Dental Month

This month is Dental Month, and we encourage ALL owners of dogs and cats to examine the teeth and gums of their animals – looking for discolouration of the teeth, redness of the gums, swelling of the gums or just halitosis (bad breath). If your dog or cat has any of these changes – then we do recommend you contact us and make an appointment to either get the problem fixed or at least get the animal checked by one of our oral trained professionals.

Dental Month – discounted dental procedures

The normal procedure to deal with dental problems (which involves an anaesthetic, hospitalisation, service fees etc) normally costs over $720.00. But this month we are doing the procedure for $360.00 (if your animal is 8 years of age or older, we do demand a blood test before the anaesthetic. This blood test costs $105.00).

If there are teeth to be removed, if the vet needs to take x-rays, if the animal needs medication during or post procedure then there will be other costs – but we will not know that until we have examined and cleaned the teeth so we cannot quote that before the procedure. If there are more costs this would be explained to you BEFORE we proceed.

How important is oral care?

I personally feel that dental and oral problems are one of the biggest problems that our animal friends will face. I know a large percentage of big dogs will develop arthritis, I know a large percentage of small dogs will develop skin problems, I know a lot of cats will develop spinal degenerations, but I also know that nearly every dog or cat will develop some form of dental or oral problem.

Sometimes that problem is not catastrophic and does not cause major pain or discomfort to the animal, sometimes the problem only causes minor discomfort to the animal when the animal eats but in the majority of cases the oral and dental problem causes changes to the bone structure of the jaw, it causes pain and major discomfort to the animal especially at feeding times, it causes inflammation and chronic changes to the throat and windpipe, it causes the body’s immune system to work overtime trying to deal with the bacteria and toxins that enter the blood stream via the mouth.

Why should you care?

My advice to most owners who struggle with the idea that the mouth pathogens and the associated pain and discomfort can lead to serious body dysfunction – please have a discussion with your own dentist on the importance of maintaining good oral health.

Animal oral care and recommendations are not based on the animal having white teeth when smiling, these recommendations are based on keeping your animal healthy and happy and trying to maximize the life expectancy of the animal.

Dental and oral care is ongoing for the whole of the animal’s life

To the owners who have already experienced the benefits of having their animals’ teeth cleaned and gums treated – I say “Congratulations”, “Well done” and “Thank you” but I do want to remind all owners that unless you continue to keep the animal’s teeth clean by brushing or using the dental food – then the problems associated with tarter, and plaque will reoccur.

I will always remember a phone call I got when I was a young vet (and that seems like yesterday unless I look in the mirror when I am reminded that I have been a vet for 48 years) – it went along the lines of a client who was not happy that they had got their animal’s teeth attended to around 6 months ago and when they are bought the animal back for a vaccination one of my staff had notified them that the animal now had plaque and tarter on the teeth. Hence the phone call – it was their opinion that this tarter and plaque should not have been there if the original procedure had been done properly. I did ask them if they had been active in maintaining the cleanliness of the teeth by brushing the animal’s teeth every day or had they been using any form of dental prevention – the answer was to the negative.

My comment – “Try not cleaning your own teeth for 6 months and see if you do not have plaque or tarter”. This comment is as relevant today as it was then – if we do not maintain the health and cleanliness of the oral cavity once it has been attended to – then we can only expect that the problems will reoccur.

Nature does not care what I want to happen – nature will always do what it feels like.

If I do not attend to my teeth and oral cavity – then within a few days my mouth will start to change and over the next month my teeth will become yellow, and my breath will start to smell badly. This same process occurs in our animals. This is why we recommend at least twice a year all animals should have their mouth checked. To prevent cost becoming a factor to the client – we do this examination for no cost.

What are our recommendations?

This is the month to get things done – while any procedure is discounted dramatically.

Make the appointment to get your animal’s dental and oral problems sorted while it is less costly. The problem is not going to go away and will not stay static, in time the dental problems will get worse.