Cat dentals or Feline dental prohphylaxis

Cat dentals, cat teeth cleaning or Feline dental prophylaxis

At the Scaredy Cat Hospital a complete dental and oral evaluation is part of every cat’s examination.  Plaque and tartar accumulation is very common and begins at a very early age.  It is important to train your kitty to get used to teeth evaluation as early as 6 weeks of age.

Much attention has been focused on veterinary dentistry in the last year.  Research clearly shows that proper dental care is probably the most important thing that you can do to add years of length and quality to the life of your pet.

Cat dental care is important because:

Gum infections hurt!!!

Gum and teeth disease lead to other infections such as endocarditis (heart valve infection) and kidney infections.  The bacteria in the mouth can even be a potential source of human infections.

Your kitty will be much more pleasant to be around with no tuna breath!

The Steps of Proper Dental Prophylaxis

Pre operative laboratory testing is essential in feline dentistry in order to help identify problems that might interfere with safe and gentle anesthesia.

Anesthesia

General anesthesia is required since most kitties will not "open wide."  Anesthesia also enables us to identify and correct problems below the gum line where a major portion of the pathology occurs.  Our sedatives are chosen with your pet's utmost safety in mind, and vary with age, weight, and physical condition.  The cost of anesthesia is a major reason that a dental cleaning costs more in animals than in people.

Scaling or cleaning

Scaling of the teeth is done to remove tartar above and below the gum line.  Scaling is done with both hand instruments and ultrasonic cleaning equipment.

Polishing to Decrease New Plaque attachment

Just like using fine grit sandpaper after using coarse grit, we must polish to make the teeth smooth.  Polishing the teeth after scaling is important to "smooth down" the surfaces, which then will be more resistant to new plaque accumulation.  Without polishing, dental specialists say we are really doing very little good, and in fact the plaque will return very quickly if the teeth are not polished after scaling.  

Antiseptic Flushing

It is important after polishing to rid the mouth of the ever-present bacteria so they do not invade the gums irritated during the cleaning.  Solutions are actually flushed beneath the gum line to rid these germs.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are usually required in veterinary dentistry because a tooth cleaning is not usually performed until tooth and gum disease is already present.  Injectable antibiotics are used routinely.  Oral medications are sometimes prescribed, depending upon the severity of infection.  This is not routinely needed in human dentistry because we don't let our teeth get that bad before seeking professional help.

Once the dental cleaning procedure has been completed, it is important that you follow the dental hygiene recommendations made for your particular pet to keep his or her teeth and gums as healthy as possible.  

Call or email the Scaredy Cat Hospital at 480-990-CATS (2287) for advise on feline dental prophylaxis and at home cat dental care.