Dental Care for Your Pet
Pet oral hygiene is a very important aspect in maintaining your pet's health and well-being. If not properly treated, dental problems can cause a buildup of bacteria that may lead to serious damage to your pet's heart, kidneys, liver or lungs. And, of course, dental problems are painful. Untreated dental problems could mean your pet is living with serious discomfort.
Signs of Pet Dental Issues
Affordable Animal Hospital is here to help you with your pet's dental care needs. By scheduling an appointment with us, we can evaluate a range of dental problems including the following:
- Bad breath (an early sign of dental disease)
- Plaque near pet's gum line
- Swollen or discolored gums
- Bleeding in mouth
- Lost or missing teeth
Dental Care for Older Pets
Aging pets usually have many more dental care needs than younger pups and kittens – just like people. Our animal hospital is here to help you keep your pet’s teeth strong and healthy for years. If you haven't maintained regular dental care for a dog or cat, they may have loose or missing teeth, plaque, or infections or gum or jawbone infections – and you may not even know it. A dental care check-in with Affordable Animal Hospital can help alleviate any pain or infections, keep them from spreading, and help your pet avoid health problems that could shorten life.
Tips for Pet Dental Care
Caring for your pet's teeth isn't any different than caring for your own. You wouldn't rely on a chew toy or a bone to keep your teeth clean. So, why do we do that for our pets? There are many quality pet brushes available to brush your pet's teeth at home (soft bristled children's brushes are also fine to use on pets). A good tip is to start brushing your pet's teeth when they're young, so they are familiar with it as a normal routine.
Schedule an appointment today to have your pet's teeth professionally cleaned. Don't forget: Good oral health can lead to great overall health.
Teeth Cleaning for Cats and Dogs
In the absence of an examination, you can’t really know what’s going on with your pet’s teeth. This is an important piece of what our cleaning services include.
Before the cleaning, your pet will be put under general anesthesia. It would be impossible to get anything done in the absence of this. A tube in its throat will support breathing and prevent inhalation of any bacteria uncovered during the cleaning.
What Does the Veterinarian Do?
As part of the process of tooth cleaning, a veterinarian may:
- • Remove any visible tartar and plaque
- • Clean out tartar and plaque that is discovered under the gum
- • Probe around the teeth for signs of disease
- • Polish rough surfaces that could attract bacteria
- • Apply a dental sealer
- • Repair or extract infected or fractured teeth that need immediate attention
- • Inspect the tongue, lips and mouth
- • Take x-rays
- • Make a dental chart
The Importance of Home Care
You won’t get the full benefits of cleaning services if you don’t implement a home care regimen. Best practices include:
- • Daily brushing using a child’s toothbrush or finger toothbrush
- • Antibacterial oral sprays and rinses
- • Food and treats formulated to prevent plaque formation.
The staff at Affordable Animal Hospital in Eagle Rock can help you with your planning.
Removing Teeth
Cats and dogs have teeth whose roots go deep into surrounding bone. It can be more difficult to extract them than to remove human teeth.
Before an extraction, your pet will be given general anesthetic. After a tooth is extracted, the “socket” from which was removed is surgically closed to speed the healing process and to reduce pain.
Resuming Feeding
When you return home, you should be able to feed your pet as you usually do. Cats and dogs do not really “chew” their food, as you may have noticed and thus they will not be putting significant pressure on the area where the tooth was removed.
Contact Us
Affordable Animal Hospital Eagle Rock
4000 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Tel:
(323) 419-5725
Hours:
Mon-Fri 9am to 10pm
Sat-Sun 9am to 5pm
