Comprehensive Pet Dental Care for Cats and Dogs
Regular pet dental care is an important part of the oral and overall health in your cat or dog. Although, the majority of pets don't get the oral hygiene care needed to keep their mouths healthy.
Our South Plainfield veterinary hospital, gives your pet the amount of dental care they need to be healthy. We provide services such as teeth cleaning and polishing, dental exams as well as, dental X-rays and surgeries.
We make it a point to provide pet owners with the dental health education they need to care for their pets at home.
Pet Dental Surgery in South Plainfield
We know that learning your pet needs dental surgery can be mind-boggling. Thus, we set out to make this process as easy as possible, for both you and your animal companion.
We will do all we can to make sure your pet's experience with us is easy and comfortable. We explain every part of the process to you in full detail before the procedure. We also break down all the preparation and post-operative care requirements.
We provide tooth extractions, jaw fracture repair surgeries, and gum disease treatments for both cats and dogs.
Pet Teeth Cleaning & Exams
Like you visiting the dentist once a year for a check up, your cat or dog should come in for an annual dental examination as well. Some pets are more likely to experience dental problems than others and might have to visit us more often.
Plainfield Animal Hospital can examine, diagnose and treat dental health conditions in dogs and cats.
- Symptoms
If you see any one of the symptoms below in your pet, come in for a dental checkup.
- Abnormal chewing, drooling, or dropping food from the mouth
- Tartar buildup
- Discolored teeth
- Pain or swelling in or around the mouth
- Bad breath
- Loose and/or broken teeth
- Extra teeth or retained baby teeth
- Bleeding from the mouth
- Reduced appetite or refusal to eat
- Assessment
We will complete a thorough pre-anesthetic physical assessment on your pet before the dental exam.
We will take a urine and blood analyses to make sure your pet is safe to undergo anesthesia. Additional diagnostics, like ECG and chest radiographs might also be conducted.
As soon as your pet is under anesthesia, we will perform a complete oral examination (tooth by tooth) and charting.
- Treatment
Next, we clean and polish the teeth and under the gum line as well as, take X-rays . We also put a fluoride treatment on each tooth.
The last step is to apply a dental sealant in order to stop plaque from clinging to the enamel. If advanced periodontal disease is discovered, your vet will make a treatment plan and go over it with you.
- Prevention
A follow-up exam should be booked two weeks following the first assessment and treatment appointments.
In this visit, we will talk about implementing at home teeth brushing
and recommend products to help better your pet's oral health.
FAQs About Pet Dental Care
These are the most frequently asked questions we get about pet dental care.
- Why do pets need to have their teeth cleaned?
Periodontal disease or tooth decay can develop in pets as a consequence of poor oral health.
Same as it is with humans, plaque sticks to animals teeth when they eat and it can build up into tartar if not brushed off regularly.
Improper brushing can lead to tooth decay, loose or missing teeth, infections in the mouth and periodontal disease. This makes regular dental care essential to preventing disease or pain in your pets gums.
- How can I tell if my pet has oral hygiene issues?
Behavior can be a key indication of oral health conditions in animals. If your pet has dental problems, they can drool a lot ( drool may even contain pus or blood), you might also see them pawing at their teeth or mouth. They can also yawn more than usual, stop grooming sufficiently or start grinding their teeth.
Other signs of oral health issues are swollen gums, tooth discoloration and bad breath. Pets may also experience pain that stops them from eating. learn more about signs and symptoms to the left, under Pet Teeth Cleaning & Exams.
- What long-term problems can poor oral health potentially cause in my pet?
Other than developing symptoms like bad breath and cavities as well as, more sever problems like periodontal disease and other oral health issues can turn into diseases in the heart, kidney, liver and other areas throughout your furry friends body.
Tumors or cysts can also occur. Your pet could also feel unwell overall (if you ever experienced a toothache, you already understand how it can impact your general mood!). On top of diseases relating to oral health problems your pet's life span can be shortened or they can experience significant pain.
Making regular dental care VERY important to animals' wellbeing and physical health.
- What happens during a pet teeth cleaning appointment?
During your animal companions routine oral exam, the veterinarian will look at your pets mouth searching, for any oral health issues or symptoms that may need treatment.
Your vet will clean the debris or tartar from your cat or dog's teeth. If gingivitis, cavities or other issue needs looking at, the vet will explain the condition to you and give you any advice on the actions you should take.
Sometimes, surgery is needed to help a serious problem. Your pet will be given anesthesia prior to the dental procedure to make sure they are relaxed and don't experience pain. Although, they will need special care after the surgery.
If any of the symptoms mentioned occur book a dental appointment with us.
- What can I do at home to keep my pet’s teeth clean between dental appointments?
You should brush your pet's teeth on a routine basis and provide them with dental chew toys to get rid of any plaque.
Do not let your pet chew on anything that can damage their teeth, these things include hard objects, toys or bones. You must contact your vet when you have concerns or questions relating to your pet's oral and dental health.
Veterinary Dentistry: Anesthesia & Your Pet's Oral Health
Pets don't understand what is happening during dental procedures, and will often react to them by struggling or biting.
Like the anesthesia dentists give to patients that are anxious or nervous, our South Plainfield vets provide anesthesia to all the patients prior to dental procedures. Putting the animals through less stress so we can perform the X-rays to their mouths as necessary.