Basic Veterinary Dentistry -Teeth Cleaning in Dog and Cat
Daily attention to teeth and mouth hygiene is the essential factor for oral health. Neglected oral hygiene will lead to dental problems such as tartar, gums infection, gums inflammation, gums recession, bad breath, discolored teeth, tooth pain and loss. Irritated and weakened gums allow bacteria to cross into the bloodstream and be carried through the body, potentially infecting internal organs such as the heart valves, livers, and kidneys.
We realize this matter is obviously a threat to your pet health, so regular teeth scaling, polishing and cleansing is highly recommended. This practice of dental care will surely make your pet healthy and happy.
a.) Start oral hygiene from the early age by using tooth brush to remove remnants of food from teeth after meal. Oral bacteria play a major role in the formation of plaque and tartar. Bacteria live on remnants of food in the mouth. When bacteria combine with saliva and food debris in the channel between tooth and gum, plaque forms and accumulates on the tooth. When bacteria continue to grow in the plaque, and as calcium salts are deposited, the plaque hardens to become a limestone-like material called tartar.
There is pet tooth paste specially formulated for use in pet and absolutely necessary for the purpose otherwise acidic human tooth paste will harm your pet stomach because pet always swollen the tooth paste.
b.) In case tartar has already been developed as shown on the right photo. Teeth scaling, cleaning and polishing is must before the initiation of dental care procedure described in (a.).
Anesthesia is needed for teeth scaling procedure by using an ultrasonic machine to remove all dental plaque and tartar. So first of all your pet must be checked up and blood work done to ensure that he/she is not risky for anesthetic procedure.