Central Animal Hospital

 

Central Animal Hospital

28 Steps to a Healthy, Pain-free Mouth

The Central Animal Hospital Oral Assessment and Treatment

 

The Central Animal Hospital Oral Assessment and Treatment [OAT] procedure is more than a “teeth cleaning.”  Though a pretty white smile is great to have, we focus below the gumline to ensure that your pet keeps the teeth it has and any underlying problems are treated before they become painful and potentially dangerous abscesses.  In the end, your pet will have both healthy and pretty teeth!

 

Would you go to a dentist that didn’t offer x-rays?  The parts of the teeth you can see are literally the “tip of the iceberg.”  Dental radiography focuses on the 60% of the tooth below the gumline.  By the time a tooth problem becomes something you can see or smell, it is usually very painful and too late to save the tooth.  We take full-mouth x-rays on all of our treatments and always take post-extraction x-rays to make sure that we removed all of the tooth roots.

 

Here is what we provide with our OAT procedures. The bolded points are enhanced safety and/or pain relief steps we take to minimize risk and pain to your pet:

 

1.       A pre-procedural, pre-anesthetic exam

2.       Pre-anesthetic blood panel to ensure that the liver and kidneys are healthy

3.       Before photos taken for comparison

4.       IV Catheter Placement

5.       Injectable anesthetic

6.       Intubation and gas anesthetic

7.       Maintenance fluids added to IV during procedure to maintain blood pressure

8.       Dedicated technician performs full vital sign monitoring throughout the entire procedure and recovery period

9.       Procedure performed on a warm water blanket to maintain body temperature

10.   Chlorhexidine rinse to clear away surface bacteria

11.   Assess and chart each tooth

12.   Measure pockets between teeth and gum

13.   Technicians take full-mouth x-rays

14.   Doctor assesses x-rays

15.   Doctor probes and assesses teeth

16.   Doctor performs nerve blocks for extractions if necessary

17.   Doctor extracts problem teeth

18.   Follow-up x-rays taken on extractions

19.   Technician both hand scales and ultrasonically scales each tooth

20.   Technician polishes each tooth

21.   Technician applies OraVet barrier sealant to reduce future plaque buildup

22.   After photos taken of beautiful clean teeth

23.   Monitoring continues until patient is fully awake

24.   Oral take-home pain medication dispensed if necessary

25.   Oral antibiotics dispensed if necessary

26.   X-Rays printed and provided to the client

27.   Dental chart provided to the client

28.   2-week follow-up visit to assess success of OAT procedure and go over at-home dental care

 

If you have any questions regarding your pet's health, please call us at 901/274-1444 for more information.  You may also use the Pet Health Database on this site to read more about dental health for your cat and/or dog.  Please click on the links below for more information.