Dentistry

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A preventable and common cause of pets not living their full life expectancy is dental disease. For this reason, Animal Health Centre maintains a strong focus on dental care.

Good dental care is essential to extend your pets life span and assure good quality of life.

Just like you, your pet would benefit from daily dental care at home, but  for most owners this is not an option. We can provide dentistry services for your pet and give you advice on ongoing teeth care  techniques.

We have an Ultrasonic Dental Machine to perform routine scaling and cleaning. We also have a Dental Base that allows us to do teeth polishing, as well as drilling out broken roots and sectioning teeth to facilitate easy extraction.

Why clean your pets teeth 

You should take care of your pets teeth for the same reasons you take care of your own. Neglecting dental care will lead to plaque and tartar, then periodontal disease and cavities, and finally the bone disintegrates around the tooth root. This process is ultimately painful , especially if dental abscess occurs. Infection can also cause disease in other areas locally and can even enter the blood and travel to the internal organs.

When do your pets teeth need attention

Most pets will need their teeth cleaned sometime from the age of 3-5years onwards. It is normal for several dental cleans to be needed throughout a pets life. This should not be unexpected since pets don't brush, floss or visit a dental hygienist regularly as we do.

As part of your annual health checks we will assess the teeth and advise you when they need us to attend to them. We also recommend various techniques to help you keep your pets teeth clean. Dental cleaning under anesthetic is only one part of your pets dental health program and our advice will help you keep these visits to a minimum. 

The dental cleaning operation

If a dental procedure has been recommended the operation is done on a 'day-surgery' basis with pets going home that afternoon. Pets wont sit still in a dentist chair so the cleaning has to be done under anaesthesia. We admit surgical patients at 8.00am at which time you will be asked for any relevant information about your pets health and potential anaesthetic risk. Surgical patients are given a full pre-op assessment then receive pre-medication that includes pain relief and a light sedative. The operation is done in the morning and takes between half an hour and forty five minutes to check gum pockets and scale and polish the teeth. If extractions are needed the operation may be over an hour, especially for dogs. Your pet will be discharged when fully recovered from anaesthetic, usually after 3pm, and you will be provided with extra pain relief to give them if needed. A post-op check is done 48hrs later and others arranged as necessary. The surgeons time for post op checks is provided free of charge.  

More serious dental disease

Broken teeth, cavities, dental abscesses and severe periodontal disease in the bone might all necessitate that a tooth/teeth be removed. Some of these problems are obvious before your pet is placed under anaesthetic but others aren't. Our vets will check for pockets between your pets teeth and around the base of the teeth. We can also do X-rays to check for problems under the gum surface. If shallow pockets are found then a clean out might suffice but ultimately these pockets will deepen and the tooth may need to be removed. Our vet will try to contact you if extractions were not expected so it helps us if you are available to take a call when your pet is with us for surgery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal.

Personal service is really important to us and this is an area where we shine due to our relatively small size and our friendly team.

Independent.

We run the practice as we have from the start, making our own decisions based on whats best for our patients and their family.

Focused.

We are Vets. We enjoy being Vets and this is our focus. We’re not a petshop with a vet in it. We don’t upsell treats, beds or grooming when you visit.

Experienced.

Each of our vets has over 20 years of professional expertise. Our nursing staff all hold National Certificates and Diplomas.

Comprehensive.

Our Animal Hospital and Vet Clinic is fully equipped and staffed to provide a complete medical and surgical service.

Convenient.

We’re centrally located and easy to get to. We also have ample free parking to make your experience as easy as possible.