We would like to share with you a little about how we treat periodontal disease.  

First we prepare your pet for anesthesia with pre anesthetic blood work. An IV catheter is placed to provide   fluids during the procedure and to have quick access to the cardiovascular system if the need arises.  Your pet is then intubated so that oxygen can be delivered to your pet while she is anesthetized and provided 
supplemental warming (the pillowcase you see is filled with warm air) to avoid hypothermia.    

Once that is complete, we take dental x-rays. 
             


Throughout the procedure, we carefully monitor your pets vital signs

The yellow machine is called a pulse oximeter. 
This machine measures the percent of oxygen
 in the blood and the heartrate. 

The smaller grey machine, is a thermometer. 
Monitoring core body temperature
is essential in providing safe anesthesia.

The pillow case on top of the pet is connected to a machine called a Bair Hugger.  The Bair Hugger is a forced warm air heating machine, that provides warmth to the patient without risk of burning their skin.





The machines sitting on the counter are:
An EKG, which records electrical
frequencies emitted by the heart. 
The other machine measures your pets blood pressure,which is important for
administering safe anesthesia. 
All of these machines are important
vital sign monitors which
ensure a safe anesthetic
experience for your pet. 



Then we develop the x rays.

              
The doctor then reviews the films to determine if there will need to be any extractions.  Dental x rays are useful in determining if there are infections, sometimes known as absesses, under the gumline. 




We then observe the teeth. 
The greenish/yellow material on the tooth is tartar.
  The inflamation of the gums is gingivitis.

   

We then use a high powered water handpiece to scale the teeth. 
Scaling the teeth is important because it removes the tartar
and cleans below the gumline.



Here is a picture of that same ucky tooth after scaling.




After scaling the teeth, the doctor does a thorough examination and removes problem teeth.  After that, the teeth are polished and Ora Vet is applied.  Ora Vet is a tartar repelling sealant that helps keep your pets teeth healthier, longer. 


 The pet is then recovered from anesthesia and can go home. 










Sometimes pets need a dentistry not because of a disease,
but some other abnormality.

Here are a set of normal teeth



Here is a mouth with far too many teeth..some of these need to be pulled.