PROMOTING DENTAL HEALTH

February is National Pet Dental Health Month!

Dental Healthcare is critically important for your pet, and February is National Pet Dental Health Month. We are pleased to be offering our patients an exciting Dental Health Promotion through the end of March.

Read on to learn more!

At Centre Street Animal Hospital, we are switching to a more human-based dentistry style in order to:

  • Preserve the safety of our patients
  • Facilitate better planning of a medical or oral surgical plans, resulting in a better outcome for the patient and all the medical caregivers
  • Support improved communication and financial planning

As with other health considerations, we seek to partner with you to provide preventative care, to ensure the vitality and long life of your pet.

Our Dental Promotion

Let’s Rejoice on Preventative Medicine!

Our National Pet Dental Health Month Promotion is being offered for a significantly discounted, flat fee for dentistry procedures including:

  • The initial Oral Examination (see below).
  • Everything related to the general anesthetic including the IV fluids, medications, advanced manual and electronic monitoring of the blood pressure, EKG, blood gases, pulse oximetry.
  • The full Dental Cleaning (see below) and prophylaxis, include ultrasonic and manual scaling, polishing and fluoride application, as well as hospitalization, advanced technology patient warming, hospitalization and all post-op medications.

Please Note: If oral pathology is noted during these routine procedures, dental x-rays will be advised as needed and will involve additional costs. The presence of oral pathology during the dental cleaning may warrant oral surgery or specialty attention. Upon discharge, an estimate of oral surgery or preparations for a referral to a specialized dental practice will be discussed. A follow-up appointment should be scheduled one to six weeks from the dental prophylaxis appointment.

By breaking down these procedures, we ensure a more accurate assessment, better hospital planning, and ultimately better patient care.

What Can You Expect

Typically, in an Oral Examination we perform, we look for: developmental anomalies, an accumulation of plaque and tartar, periodontal disease and oral tumors. Sometimes, we will perform or recommend x-rays of the teeth to help detect any abnormalities.

The dental exam and evaluation will also include a pre-anesthetic blood screen if you are thinking of having your pet’s teeth cleaned. We need to be sure your pet is healthy before administering anesthetic. Although complications resulting from modern anesthetic are rare, we require a blood screen within the last 4 months as part of an anesthetic safety evaluation.

This also sets a baseline for your pet’s health to be included in his or her file. If your pet ever becomes ill in the future, we run more blood work and compare the results to the baseline screen. It also informs us of any effect to the organs that previous poor dental hygiene may have caused.

Dental Cleaning

To Keep Teeth Strong and Healthy!

This is what we are trying to get away from-dentistry and oral surgery or advanced dental/specialty procedures.

During a dental cleaning, we scale and polish your pet’s teeth to remove plaque and calculus, just as dentists perform this work on your teeth.

An anti-plaque substance, such as a fluoride treatment, is applied as a barrier sealant. These applications help strengthen and desensitize teeth making it easier for your pet to chew their food properly and decrease the frequency of need for future dental procedures.

INTERESTING DENTAL FACTS & FIGURES

Be in the know!

  • Neglecting dental care results in residual bacteria on the teeth, which will lead to:
    • Bad breath
    • Tarter
    • Red, swollen gums
    • Excessive salivation
    • Abnormal eating habits
    • Lack of energy
    • Damage to internal organs
  • If left untreated, this bacteria can reach your pet’s vital organs through the bloodstream.
  • You need to ensure regular brushing and the use of quality dental care products (such as chews) to help promote good oral hygiene in your pet.
  • The American Animal Hospital Association reports that proper dental care may add as many as 5 years to your pets life.