vet dentist
Beau, a 15 year old, really , nervous poodle cross, presented to for a Vet dental visit. He had never had his teeth brushed or cleaned. The halitosis was bad! You should be concerned about the anesthetic safety. To ensure safety the following steps are taken: Gentle , low stress handling in a quiet warm environment, with empathetic vet dental staff!
Above: Beau post op !
All dental patients undergo the following:
- Given a light medication to relax them.
- Given intravenous fluids administered through an intra-venous catheter placed in the leg.
- The anesthetic is given slowly and the patient gently gets more sleepy
- A tube is then placed into the airways
- Gas anesthetic is then breathed in through that tube
- Monitoring throughout the anesthetic by a trained anesthetic assistant
- The pulse is monitored throughout
- The oxygen in the blood throughout
- Blood pressure monitoring
- the amount of carbon dioxide breathed out
- and core body temperature is kept stable and constant.
This procedure ensues safety and the risk is minimal, but present.
The worst teeth removed – note the infection extending way down into the roots. Imagine these were your teeth.
Every now and then, the vet dentist see s advanced dental disease that really impacts on the patient’s quality of life. The vet dentist was told, only 1 procedure allowed.
Advanced dog dental disease affects the liver, heart and kidneys and slowly poisons the pet.. The reason in these cases is simply that the owner was unaware of it. Beau was eating soft food that was reaming between the teeth and causing a putrid smell.. The occasional pawing at the lips and salivation became more and more obvious. We see high levels of dental disease in older dogs due to ignorance.
We also get the owners to keep the oral cavity clean by brushing or wiping the remaining teeth, and a diet change. Positive Outcome is a happy, pain free, infection free oral cavity. These are very rewarding for dog dentists as the change is beautiful. Most dogs get a new lease on life.
Above:
Our little patient, Beau gently waking up in the arms of a vet nurse.
The dental procedure went well – about 20 rotten teeth removed
Result – a happier, pain free, infection free pet.