It's National dental month again and we are offering $20 off of a dental cleaning!

Signs of oral and dental diseases in dogs and cats:

- Bad breath.
- Loose teeth or teeth that are discolored or covered in tartar.
- Your pet shies away from you when you touch the mouth area.
- Drooling or dropping food from the mouth.
- Bleeding from the mouth.
- Loss of appetite or loss of weight (this combination can result from diseases of many organs, and early veterinary examination is important).

Most pets with painful dental conditions do not show clinical signs that are obvious to the owner, but this does not mean that they are not feeling pain. They cannot tell you about the pain. In the wild, animals tend to hide signs of illness or weakness - dogs and cats posses this instinct.

Many painful dental conditions develop gradually, and are more common in middle-aged and older pets. As a result, behavior that the owner interprets as “acting grumpy” may be the result of dental pain. Owners often observe that their pet acts “years younger” following dental treatment. Some owners are afraid of putting their beloved pet under anesthesia because they feel the risk are too great, but

anesthesia is essential for veterinary dental procedures, to ensure that the procedure can be completed successfully. Appropriately administered general anesthesia entails extremely low risk for the patient, as a result of a combination of pre-anesthetic assessment of the patient (including blood tests or other tests as indicated), use of modern anesthetic agents and local anesthetic blocks (which minimizes the depth of general anesthesia required), plus modern anesthetic monitoring equipment. Many patients are awake and standing within 15-20 minutes of completion of the procedure and go home the same day. Fear of general anesthesia is a natural concern voiced by many owners when a dental procedure is recommended.  However, the risk of chronic oral infection, for example, is far greater than the risk of an anesthetic complication.

  Fig 1. Patient under anesthesia for professional oral care.