Our Dental Services

Dental Care for Pets

"So Mandy has bad teeth. What's the big deal? She's not even acting like they hurt!"

Don?t be surprised if you just found yourself thinking that way hearing that your dog needs dental care! It's a common response. Sadly, 30+ years ago, even many veterinarians used that same line. In some places it?s still heard today.

Fortunately for our pets we?ve gotten smarter over the years! We?ve learned to see past the ?I?m fine!? act that most pets put on even when their mouths are a dental disaster, filled with painful disease. It's really pretty simple, imagine walking around with just one cavity or abscessed tooth! How happy would you be? Then multiply that by 3 or 4, add in a bad infection and you can begin to imagine how pets with serious dental problems feel.

Prevention is the Key!

Dental disease in pets is no fun for either the pet or you, the owner. For them it's a disease that slowly eats away at their quality of life. It gradually worsening until every day is a struggle. That ends up being a double-edged sword that cuts you by harming both your pet and your bank account. It is often very costly to treat advanced dental disease!

Clearly dental disease is one of those "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!" type problems. It's really pretty simple. Brushing costs little. Advanced dental disease and cost well over a thousand dollars to treat, and the number does not include the pain and suffering endured by the pet!

We work on Prevention with our clients, starting when we first see the pets as puppies or kittens.This focus on prevention continues with every office visit. We want to make sure that you understand what you can do to help your pet avoid painful and costly dental disease.

 Click here for information on preventing dental disease. 

When Treatment for Dental Disease is Needed

Unfortunately for some dogs and cats, just like for many people, home preventative care isn?t enough. Plaque and tartar build up and periodontal disease becomes a problem. They develop serious dental disease in spite of all that?s done at home. These pets need professional dental care. They need to go to the "dentist"!

"OK Mandy has bad teeth. I was told that she needs treatment. What is going to happen?"
Simply put, that depends on what you do decide to do!


What Happens if You Decide to Do Nothing:

-        If your pet has early periodontal disease, the disease will get worse. The patient will start to have oral pain. After many months or years of living with an unhappy mouth, some/many/all of your pet's teeth will fall out

-         If your pet has late stage periodontal disease, the dental pain your pet has felt for years will continue for months or years until all the affected teeth fall out.

-        If your pet has dental resorptive lesions, which are like cavities for us, your pet will continue to feel pain. Eventually the tooth will fall apart, leaving your pet continuing to feel pain.

-         If your pet has a fractured tooth that exposes the pulp cavity, the tooth will hurt until it dies. It will then start to hurt again when it develops a root abscess, which many/most of them eventually do. That pain will continue until, if the pet is lucky, the tooth falls out. If the tooth never falls out, the pain will continue forever.

 

Bottom line is that waiting means your pet?s dental disease gets worse and more expensive to treat. Meanwhile, your pet remains in pain.

 

What Happens During Treatment?

  • Your pet is admitted into the hospital the morning of the procedure. 95% of our dental patients are able to go home later that afternoon or early evening.

 

  • Pre-anesthetic blood tests are run in most cases.

 

  • Your pet is given an injection of a narcotic pain killer and a tranquilizer. These drugs help your pet relax and also minimize the amount of anesthetic drugs used.

 

  • We insert an indwelling IV catheter and IV fluids are started. This makes the procedure safer and more comfortable for your pet.

 

  • Your pet is put under anesthesia.

 

  • We complete the diagnostic work needed for us to know exactly what type of treatment your pet needs by performing another oral examination and getting dental x-rays.. We began the diagnostic work with the oral exam performed while you and your pet were in the exam room. That awake examination showed enough disease that we knew treatment was needed. Unfortunately, unlike most of us humans, dogs and cats will not let us do a full dental exam and x-rays while they are awake. That means we need to wait until this point to know exactly what treatments you pet needs.

 

  1. We complete the needed treatment.
    2.

     

    We have both the skills and equipment to provide great dental care!

    Here's a list of pages with information on how we'll treat your pets dental problems. Click on them to go to that page!

         Comprehensive Oral Health Package.  This gives you very detailed information on what is done.

         Dental x-rays. Here you will learn just how important these x-rays are to you and your pet!

         Oral surgery. This is what we hope we don't need to do. Remember "Prevention is the Key"? Oral surgery is where we end up when prevention fails.

 

 

We provide great dental care for the pets of
Olean, Portville, Wellsville, Bradford, Cuba, Smethport and Coudersport!