Dental Care
What To Expect
About Dental Care
Before your cat’s dental procedure, we’ll schedule an appointment to discuss the procedure with you and check your cat’s overall condition. This visit will include a physical exam and possibly diagnostic testing, depending on your cat’s age and health status.
On the morning of your cat’s dental procedure, we’ll schedule a 10 minute drop off appointment to complete patient intake. After that, you’ll leave your cat at the hospital until the procedure is complete and they’ve recovered from the anesthesia. We’ll send you regular updates and photos or videos of your cat throughout the day to let you know how they’re doing. You’ll be able to pick up your cat later on the same day.
At discharge, we’ll go over home care instructions and answer any questions you may have. We’ll then schedule a complimentary post-procedure exam 7-14 days later so we can make sure that they’re healing well.
All dental procedures include:
- Comprehensive Oral Examination: Your cat’s entire oral cavity is evaluated, including a tooth by tooth visual examination, probing, mobility assessment and oral exam charting.
- Full Mouth X-Rays: Dental x-rays allow the veterinarian to accurately evaluate the whole tooth, including the root. In many cases, the crown of the tooth appears normal, but an x-ray can reveal a problem with the root that requires treatment.
- Treatment Planning: The doctor reviews the x-rays and oral exam findings to formulate a treatment plan. If oral surgery is needed, we will contact you to discuss our recommendations. Depending on the extent of your cat’s dental disease, we may be able to complete the treatments during the same visit.
- Scaling and Polishing: Scaling removes tartar from the tooth surface and beneath the gum line. Polishing smooths out any abrasions caused by the scaling process.