What a Dental Cleaning Looks Like:

During an annual exam our veterinarians may recommend a dental cleaning for your pet. What is a dental cleaning, you may ask? It is a lot like when you go to your dentist for a cleaning on your own teeth! However, our pets have this procedure done under anesthesia to minimize any pain, discomfort, or anxiety for your pet.
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​At West Lake Animal Hospital our veterinarians will evaluate your pet’s oral health during an annual exam. They may recommend a dental cleaning for 

your pet. When your pet arrives for the dental cleaning we will perform a blood work up prior to anesthesia as a screening for the anesthesia to ensure your pet’s overall health prior to the dental. Our veterinarians also perform a pre-procedure physical exam as well.

After the exam and bloodwork your pet undergoes anesthesia for the dental procedure. Anesthesia is required for all pet dental cleanings to prevent stress, discomfort, and pain for your pet. When you go to the dentist the dentist is able to explain everything to you during the procedure, so you accept the procedure and do your best to stay still. Your pet does not understand the benefits of the dental cleaning and reacts by moving, trying to escape, or possibly biting. Anesthesia makes it possible for our veterinary staff to perform the dental cleaning with minimal stress and pain for your pet. In addition it allows your pet to get the full benefit of the cleaning because your pet isn’t moving around and risking injury from the dental equipment.

During the dental procedure your pet receives a through oral exam looking for periodontal disease, broken or fractured teeth, missing teeth, abscessed or infected teeth, cysts or tumors in the mouth, palate defects (such as cleft palate), malocclusion, or misalignment of the teeth and bite, and severity of plaque. Our staff will then perform a deep cleaning of your pets teeth to include cleaning below the gum line to remove the tartar and bacteria from your pet’s teeth. The cleaning includes scaling to remove the plaque and tartar then a polishing afterwards, similar to the process for people at the dentist. If there are any infected, broken, or fractured teeth our veterinarians may extract (pull out) the affected tooth in order to prevent any future problems from occurring. Throughout the procedure our staff is monitoring your pet to ensure your pet’s safety. 
Your pet is then allowed to wake up from the anesthesia in a comfortable kennel in our treatment area (to allow for close monitoring by technicians) with blankets to keep them comfortable.  If you have any questions about our dental procedure feel free to contact us and ask! We are happy to help.​