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Ray, blissfully unaware of his impending dental procedure
As you have probably heard our winter dental offers are back until the end of March. But you may be wondering if your pet actually needs dental treatment or, if you think they do, what really happens during a dental procedure.
So we thought it would be helpful to show you exactly what happens during a dental and why your pet might need one! Thankfully we had a handsome patient who was willing to take to the limelight and share his journey towards full dental health, meet Ray the Podenco!
Ray came in to see us last week for a free dental assessment, He was found to have a lot of calculus (tartar) on his back teeth and there was some inflammation below the gum line too. In time the dental disease can affect a pet’s overall health so it is best to keep their teeth in tip-top condition. Ray was swiftly booked in for a scale and polish!
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Ray having some bloods taken to ensure he is in tip top health
On the day of his procedure, Ray came in bright and early in the morning. He first had a weight check and had some blood taken to make sure that he was in good condition to go under anaesthesia and have his treatment done. Once this is done a catheter is placed, through which the anaesthetic agent is delivered and intravenous fluids during his procedure to keep his blood pressure up.
We have quite a bit of paperwork to fill out too! We make sure owners and staff all know exactly what the plan is for Ray and have a thorough checklist to make sure every step is followed. Just like at the human dentist we have a dental chart, and once Ray is soundly asleep we check his teeth to make sure that a scale and polish is all that is needed. As you can imagine it’s hard to check a dog’s teeth completely when they are awake so we don’t have a full picture until they are anaesthetised. Luckily for Ray, no other problems were found so next up, scale and polish!
As you can see in the top image Ray was soundly asleep, while our vet Charlotte worked on removing the build-up of calculus. As you can see he had been intubated to keep his airways open and help him breathe. A scale and polish procedure can take between half an hour to an hour.
So how did Charlotte do? Well, we took some photos of Ray’s mouth before and after and doesn’t he look fab! you can see there is some inflammation on the gum line on his ‘before picture’. While Ray’s gums are red in the ‘after’ picture’ this will quickly go back to a lovely pink.
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You can see the yellow calculus in the image on the left, pearly white on the right!
And how did Ray do? He was a champ! He woke up from his slumbers to a cozy blanket and was feeling pretty perky soon after. His owner has now been advised to clean her dog’s teeth on a daily basis and she has promised to keep up the good work!
Our dental offers are valid until the end of March so if you think your pet may be in need of some dental work then do give us a call. We currently have free dental checks with a nurse so now is the time to check if work might be needed!
