Pet Dental Care

City Rover understands the importance of good dental care for your pet.

Your pet's teeth and mouth are prone to disease and decay just like yours. If your pet has a bad tooth or infected gums, the pain can lead to lack of appetite. Infection in your pet’s mouth can cause secondary and more serious infections in the liver, kidneys and heart.

It is important to have regular dental health checkups. This can be done at your annual appointment, or can be assessed at anytime. Dental disease consists of:

• Plaque: Develops when bacteria attach to the teeth.
• Tartar/Calculus: Develops when minerals in the saliva combine with the plaque and harden.
• Gingivitis: Develops when the tartar irritates the gums, causing inflammation (redness) along the gum line as well as bad breath.
• Periodontal Disease: Develops when tartar is not removed. Tartar begins to build up under the gums, and separates the gums from the teeth creating multiple pockets, which in turn allows more bacteria to grow. This can lead to loose teeth, abscesses, infection, bone loss and health problems affecting the heart, lung and kidneys.  Periodontal disease can be quite painful.

Pets that have more than minimal tartar build up need ultrasonic scaling above and below the gum line to remove the tartar, followed by a thorough polishing. In some instances the periodontal disease is irreversible and extractions may be a necessary to ensure your pet is pain free.

Since animals cannot sit still for a thorough dental evaluation, teeth cleaning and other dental work, general anesthesia with precise patient monitoring is necessary. Our patient’s respiratory rate, pulse, blood pressure, temperature and oxygen level within the blood are constantly monitored throughout the procedure to ensure  safety and to use the minimum level of anesthetic necessary. All animals undergoing dental procedures are treated with the same care as animals undergoing surgery. To guarantee the safest outcome, City Rover requires all patients undergoing any anesthetic procedure to have a pre-operative health exam and a diagnostic blood panel.

Animals that have dental work done are healthier, feel better and their breath smells fresh again!