Dental month is a great way for veterinarians to promote why taking care of our animals teeth is so important! Sometimes, we as veterinarians also push back routine dental care for our own pets, shocking I known. We understand how life happens and before you know it our pets are in dire need. This is my story of why dental care is so important and why we should be focused on the cleanings as well as routine care at home.

Meet Frank. Frank is a rescue kitty that I just happened to bring home, and surprised my husband with. He was thrilled, well maybe not thrilled, but he didn't kick him out! He was your regular two year old orange tiger stripped cat that had been released over to us after the owners where unable to care for him. I was a sucker and thought my kids would love him, and by the way they do! Frank was fairly healthy when we brought him into our home. Sure, on his dental exam I noted some plaque and tartar build up with some mild gingivitis, but nothing that I thought was serious that needed immediate attention. We brought Frank home and he quickly became a loved member of our family. Time goes on as time does, kids have things, you get busy with work, friends and family, and quite honestly Frank's dental care wasn't on the top of my priority list!

As time was going on, my husband and I had noticed that Frank was drooling more. We also noticed he was dropping some food when he ate. As he drooled he was developing some minor infection in his lip fold area as well as developing what we call cat chin acne. I took a good look in Franks mouth and knew I needed to get him in for a dental cleaning and evaluation. I won't lie it took me a good month before that actually happened! In the meantime Frank continued to drool and drop food occasionally.

I finally took him with me to work. I did all the steps that I deem are important for any animal undergoing an anesthetic process. First, I drew blood and performed a CBC (Complete Blood Cell Count) and a chemistry panel that checks his liver, kidney, protein, and blood sugar values. All looked good so we were a go ahead to start his anesthetic process. We gave him his pre-medications prior to anesthesia that help with the process of inducing anesthesia, reducing the amount of maintenance anesthetic agents he needs and providing some post operative pain control. Next step was placing his intravenous (IV catheter) so that we could have an access port in case things didn't go as planned during his dental for emergency drugs and also for fluid therapy during his procedure. After inducing anesthesia, a endotracheal tube was placed in his throat, (which you can see in the pictures). We were ready to go! A complete oral exam was our next step. This included a tooth by tooth exam, dental charting of his teeth and dental radiographs of his entire mouth. After doing this I realized how long I let his dental disease go.

AAHA, (American Animal Hospital Association), states that dental radiographs reveals 30% diseased teeth in dogs and 41.7% diseased teeth in cats that on oral examination show no underlying problems. They also state that animals that show underlying disease that, that number of diseased teeth doubles once dental radiographs are taken. This was Franks issue! I had no idea how bad his teeth were, until I took dental X-rays of them. Poor guy, I let him suffer for way too long. So the next step was to take care of these awful teeth that were causing him who knows how much pain! The drooling had been going on for at least 3 months, so I know he was painful for at least that amount of time. I performed dental blocks (kind of like the shots you get at the dentist) so the extractions or removal of those bad teeth would be less painful for them. Those blocks or shots provide pain control for up to 8 hours and decrease pain control needed after and the amount of anesthesia he needed while extracting them.

Next step was to clean and polish his teeth. Each tooth is scaled, just like yours would be at the dentist. This removes all that plaque and tartar that had accumulated. After the scaling, each tooth and tooth surface is polished. Again the same thing that you would have done, he had done as well. Finally, it was time to get those bad teeth out of there.

I ended up removing 8 teeth from Franks mouth! When I did his oral exam I knew for sure that 5 had to come out, it wasn't until the X-rays that there were three more that were just as bad. If I hadn't taken those X-rays he would still be in pain and probably still be drooling once we got him home. So, I took out 8 teeth and placed dissolvable sutures to close the holes. We followed up with post extraction radiographs to make sure I hadn't left any tooth roots and that the extractions were complete.

Frank did great after, woke up as I call "drunk but happy". He got to go home with me that same day and woke up the next day ready to eat him meal. We made some changes for him at home, added some different food, because of his degree of dental disease and offer him some treats that help with his dental care. There are foods/treats out there that help coat the surface of teeth to prevent plaque accumulation as well as rinses and sprays. The gold standard of care is brushing their teeth everyday, which I don't downplay at all. I know I should, but again this darn thing called life happens and it just doesn't get done around my house. So we settled for the treats and food, which he likes and does great on. I have set up reminders to check his mouth every 6 months because of his severity. I've also vowed to myself to not let it go like I did this first time! As of right know Frank is happy, healthy and being tormented by three boys who love to drag him around the house. No more drooling and no more dropping food! Sometimes I even need a wake up call, and February being dental month was exactly what I needed!

If you have questions about dental care or products, let me know! I'd be happy to share my experience!

-Dr. Amanda

February is Dental Month, an owner/veterinary view.

November is Senior Pet Adoption Month

Amanda Korkow