Veterinary dentistry is one aspect of pet care which is often overlooked. Too often by the time we are presented with an animal for a dental assessment, the dental disease is so advanced that the only option is to remove the affected teeth. We strongly recommend that you consider having a health check for your animal at least once a year to pick up any issues before they become serious. It is a common misconception that if dental disease is causing pain then the animal wouldn’t eat. On the contrary, nearly all animals with dental disease and associated pain continue to eat well. It is only the most serious and advanced diseases that cause a loss of appetite.

Some signs of dental disease include:

+ Inflamed gums
+ Bad breath
+ Toothache (this pain is often hard for us to appreciate).
+ Cavities
+ Fractured teeth or discoloured teeth
+ Tooth root abscesses

Prevention of disease is our main goal. An evaluation of your pet’s oral hygiene is required to understand the extent of any disease and to determine a suitable treatment regime. This may vary from home dental care, to a professional scale and polish through to endodontics and extractions.

If the dental assessment does find dental disease then a professional scale and polish or advanced dental procedure will need to be performed. Here at VetSouth we have excellent facilities to perform these treatments including the latest IM3 dental work station, dental digital X-ray facilities and an extensive range of tools and equipment.

The latest IM3 scaler uses technology to cause minimal trauma and heat to the teeth while removing calculus. A lot of disease in the mouth goes on under the gum and with the help of a dental x-ray machine and table top digital processor – fast and convenient images are produced. With this information we can formulate the most appropriate treatment for your animal’s mouth. We are very proud of the high standard of dental care we provide and we have invested not only in the facilities for this but also with further education courses for our staff.