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I am Dr. Churan from the Animal Clinic of South Elgin, 896 North La Fox Street, South Elgin, IL 60177. This is my assistant Lauren and this is Arwin also known as Big Mama’s House. I’d like to give you a little information about dental health. As part of a cat wellness exams and vaccinations and dog wellness examination and vaccination, we check your pet’s teeth.
Pet Teeth Cleaning may prevent serious bacteria infections.
Dental health is very important for pets as well as people. Accumulation of tartar on the teeth is a great place for bacteria to accumulate. Gums are very vascular, meaning there is a great deal of blood supply so any bacteria that is accumulating on teeth finds it very easy to get into the blood stream and circulate in the pet’s body. The filtering organs, which are the liver and kidneys, will then be constantly filtering bacteria and obviously this is very bad for the health of those organs. When bacteria attaches to the pet’s heart valves, it roughens the valves’ tissue and do not seal properly anymore and heart disease is something permanent, so keeping the oral cavity healthy is very important for your pet’s overall health, not just a cosmetic benefit. Of course, it is also cosmetic in as much as people tell me their dogs have bad breath.
Pet Teeth Cleaning is needed for both cats and dogs.
This applies to cats also, so it is not just dogs that develop dental problems. So, keeping our pets’ mouth healthy is really important. We check our pet’s teeth by picking up the lip and looking at the teeth which should be white. Most dogs have red or black pigment on their gum tissue; but, this is not some kind of disease. The teeth should be white and we should be able to see up to the gum line and it should not have a bright red line which is gingivitis line. This tells us that even if there is not a lot of tartar accumulation there could be gum disease which is plaque, so dental maintenance is really important. There are several products that we recommend and which are beneficial for your dog or your cat. Just like people, even though we have excellent dental maintenance for our pets, they still need professional care.
Pet Teeth Cleaning also includes polishing and a fluoride treatment.
Professional care is ultrasonic cleaning and polishing. We do this here at the clinic and it involves anesthesia because unlike people, pets do not cooperate as well, so they need an anesthetic in order for us to perform the procedure. Ultrasonic cleaning and polishing is an anesthetized procedure and we do it from Monday to Friday. People drop off their pets in the morning and they are able to go home in the afternoon on the same day. Our oral cleaning includes ultrasonic cleaning and polishing. We do fluoride treatment.
Pet Teeth Cleaning includes antibiotic and pain medication.
We will send your pet home with antibiotics because when we clean the gum line, we stir up infection so we want this covered by antibiotics. In many cases we may also send some pain medication because we don’t want your pet to be uncomfortable due to soreness of the gums and teeth.
Pet Teeth Cleaning Schedules vary by breed and need.
I don’t have an exact schedule of how often pets should get their teeth cleaned. Most people have their teeth cleaned once every 6 months. I’d like to be more individual with pets, because the procedure does involve anesthetic. Some pets may need cleaning every 6 months and others once every 2-3 years. Of course, genetics play a big role and certain breeds are more prone to dental problems than others. Obviously, dogs that have worse dental problems come in more frequently than those who have good dental care. We recommend a physical exam once a year to check your pet’s teeth.
YouTube Link
Youtube Title: Pet Teeth Cleaning Veterinarian (847) 742-3906 (South Elgin IL St Charles IL Dundee)
Pet Teeth cleaning may prevent future pet medical problems. Often bad breath in dogs or bad breath in cats is a sign of veterinary dental problems.
