Dental Care
Dental Care for Your Pet and the Importance of Intraoral Radiographs
Our dental suite is equipped with state of the art equipment including an ultrasonic scaler, Dentalaire mobile dental unit with high and low speed handpieces, and an intra-oral radiograph machine. Not only can we clean your pets teeth, we can perform any advanced dental procedure your pet may require.
Oral cavity disease (periodontal disease) is the most common disease seen in small animals. Intraoral radiographs are absolutely necessary in order to accurately diagnose and treat periodontal disease appropriately. Approximately 65-85% of dogs and cats over 3 years old have some form of periodontal disease. At every visit here at Animal Care Hospital, your pet's doctor will evaluate the oral cavity to assess whether it has periodontal disease. If disease is present we will recommend having your pet's teeth cleaned. Unlike humans, pets will not sit for an hour with their mouth open to let us scale and polish their teeth. They have to be placed under general anesthesia in order to clean their teeth. An estimate to clean the teeth will be given to you at the time of your visit. Please don't wait to have your pet's teeth cleaned because periodontal disease is a progressive disease and once it has destroyed the supporting structures of the teeth (gums, alveolar bone and periodontal ligament) they can not be reversed.
Severe periodontal disease may require that some teeth be extracted due to severe supporting structure loss. If this is the case oral surgery will be necessary to repair the tissues where the teeth are extracted. Your pet will be able to eat very well without all its teeth and it will feel much better once the infected bone and loose teeth are removed.
Dr. Nalley can also perform any advanced dental procedure your pet might require such as root canals, vital pulpotomies, periodontal reconstruction, oral surgery for tumors, orthodontics (braces), crowns, and removal of deciduous teeth.
Draining wound under the eye is caused by an abscessed tooth
Draining wounds under the eye are usually accompanied by a slight swelling. These wounds will not completely heal, they may get better while on antibiotics but return after stopping the medication. These type wounds are usually associated with either an upper fourth premolar fracture or a tooth root abscess. Dr. Butler will be able to determine what is causing the problem and provide appropriate treatment.
Upper 4th Premolar Slab Fracture
Typical fracture of an upper 4th premolar. This is the most common tooth to fracture due to the position of this tooth when chewing hard objects. Sometimes the tooth can be saved with a vital pulpotomy. Dr. Stubbs will be able to evaluate the tooth with intraoral radiographs and provide appropriate treatment.
Resorptive Lesions in Cats
Cats, in addition to periodontal disease, have a disease known as resorptive lesions on their teeth. These are very painful and can cause cats to stop eating, vocalize while eating, hypersalivate, drop food while trying to eat, stop grooming themselves and lose weight. Oral examination and oral radiographs are necessary to accurately diagnose these lesions.
Retained Deciduous (Baby) Teeth
Retained deciduous teeth (Baby Teeth) is a very common problem in toy breed dogs. It is less common in cats and larger breed dogs (although we still see a few cases). If the retained teeth are not extracted early, tartar will build up and result in the possible loss of the permanent teeth, or worse, create an oronasal fistula. Bring your dog or cat to Dr. Stubbs so she can extract the deciduous teeth and prevent these unwanted problems.