Treatment Teeth Cleaning
Product Description
There are three groups of personnel that clean canine teeth:
- 1: veterinary dentists. These are highly trained individuals with excellent x-ray equipment. Unfortunately, there are very few (if any) dental specialists in most towns, and the few who perform simple teeth cleanings generally charge a premium. Like your own dentist, they mostly do complicated specialty work.
- 2: general veterinarians. It is generally a vet tech, not a vet, who cleans teeth. Degrees of skill and training vary greatly. One veterinary dentist, and many general vets, have told me that the training is insufficient in vet schools and, thus, in many practices. As dental work becomes more profitable, interest in advanced training will hopefully increase. One advantages of cleaning by a skilled tech and vet is charting of the teeth, availability of antibiotics, surgical cleaning of teeth with hard-to-reach plaque, emergency care, and the availability of x-rays, (which hopefully are digital). One disadvantage is that anesthesia can be dangerous and must be monitored by a skilled expert with the latest anesthesia, and proper size and type of anesthesia equipment (which is too often not the case).
- 3: an "anesthesia-free" practitioner. The dental cleaning skill level ranges from a "tooth-scraper" with little or no training, to former licensed dental hygienists for people. The animal handling skill, which is extremely important, also varies greatly. Facilities range from dark back rooms to vet offices. You are the only quality inspector.
- The primary way to clean under the gum line, remove tartar and restore your pet's gums to optimum health is to scale them using an ultrasonic scaler. First, the large pieces of tartar are removed with special instruments to crack the tartar off. Then, using precise instruments and the ultrasonic scaler, the gums are gently cleaned under the gum line. After they are scaled the teeth are polished to make it more difficult for bacteria to adhere to them and start the cycle of plaque, tartar, and gingivitis all over again.
- Cleaning can restore the gums to a healthy state, which can then be controlled with brushing at home, feeding hard food, and routine monitoring by your doctor every 6-12 months. If proper home care is followed, this pet will usually need to have its teeth cleaned only once every few years, although every pet is different. If you follow this preventive program your pet will not encounter advanced dental disease and have a much better quality of life.
- Warning:
Not all dogs are good subjects for non-anesthetic procedures -- particularly dogs with advanced dental disease that may require extractions and/or antibiotic treatment. A good practitioner should insist you see a vet first if your dog has advanced dental disease, and will then will help maintain your dog's dental health with a non-anesthetic method.
