Dental Care
Dental care is vital to your pet’s overall health and longevity, but periodontal disease remains the most common health issue our animal companions face. The fact is that most pets over three already have some signs of periodontal (dental) disease.
Unfortunately, many pet parents don’t pay attention to their pet’s mouth until they’re forced to do so by terrible doggy breath, a pet that has trouble eating, or obviously feels unwell. At that point, a lot of teeth and gum damage has probably already occurred, requiring extensive cleaning, extractions, and or oral surgery to fix. If the periodontal disease is very advanced, bacteria may have already spread to internal organs, causing serious illness and perhaps even shortening the life of your pet.
The way to avoid all this is with regular dental care including at-home brushing if possible, dental exams, and annual dental cleanings. At Spruce Hill Veterinary Clinic, we offer comprehensive dental services for pets including:
- Dental exams
- Dental X-rays
- Cleaning/scaling
- Extractions
Per guidelines from the American Veterinary Medical Association, we do only anesthetic dental cleanings. While non-anesthetic cleanings are becoming a popular option, we cannot recommend them because in addition to being extremely stressful for pets, they do not allow for scaling under the gum line where the majority of plaque and tartar build up.
If you’d like to schedule your pet for a dental exam or cleaning, you can give us a call at (413) 782-3183.