open and allow this kind of manipulation. General anesthesia allows for painless extraction of rotten teeth, fear-free cleaning and polishing, and thorough examination and cleaning of each individual tooth. Here are the six steps involved in professional cleaning:

1.       2.		The teeth are scaled with an ultrasonic scaler similar to the scaler your own dentist uses.    Once tartar is removed from the teeth, the periodontal space (the space where the tooth and gum meet) is probed and any debris containing pockets are measured for depth.
3.		Radiographs are taken to assess dental bone attachment vs. periodontal bone destruction, need for extraction, and other structural evaluations.
4.		These pockets are cleaned and the tooth roots are cleaned with a hand instrument called a dental curet.
5. 6.		The teeth are polished with prophy paste the same way your teeth are polished at the dentist. A protective covering of OraVet® paste is applied to prevent plaque from forming on the newly cleaned tooth. This lasts a week or so. Any periodontal pockets are filled with an antibiotic gel.
7.		A complete dental chart is made listing any abnormalities found on each tooth individually.

General anesthesia is performed with intravenous fluid support, a dedicated anesthesia monitoring technicians, a custom protocol for each patient based on individual blood test and examination results. Respect anesthesia but do not fear it. Do not allow your pet's mouth to become painful or infected because you fear it.

Still worried?

Read what the AVMA says:

www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/Whenyourpetneedsanesthesia.aspx

Pets are thoroughly evaluated and screened for potential anesthetic risks. Dentistry is a low risk/high benefit procedure which we perform routinely on pets of all ages.

DENTAL HOME CARE OPTIONS

WHAT CAN I DO AT HOME TO MAINTAIN MY PET'S ORAL HEALTH

Nothing works as well as brushing. The tooth brush picks out particles of food and debris from the gum line and cleans plaque off the tooth. If this is done at least three times weekly, a spectacular amount of tartar deposition can be completely prevented. Special brushes are made to fit the angles of the pet's mouth and special flavored tooth pastes are available.

How to brush your pet's teeth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6S50BZU1D0

Most pets never get their teeth brushed with any regularity and that is unlikely to change.

As much as we wish our pets’ teeth could be easily brushed, it just never seems to work out that way and convenience becomes paramount.

HOME CARE FOR DOGS

 ORAVET^® DENTAL CHEWS

This year’s dental special features Oravet^® Dental Chews for dogs. This new product is sized specifically to fit in the dog’s mouth and is of a consistency that encourages rolling the treat around inside the mouth to cover all surfaces of the teeth. The product contains chlorophyll for breath freshening as well as a central area of delmopinol which not only removes plaque but prevents attachment of new plaque. For proper results, a treat is given daily. Partially eaten treats should be discarded. Chlorophyll can stain fabric so if your dog is a sloppy chewer, take care on where the chew is given.

Other chews are on the market and they are all helpful but these appear to have the most scientifically sophisticated approach to using a chew as a dental device.

For more information visit oravet.com

HOME CARE FOR CATS AND DOGS

 ORAVET GEL

Oravet also makes a gel (more like a wax) which can be applied weekly to the teeth (especially where the teeth meet the gum line) so as to prevent plaque attachment.

For more details visit oravet.com

DENTAL WIPES, RINSES, SPRAYS AND PADS Some animals, especially those with tender gums, will not tolerate brushing but are more amenable to disinfecting wipes or pads. These products will wipe off plaque deposits from the surface of the tooth and, though they lack the ability to pick food particles out of the gum socket, they are probably the next best thing to brushing and, like brushing, these products are best used daily.

(original graphic by marvistavet.com)

WATER ADDITIVES A couple of spoonfuls of dental water additives in your pet's drinking water help prevent plaque attachment and bad breath. This is not going to be as complete as brushing the teeth but it helps with redness and gingivitis similar to the way a mouth wash might work for a person. Some animals simply will not allow any sort of mouth manipulation and a dental water additive can be very helpful in this situation. Alternatively, the water additive product may be a good addition to a regimen using the other dental products.

(original graphic by marvistavet.com)

DENTAL DIETS

Several diet companies have created dental kibbles. These kibbles do not crack and shatter when chewed like normal dry foods do. Instead, dental kibbles crush around the tooth removing plaque as the tooth sinks into the kibble. Dental kibbles are inherently larger than regular food kibbles and can be mixed with regular food but the higher the proportion of dental kibbles, the better the results.

For more details on home care products, visit our periodontal disease library page.

HOW TO PAY EVEN LESS
WITH PET INSURANCE WELLNESS COVERAGE

There are many pet insurance companies but most do not offer "Wellness coverage". Wellness coverage refers to services that are an expected part of pet ownership: vaccinations, flea/parasite protection products, microchipping, spay/neuter, and - yes - teeth cleaning. If you have been considering pet insurance and are looking for a plan that covers wellness expenses in addition to accident/illness insurance, this may be a good time to sign up and have the insurance company pay for your pet's dental care.

To help compare policies that cover dentistry, please visit Pawlicy.com and choose the compare companies.

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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