An Animal Hospital Serving Maryland

Veterinary dentistry, believe it or not is not centered around dog dental. A veterinary dentist is responsible for all aspects of animal dentistry, dental radiology, and also the usual teeth cleaning for dogs.

The Top 3 Questions Heard by local vets

How often does my dogs teeth need cleaning? - Well, humans get regular cleanings every three months or so, even though they brush twice and floss once per day, so therefore the answer is several times a year. Not quite.

The veterinary dental recommendation here is, it depends. It depends upon the animal and its age. Older animals tend to need cleanings more often than younger ones, however, your veterinary specialists know best. Consult with them. A regular dental examination (annual), is the best way to determine what an individual pet needs.

My pet has no feeding problems so how can it have dental issues? - A good dog dentist would be quick to point out that since a problem could develop very slowly, it might have gone unnoticed for quite a while and because our pets cannot voice their complaints, at least not in English, we may never know. The key here is to be the Dog Whisperer. Learn your pet's behavior and monitor any deviations. Do not rely upon a loss of appetite as a sure sign since eating is the last thing a pet will forego when in severe pain.

You say that anesthesia is needed for teeth cleaning, despite the dangers to my pet, why? - This should be self-explanatory but can be easily overlooked. Veterinary dentistry has to take into consideration the attitude of the patient. Sure, most people, despite not liking the sound of the dental drill, can tolerate it with a bit of local anesthesia. An animal on the other hand, will not take kindly to the painful probing and the pain it soon associates with the sound of the drill. It will do whatever it needs to in order to survive what it sees as an attack on its life. Local anesthesia just won't work here. Secondly, dental radiology is next to impossible without the animal being out.

What About Feline Dentistry? Does My Cat Need a Dentist?

Cats most certainly can use the benefit of pet dental services. They are prone to suffer from a unique dental disease called feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions (FORL). This is a painful inflammatory disease process whereby the tooth is actually reabsorbed into the gum. It often ends up at or below the gum line, and it may eventually break.

Some symptoms of FORL are, drooling, bleeding, and a reluctance to chew, a sure sign the animal is experiencing difficulty. Cats are resilient and, though they may be in pain, you'll never know it. The lesions are only found during a routine examination.

Oftentimes, an animal may manifest its pain through unusually aggressive behavior. That may be the pet owner's only visual clue.

An oral examination of the mouth by a cat vet will reveal a cherry-red inflammation of the gums surrounding the affected tooth.

Can My Pet Avoid Dental Cleanings All Together?

Tartar buildup is unstoppable. Tartar is responsible for the majority of diseases of the mouth experienced by people as well as animals. The cleanings are designed to slow this buildup. Like people, some respond well to brushing, some don't. Just make sure that you use a pet veterinary approved toothpaste. Like people, diets dictate the rapidity of accumulation. Finally, certain treats have been developed especially to combat tartar and they work particularly well.

We began this section by saying that tartar is unstoppable, and it is. There is going to come a time when a dental cleaning (called prophylaxis), at the veterinary clinic is going to be unavoidable. This is a veterinary dentistry procedure that has been performed successfully by vets for decades. In order to carry this out successfully, anesthesia is going to be necessary.