No other procedure performed on small animals does more to help patients than periodic teeth cleaning and after care. The dental visit for cleaning must be performed in a methodical manner. All steps are important and interlinked. When one step is not performed, long term patient benefit suffers.

1) Oral examination on the unanesthetized animal. This begins with the face. Check for swellings and painful areas. Look at the eyes, are they the same size? Is there swelling under one eye? Open and close the mouth to check for pain or crepitus in the temporomandibular joints. Examine the teeth and gingiva for pathology. Examine each tooth rather than the mouth globally. If there is even a small amount of tartar touching the gingiva this is disease and needs immediate removal.  Some pets will not allow this step to proceed as mouth pain will make them apprehensive during gentle manipulation and examination.  A pain or aversion response is easily enough reason to proceed to examination under anesthesia.

2) Oral examination under general anesthesia. We examine individual teeth for mobility, fractures, malocclusion, and periodontal disease (probe around each tooth for the presence of deep pockets).

3) Supragingival (above the gumline) plaque and tartar removal using calculus removing forceps, hand instruments, and power scaling equipment.

Supragingival deposits are removed from all visible surfaces of the tooth.

When used properly, the ultrasonic scaler removes plaque and tartar from the teeth. Heat generated by normal ultrasonic scalers can cause severe damage to the tooth and periodontal support. We only use the State-of-the-Art IM-3 scaling equipment that does not heat up the tooth at all.  This instrument allow for enamel-safe scaling of the tooth surface as well as complete, thorough, safe scaling of all deposits under the gumline.  No other instrument allows for this.

4) Subgingival (below the gumline) scaling, root planing, curettage. Curettes and the IM3 instrument are used to remove subgingival deposits. If indicated, the three parts of this step include:

Root scaling: removal of plaque and calculus from the root surface. The goal is to disorganize and lavage bacteria living subgingivally. This creates a healthier environment for healing and reattachment. Curettes, or slim ultrasonic tips are used. 

Root planing: the smoothing of roughened root surfaces by debriding diseased cementum and removing embedded calculus produces a clean smooth surface free of debris. Root planing is performed with a curette used in overlapping strokes. Crosshatch planing creates a smooth surface while maintaining root anatomy.Removal of all exposed cementum may not be helpful to periodontal health. Cementum contains chemicals that enhance re-attachment of periodontal ligament. Bacteria do not penetrate into the cementum. Stripping cementum by root planning removes potential reattachment resources. 

Subgingival Curettage: is removal of the gingival pocket's diseased soft tissue inner surface. The rationale for the procedure is to convert chronically inflamed ulcerated lesions in the soft tissue wall of a periodontal pocket, into a clean surgical wound. This promotes healing and readaptation of tissue to the tooth surface.



5) Xrays. The only way to evaluate what is happening below the gumline where the doctor cannot see is through use of dental xrays.  Without dental xray, abscesses at the tooth root tip, loss of bone around the root and damage to the inside of the tooth cannot be seen or evaluated in any way.  Just as with our own dental examination, xray is a crucial step that must not be skipped.  At Valley Veterinary Services we employ fully digital xray technology that allows our doctors the highest quality images available such that they are able to diagnose problems at the earliest possible stage. 

7) Fluoride is placed on dry teeth and allowed to remain undisturbed for at least four minutes.  Fluoride will reduce discomfort of the dental cleaning process and will help to harden enamel making it more resistant to disease and disruption.

8) Polishing: regardless of how careful we have been during the scaling and examination process, we will always create very fine scratches on the enamel surface of the tooth.  These must be smoothed through the polishing process both on the crown of the tooth and below the gumline.  This is acheive by careful use of a polishing dental handpiece, and polishing pumice.  Without this step, tartar will accumulate rapidly on the fine scratch matrix.  This is why scraping tartar from your own pets teeth is of little value to long term tartar control.  Care must be taken during this step as aggressive polishing will damage enamel making the tooth predisposed to disease.

9) Charting. Any disease present before therapy is indicated in the computerized record for the patient. Charting always includes missing , loose, fractured , and discolored teeth, as well as feline oral resorptive lesions, periodontal pocket depths, gingival recession, and other significant lesions.

Plaque is constantly being made and deposited in the mouth. Humans have a buildup of plaque in the morning, that makes our breath smell bad. Proper home care can keep plaque buildup under control. People brush their teeth several times daily to remove plaque -- why not our pets?

The goal of dental home care is to remove plaque from tooth surfaces and gingival sulci before it mineralizes into calculus, a process that occurs within days of a teeth cleaning. Success depends on the owner's ability to daily brush the teeth, as well as the dog or cat's acceptance of the process. True oral cleanliness can only be achieved through the mechanical action of toothbrush bristles above and below the gingiva.

Home care is best started at a young age before the adult teeth erupt. The perfect time to introduce dental home care is at the first puppy or kitten visit. The client-animal bond as well as the client-veterinary bond is enhanced when daily brushing is performed following instructions given at the animal hospital.

Our staff members are knowledgeable about tooth brushing techniques. Each teeth cleaning visit concludes with review of tooth brushing techniques. Nothing beats "hands on" instruction.

Clients often ask, "doesn't hard food keep teeth clean?" Some believe when their dog or cat chews on hard food or biscuits, mineral deposits are broken down and the teeth stay clean. This is not true. True, animals on soft diets accumulate plaque more readily than those on dry foods, but the only way to keep teeth clean above and below the gum line is by daily brushing.

Brushing instructions must be more than telling you it would be a good idea for you to brush your pet's teeth, then selling a toothbrush. We will show you how to properly use the tooth brush and paste, and observe you perform the procedure.

A written copy of homecare instructions will always go home with you as well.  This will outline what was found, what was performed and what medications or treatments are recommended for at home.  This will always include instructions for use of pain-relieving medications if these are indicated by the procedures performed.