Pet Dental Care Orange County

Dental disease in cats and dogs is common – and dangerous. If left untreated, it can lead to heart disease, kidney failure and other serious health problems. By bringing your pet to the Affordable Animal Hospital Orange for routine exams and deep cleanings, we can restore his optimal dental (and overall) health.

Signs of Periodontal Disease and Dental Problems

If you want to preserve your pet’s oral health, you need to keep an eye out for problems at home. We recommend routinely looking for signs of dental disease, such as:

  • Bad breath
  • Swollen gums
  • Yellow or brown teeth
  • Difficulty chewing

If you notice any of these signs, you’ll want to get your pet to the Affordable Animal Hospital Orange as quickly as possible so our veterinarians can treat the dental disease before it leads to bigger health problems.

Optimal Dental Care for Your Pet

We see it all the time. One day, your pet’s teeth are in great shape – and the next, they’re yellow and decaying.

Periodontal disease emerges quickly, so don’t fall behind on your pet’s cleanings and exams. To ensure your animal companion is receiving optimal dental care, it’s important to provide:

  • Comprehensive dental exams twice a year
  • Deep dental cleanings once a year
  • Regular home dental care and brushings

What Does a Professional Cleaning Include?

  • Remove any visible tartar and plaque
  • Clean out tartar and plaque that is under the gum
  • Probe your pet’s dental sockets to look for signs of disease
  • Polish teeth to smooth scratches that could attract bacteria
  • Take X-rays to look for signs of problems below the gum line
  • Apply a dental sealer
  • If necessary, repair or remove infected or fractured teeth that the exam has revealed
  • Inspect the tongue, lips, and mouth
  • The veterinarian will also create a chart that will make it possible to track your pet’s dental health over time, just as your dentist does for you.

What to Expect During Your Pet’s Dental Exams & Cleanings

When you arrive at our office for a dental exam and cleaning, our vet will begin with a basic assessment of your dog or cat’s mouth to determine the general condition. From there, we’ll administer anesthesia to sedate your pet and keep him comfortable throughout the procedure.

Once your pet is sedated, our vet will perform:

  • A comprehensive oral exam
  • X-rays to look for periodontal disease, broken teeth and infection
  • Deep cleaning beneath the gum line to combat periodontal disease
  • Professional scaling and polishing of your pet’s teeth to remove plaque and tartar

After Cleaning

Now that you’ve started down the path to your pet’s oral and dental health, there are steps that you can take at home to prevent future problems or to prevent any issues that have been identified from worsening. These include:

  • Daily brushing of your pet’s teeth with a child’s toothbrush or, alternatively, a finger brush supplied by your veterinarian. Pet toothpaste is available in flavors, including chicken and seafood.
  • Food and treats that can help prevent the formation of plaque. The staff at Affordable Animal Care Hospital in Orange can make recommendations.
  • Rinses and oral sprays can reduce the prevalence of bacteria in your cat or dog’s mouth.
  • A raw bone, provided once weekly, can help keep teeth clean. If you do this, you’ll need to pay attention and take the bone away if a large piece becomes small enough for them to swallow.

Teeth Aren’t the Only Issue

There’s more at stake than just healthy teeth if you neglect your pet’s dental health. If gum disease is left untreated for too long, there is a potential for problems to spread to the heart, kidney and liver. These stresses have the potential to shorten your pet’s life.

Removing Teeth

If it becomes necessary to remove one of your pet’s teeth, it’s important that you seek the assistance of a veterinarian with extensive training and experience.

Dogs and cats are carnivores, and they use their teeth differently than humans do. To enable them to grab and tear with the force and strength they need, the roots of their teeth go deep into the surrounding bone.

This means that extracting the tooth of a pet is more difficult and requires more skill than extracting the tooth of a human. It’s not a job for just any vet – you need high-level skills.

Doing a Thorough Job of Pet Tooth Extraction

In most cases, a surgical approach to extraction is advised. Roots can be located in proximity to blood vessels, nerves, the eye, and the nasal cavity.

As in the case of cleaning, an anesthetic will be given to your pet. This makes it possible to carefully and completely remove the root of the affected tooth and to treat the surrounding bone that may have been affected.

The “socket” that remains after the tooth is removed is surgically closed. This is more comfortable for your pet, and it also speeds healing.

Your pet won’t be able to let you know if a procedure has left it with an unacceptable level of pain or discomfort. It’s best to make sure that you are working with one of our veterinarians at Affordable Animal Hospital – who can be counted upon to do the work properly.

After Surgery

Your pet should be able to resume eating after a procedure. You may have noticed that your dog or cat never really “chews” its food but grabs it and gulps it down. This is normal carnivore behavior.

If anything, your pet should enjoy eating more because chronic pain has been alleviated.

High-Quality Dental Care for Your Pet

A healthy mouth equals a happy pet. Contact the Affordable Animal Hospital Orange today, and let us get your pet’s teeth and gums in optimal shape.

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