Dentistry

The main reason for this is to prevent your pet from being under anaesthesia for an excessively long period of time. The charting, scale and polish, and full mouth x-rays (i.e. Stage I) can take up to one hour alone.

Extended anaesthetics can lead to low blood pressure issues (hypotension), as well as the development of a reduced body temperature (hypothermia), both of which can be harmful to your pet’s anaesthetic safety and recovery.

It also allows for proper planning of the required oral surgery, rather than unexpected diseases being identified during dental radiography, and these having to be addressed immediately. Performing Stage II on a separate day allows the oral surgery to be performed in a cleaner environment, rather than immediately after the descaling process.

Two planned, shorter procedures increase the likelihood of smoother and timelier recoveries at both stages.

No, we have structured our dentistry fees so that the price paid is the same as it would have been if charged under one sitting. However, the staging process allows us to properly estimate for what is involved.

Historically we would have called you during your pet’s anaesthetic to seek verbal permission for extractions, as well as the additional costs that this would incur.

You would then have a much larger bill to pay at the time of discharge than that which you had originally estimated, which we don’t think is fair.

The staging process seeks to avoid this, so that the price estimated is as close as possible to the price that you are charged.

A second procedure is required because the dental x-rays have revealed diseased teeth/roots/jawbone.

Without appropriate action, the disease processes will continue, and ongoing dental disease and infection will persist.

More importantly, dental disease is painful, and without appropriate action your pet will continue to live with a chronically painful mouth.

...and require my pet to have an anaesthetic?

The goal of veterinary dentistry is to diagnose and treat dental diseases. General anaesthetic is required for it to be safe, stressless and medically beneficial. Subgingival (below the gums) scaling is the most important part of “teeth cleaning”.

See here for further information.

Once the Stage II procedure is complete and all the oral disease is under control, then the process doesn’t stop there.

Ongoing home dental care and routine check-ups are essential to maintain your pet’s mouth, gums, and remaining teeth in as healthy a state as possible.

Twice daily tooth brushing with pet toothpaste is the Gold Standard, as plaque begins to accumulate within 24 hours of being removed.

Regular nurse appointments are recommended after a dental procedure, to ensure that success is being achieved, and to help and offer advice if problems are starting to return.

The first appointment should initially be 3-4 weeks after completion of the final Stage II post op check.

Thereafter, we will recommend seeing your pet every 3-6 months so that future oral health is monitored and maintained.

........another dental is being recommended. Why didn’t the procedure work last year?

A dental procedure can address the diseases present at that moment in time, but it is not a protective measure against future disease.

Active post-operative dental homecare is the only way that this can be achieved.

Without appropriate actions then your pet will unfortunately continue to be in pain and be at risk of systemic infections and compromised health.

This depends on the terms and conditions of your pet’s insurance policy, but it is certainly worth checking.

Some insurance providers offer a pre-authorisation service, where they will confirm whether costs will be covered before treatment is undertaken. So, this can be performed if you are concerned about the costs and wish to know beforehand if they will be covered.

In cases where costs will not be covered by your pet’s insurance provider, an alternative finance option is Carefree Credit.

Please ask us if you have any additional questions about costs and payment.