Because your pet’s dental health is so important to us, we are once again offering our annual dental special. The special price is $185.00 and is available from January through the end of March 2010.

• Included in the price of the dental special are a pre-anesthetic blood test, ECG and blood pressure to help ensure your pet is healthy enough for anesthesia, an intravenous catheter, anesthesia, ultrasonic scaling, polishing, fluoride treatment and an Ora-vet dental sealant applied to help resist plaque accumulation.
   
  
• Not included in the price of the dental special are dental radiographs, any tooth extractions or treatment necessary for diseased or infected teeth. Often a complete oral examination by the doctor is necessary after the plaque and tartar have been removed to determine the health of the teeth and any needed treatments. A technician will contact you while your pet is anesthetized to inform you if any treatments are necessary as well as the cost of the recommended treatments.
   
  
• An office examination with one of our veterinarians is required within the last 12 months prior to the dental procedure.
   
  
• Dental radiographs, although not included in the special price, are strongly recommended. They allow us to see what is going on with the tooth below the gum-line to assess the health of the roots of the teeth and to evaluate how much bone loss is occurring. If greater than 50% of the bone holding the tooth has been eroded away, the tooth probably cannot be saved and extraction will be necessary. Without the help of dental radiographs, it is difficult to fully assess the health of the teeth and important findings could be missed leaving a painful or infected tooth behind.
   
  
• Call well in advance to schedule your pet’s appointment as slots fill up quickly.
   
  
• Your pet will be anesthetized to have the dental cleaning so the evening before the appointment, make sure you fast after midnight, however, continue to offer water.
  
• You will need to bring your pet to the hospital before 8:30 A.M. the morning of your appointment to allow plenty of time for the staff to perform the pre-anesthetic testing
  
• Expect your pet to stay in the hospital for most of the day for the procedure as well as the recovery from anesthesia. Most pets are discharged after about 4 P.M.
  
• When you pick up your pet from the hospital, a technician will discuss your pet’s progress while under anesthesia as well as any discharge instructions.
   
  
• If your pet had any extractions, expect him to be a little sensitive around the mouth. There will probably be some medications for you to give at home for a few days (usually pain relievers and antibiotics). You will need to feed your pet a softened food for about 7 days following the extractions. Monitor the mouth for any bleeding and discharge. If one of the large upper teeth was extracted, there is sometimes also discharge or bleeding from the nostrils.
   
  
• After the mouth has healed from any extractions or treatment, you will want to begin dental home-care to help keep your pet’s mouth clean and healthy. There are many options for home-care.
   
  
• Daily brushing with a pet toothbrush and toothpaste is always best. Human toothpaste is not meant to be swallowed and can cause gastrointestinal upset if used to brush your pet’s teeth. Although it may seem challenging to brush your pet’s teeth, it can be done if you are persistent, positive and patient. Start with small sessions brushing only a few teeth at a time, do not expect to brush the entire mouth in one sitting. Once your pet starts to get agitated or struggles, stop and offer a treat and try again tomorrow. If you keep it positive and do not give up, eventually even the most stubborn pet can be taught to accept regular brushing.
  
• Dental Chews are another good way to help your pet keep his teeth healthy. The chews have enzymes which help break down some of the plaque and tartar. The chewing activity also manually removes some of the build-up on the teeth.
  
• Prescription dental diets such as Hills t/d, Purina D/H, and Royal Canin Dental DD are specially made to help remove the plaque from the teeth as the kibbles are chewed by the pet. Regular dry kibble usually shatters into pieces when chewed where these diets act like an edible toothbrush for your pet’s teeth. Keep in mind these will only help the teeth in the back of the mouth that the pets use for chewing and not the teeth in the front which are used for fighting and defense.
  
• Oral antibacterial mouth rinses are also available to rinse the mouth and teeth. These can help reduce the bacteria population on the teeth which contribute to gingivitis and bad breath.
  
• Special dental water additives are also available which can be placed into your pet’s drinking water to help reduce the plaque accumulating on your teeth.