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The American Veterinary Dental Society claims that around 70 percent of cats and 80 percent of dogs show some signs of pet dental disease until the age of three. Without proper and regular dental care, your pets are prone to oral diseases.
Periodontal disease does not just affect your pet’s mouth. Other health problems found in association with periodontal disease include kidney, liver, and heart muscle changes.
It starts with plaque that hardens into tartar. Tartar above the gum line might often be easily identified and removed, but plaque and tartar below the gum line are damaging and cause infection to the jawbone and the tissues that connect the tooth to the jaw. Periodontal disease is graded on a scale of zero (normal) to four (severe).
The treatment of periodontal disease involves a thorough dental cleaning and X-rays to determine the severity of the disease.
Our highly qualified veterinarians at LifeCare Pet Hospital expertly perform dental examinations and pet dental cleanings on your beloved pets. During the oral assessment, we carefully register any sort of concerns or abnormalities that may cause any serious pet dental disease.
Dog Dental Disease
The most common dental issues in dogs are periodontal disease and tooth fractures from hard chew toys. Dog dental disease due to teeth crowding is most commonly seen in small breeds such as Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers, and mini Poodles. Bigger dogs end up fracturing their teeth due to hard chew toys. Can you believe that both great Danes and Chihuahuas have 42 teeth? Imagine the teeth crowding in the mouth of small breeds. To make matters worse, some small breeds tend to retain their baby teeth. Many fractured teeth can be saved by vital pulpotomy if it is performed within a few days of the fracture. If your dog has fractured a big tooth and you would like to explore the option of saving it via vital pulpotomy or root canal therapy, please call us now.
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Cat Dental Disease
Although many oral diseases overlap between dogs and cats, there are few that are unique or are primarily seen in cats. If your cat has been diagnosed with any of these or if you would like LifeCare Pet Hospital to do an oral exam, please call or visit us.
- Tooth Resorption. This cat dental disease continues to be a painful, frustrating, mysterious, controversial, and very common problem in cats.
- Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis. This is a very painful, frustrating, and mysterious feline disease that requires early and aggressive surgical management. This cat dental disease is treated with full mouth extraction. Full mouth extractions can be done usually in one procedure at LifeCare Pet Hospital.
- Feline Gum Chewer Syndrome Malocclusion and/or the loss of the lower molar in a cat can lead to a recurrent and painful ulcerative lesion on the lower jaw. Treatment involves removing the offending upper teeth.
- Lip Entrapment When cats lose their upper canine they are inclined to bite their upper lip with their lower canine.
Treatment of Periodontal Dog Dental Disease at LifeCare Pet Hospital
Periodontal disease in pets can be treated. The first step in treatment requires dental radiographs, an oral examination, and a professional dental cleaning under anesthesia. Periodontal disease leading to loss of attachment of gums, inflammation of gums, or tooth abscess may require periodontal surgery or extractions to control the infection or prevent the spread of disease.
At LifeCare Pet Hospital, periodontal surgery is offered and routinely performed depending on the type of dog or cat dental disease. Treatment options can include bone grafting and/or guided tissue regeneration.
- Bone Grafting: This type of surgery is required when periodontal disease has resulted in significant bone loss around a tooth.
- Guided-tissue regeneration (GTR): GTR procedures are often done in combination with bone grafting. GTR membranes are made to encourage normal, healthy periodontal structures to reattach to the tooth surface and to keep undesirable tissues out while healing takes place.
Treatment of Endodontic Dog Dental Disease at LifeCare Pet Hospital
LifeCare Pet Hospital is the only general practice in the area offering pet endodontics. Our team can perform:
- Root canal therapy to avoid the extraction of big teeth in your pet’s mouth.
- Crown reduction and pulpotomy to avoid disease progression in dead teeth or to avoid oral trauma due to malocclusion. Sometimes this procedure is done after oral tumor removals as well.
- Composite restorations for enamel/dentin loss.
