Dental Care

Dental disease can result in bad breath, painful chewing, and tooth loss.  Bacteria under the gum can travel to the heart, kidneys, and liver. Professional dental cleaning is required to remove plaque and tartar from a pet’s teeth and to assess the health of the mouth.  A thorough dental cleaning requires that the pet be under anesthesia.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I be brushing my pet’s teeth?

Many of our pets suffer with dental disease and good dental hygiene can help with both prevention and treatment. Whether or not and to what degree your pet will suffer issues will depend on many factors such as diet, breed and infections.  Our nurses offer appointments free of charge to both assess your pet and advise on many factors affecting oral hygiene including whether or not you even need to be trying to brush your pet’s teeth, and how to do it.  For those pets that are somewhat reluctant to allow brushing, don’t worry, we’ve all been there and if plan A hasn’t worked we will advice on plan B and then the alternatives to brushing.  This is part of our ethos of working closely with you and your pet to give an individualised, tailored approach.

What is a "dental"?

A “dental” is a procedure performed under anaesthetic designed to correct any issues you pet might have with their teeth. This can be anything from a “scale and polish” to remove excess tartar, to extractions of excessively damaged teeth.  Whether or not a dental is recommended depends on a number of  factors and as always our vets will discuss everything in deciding what the best way forward is for your pet.


I think my pet might have dental issues, what do I do?

If your pet is showing any signs of dental pain (chewing on  one side, eating slowly, being quieter or withdrawn),  or has any facial swelling or blood tinged saliva then please book an appointment with one of our vets within the next 24 hours (diseased teeth can be very painful making prompt treatment a priority).  If you are a registered client and your pet seems otherwise healthy but has smelly breath or discoloured/ dirty looking teeth then you have the option of booking a free check up with a nurse. Please note, if the nurse is concerned that there is a more serious issue that needs addressing as a matter of urgency, they will refer you back to a vet for a consultation.