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Pet Teeth Cleaning – Dr. Ken Overmeyer
Hi, I am Dr. Ken Overmyer from Shorewood Animal Hospital in Shorewood, Illinois. Thanks for watching this video. If you have a chance, watch the other videos on spay neuter. Today I will be talking about pet teeth cleaning and dental disease, what type of problems animals can have (both dogs and cats), why we want to prevent these problems, what we can do to prevent them and how we go about cleaning the teeth.
Pet Teeth Cleaning – Dental Model Demonstration
First of all, using this dental model, I would like to show and demonstrate the different reasons why we would need to have our pets’ teeth looked at and what problems to look for. There are various reasons why we would have teeth problems. On this model, we have a model of a fractured tooth, a model of a missing canine, a model of gingivitis or gum infection, a model of tartar buildup with gum recession. All these are indications or reasons why we need to have our animals’ teeth cleaned.
Pet Teeth Cleaning Needs Anesthesia.
At Shorewood Animal Hospital we do this in the same way your dentist would clean your teeth. One of the biggest differences of course, is that we do need to use general anesthetic. No animal will sit, open its mouth, rinse and spit like we do. It’s not going to happen. So we go in, clean the tartar up. If we have a bad tooth, or a fractured tooth, or gum recession, or root recession, or root resorption, we can either remove the teeth or if the teeth are still viable, and the owner wants a little bit more, we can refer the owner to various dental centers in the area. There are dental centers that can and have and will put braces on your dog’s teeth. So, we can pretty much do for your pet what we can do for ourselves.
Pet Teeth Cleaning Prevents More Expensive Problems.
Now we’ve shown you the various problems and why we should have our pets’ teeth cleaned. We’ve explained a little bit how we do it and again, pretty much in the same way your dentist does it with a scaler and a minty polish just like they use on us. Now why? Other than the obvious problems we have shown here, the bacteria in the mouth can cause problems long-term. We can have heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease and even the obvious halitosis or bad breath. So it is very important to have our animals’ teeth cleaned, ideally, every year. Realistically, with the anesthetic, we’d like to do it every couple of years especially after they reach middle age, about 5 to 6 years of age.
Pet Teeth Cleaning Aftercare.
So, therefore, it is also very important after we cleaned the teeth for you to be able to establish some brushing procedure at home, whether with canine toothpaste with toothbrush where you brush up and down or something as simple as a Q-tip dipped in hydrogen peroxide and rubbed along the gum line. That simple procedure can really solve and save a lot or problems. We have owners who religiously brushed their pets’ teeth every day and looked as good at 6 to 7 years of age as at 4 years of age which is really amazing. Also, these animals are usually much healthier. So,again I just wanted to talk a little bit about the importance of dental care, why you should do it, and its benefits. The benefits far outweigh the cost and the other issues. And again, should your pet require additional procedures other than teeth-cleaning, there are other veterinary dentists we can refer you to. Thank you again for watching my video. New clients can help us by registering online here.
Call 815-744-2082 to schedule Pet Teeth Cleaning
YouTube Link
Youtube Title: Pet Dental by Veterinarians In Shorewood IL 60404
Often bad breath in dogs or bad breath in cats is a sign of veterinary dental problems. Pet Teeth cleaning also may prevent future pet medical problems.
