Your Pet’s Veterinary Dental Care is in Good Hands here in Las Vegas and Henderson, NV!
It has been proven that there is a direct correlation between Dental Disease, Heart Disease, and Kidney Disease. Bacteria from the mouth gain access to the bloodstream through inflamed and infected gums. These bacteria then settle on the valves of the heart, causing scarring, which in turn can cause the valves to leak, creating congestive heart failure. The bacteria can also be filtered into the kidneys, causing kidney infections.
A Dental procedure is an anesthetic procedure, which takes approximately 30-60 minutes. The EKG monitoring is included. Your pet’s teeth are ultrasonically polished, scaled, and polished again, and then a dental sealant may be applied. During this time a thorough oral exam is performed, including probing all four sides of each tooth for gingival pockets, recessions, and other abnormalities.
Dental X-rays are utilized to determine the extent of tooth fractures and root abnormalities. Complete dental x-rays are an option and are beneficial for verification and annual comparisons.
Bad breath could be a sign of dental disease, which can be life threatening to your beloved pet! Just as in humans, our pet’s oral health is critical to their overall health and should be checked once a year as a standard, and twice a year for pets with periodontal challenges.
How to Brush Your Dog’s Teeth
TEACH YOUR PET TO ENJOY HAVING THEIR TEETH BRUSHED
One of the best preventative measures you can take for your pet, believe it or not, is brushing their teeth on a regular basis. Dental disease not only causes pain and bad breath, it has also been associated with heart, liver and kidney disease. The liver and kidney function to filter the blood so those bacteria end up there and can lead to infection.
When your furry friend has bad teeth, the bacteria gain access to the blood stream when they chew. Those bacteria like to set up housekeeping on the valves of the heart which lead to heart disease.
So…..what can we do about this? BRUSH, BRUSH, BRUSH! Just think how our teeth would look and smell if we went 6 months, 12 months or ever a year without ever brushing! Not good!!
Now truthfully, most of our pets are not going to just open wide and let us start going to town on their teeth. They are not use to the feeling and will probably reject us at first. Luckily there is a way we can make it an enjoyable experience for all involved.
First – think of something you already do every day as a habit. Most of us watch a favorite television show, check our social media, read a book…. something. Where ever you do this, place a jar of your pet’s favorite treats.
For the first week, you do nothing more than call Fido/Fluffy over – pet their head – rub their nose and tell them what a good baby they are. That’s all you do….at first. I promise you that within that week, as soon as you sit down, your pet will be in your lap looking for attention and the treat.
Next you want to start to lift the lip and tell them “what pretty teeth…. let me see”. Once your little one is used to you looking at their teeth, start touching/rubbing them -SLOWLY- start with one or two teeth, then progress to three, four, etc. Again, go slow, build their confidence and make it fun attention that ends with a treat.
When they are comfortable with you touching their teeth introduce a finger brush, these are soft rubber thimble looking devices with soft nubs. Slowly rub their teeth like you did with your finger. When your pet feels comfortable with this, add a little bit of toothpaste (remember to never use human toothpaste on your pet).
Once your pet is comfortable with the finger brush and toothpaste, you are ready to move to a pet toothbrush, you want to make sure it is a brush intended for pets as they work best because of the back angle of the brush with the handle.
That’s it! Remember the key is to make it enjoyable and do it routinely. It is recommended to brush at least 4 times a week but honestly, aim for every day. No harm there and if you should have to miss a day or two you are still within the recommendations. We honestly have one client that uses a sonic care brush and when you pet her pet on the exam table, she will smile, lift her lips and let you brush away.
Call (702) 361-5850 to schedule your appointment!