Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment & Treatment

Anesthesia is the only way to do a comprehensive evaluation and deep cleaning safely. While no anesthesia is without risk, every patient gets our best care during their procedure. All patients are intubated to ensure a clear airway for breathing, receive inhalant anesthesia, supplementary oxygen, warming, and close monitoring, including blood pressure, ECG, oxygen, and temperature, and an experienced dental technician watching over them before, during, and after the procedure. Pre-anesthetic blood work, IV catheters, and fluids are always utilized.

During the COHAT, your pet will first receive a thorough examination of its mouth. In addition to checking all surfaces of the teeth, we assess for cancer and disease by determining the lips, tongue, and tonsils, palpating the mandibles and lymph nodes, and measuring periodontal pocket depth in multiple areas around every tooth (an indicator of periodontal disease). Since your pet is under anesthesia, this exam is far more complete and detailed than anything that can be accomplished in the ordinary exam room.

One of the most essential parts of our examination is taking intra-oral dental radiographs under anesthesia. The amount of hidden periodontal disease (changes in the tooth roots and surrounding bone) we discover by taking radiographs is astonishing! Cats and dogs will very rarely demonstrate any signs of oral pain. The fact that a patient is eating well should never be interpreted as a sign that the mouth is free of disease, as eating is necessary for survival, and pets will continue to do so despite pain. Taking radiographs allows us to stage periodontal disease and the vitality of each tooth, allowing for treatment or extraction where required. Your pet’s safety is always our top priority.

We treat any disease found in your pet’s mouth after the examination. This may mean scaling and cleaning away tartar deposits (the most common problem) on healthy teeth, followed by polishing to smooth the enamel and make it more difficult for bacteria to adhere in the future. The equipment we use to clean your pet’s teeth is the same as that used for dental office people. The ultrasonic tool for removing tartar has different tips and settings for cleaning above or below the gum line; this is one of the most critical parts of the COHAT, as so much of our pets’ dental disease is below the gum line. Without cleaning this crucial area, your pet’s plaque and tartar will return, and the disease will continue deeper below the gum line to cause jaw bone disease.

In some cases, teeth are so diseased that they may be loose and wiggly, or the bone around them may be infected or decaying. These teeth are sources of disease and pain, and thus, we often need to extract them to provide relief. Other teeth may have less severe disease and be repairable with restorations, laser therapy, and antibiotic gel infusion.