The benefits of using anethesia when cleaning your pet's teeth:

            It is important to know the difference between anesthesia and non-anesthetic dental cleanings when you are talking with a veterinarian. The differences are crucial to the health and safety to your pet. Anesthesia free dental procedures include your pet being held down and forced to let someone scrape at the outside of their teeth to get the tartar off. This has strictly a cosmetic effect and does not treat your pet's dental disease. This process is not only scary for the patient but can cause damage to the enamel, gums, and roots. If the pet bites down on the sharp tool used to scrape the tartar off it can damage the tooth, gums, tongue or jaw. If your pets teeth are not properly scaled with a temperature sensitive scaler and polished correctly; the damage to the enamel can result in permanent damage to the teeth. The top crowns of your pet’s teeth are only the tip of the ice berg. There is double the length of the crown in roots underneath the gum line that is not visible to the naked eye. The only way to see under the gum line and asses the health of the roots is to do dental radiographs. There can be some other underlying dangers lurking under the gum lines. 

 

         With general anesthesia your pets blood work should be checked for any underlying liver or kidney problems and a complete blood count prior to being placed under general anesthesia. If there are any abnormalities with the heart rate or the sound of the heart and lungs doctors will recommend doing an echo cardiogram to determine if your pet is healthy enough to go under anesthesia. If all the diagnostics come back within normal range then your pet is safe to go under anesthesia. Certified veterinary technicians will clean and assess each one of the teeth individually and take full mouth radiographs. They use a special tool to clean under the gum line as well as polish the teeth. After the assessment process is complete the veterinarian will review the dental radiographs to check for any abnormalities or concerns with any of the teeth. Once the veterinary team get an idea of any additional treatments that are necessary they then call the owner with any the details on the dental procedures and the estimated costs of those treatments; communication is key in Client satisfaction and in getting your pet the treatment they need.  The veterinary team also takes before and after pictures of the process to let owners see the results of dental cleaning visually.  Along with the pictures you will be sent home with a detailed set of instructions to help keep your pet safe at home after anesthesia as well as begin or continue with home dental care. 

 

Remember, when choosing the right veterinarian to do your pets dental procedure ask about their protocols for their dental assessment and treatment of your pets specific dental needs. Be certain that they are American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) accredited, and that they only do anesthesia dental procedures as recommend by the American Veterinary Dental College.