Dentistry is an area of veterinary care that is often overlooked. Part of the reason for this is the fact that animals require general anaesthesia to perform most dental work and this makes the procedure more expensive. Many people also do not notice the effect bad teeth may have on their pets, the improvement in their demeanor only becoming apparent when bad teeth have been treated.
Our Walnut Tree Hospital now has it's own dedicated dentistry suite that includes a dedicated digital x-ray system. This enables us to see hidden dental disease within teeth and below the gum line. Our Stoke Road surgery also has dental equipment that enables it to perform simple dentistry such as scaling and polishing teeth and extracting obviously diseased teeth. The high speed drills are also suitable for treating dental disease in rabbits such as trimming the front incisors (a significantly better method than trimming them using e.g. nail clippers that can shatter the teeth and cause root damage). (PHOTO will appear soon of new suite at Walnut Tree).
Unfortunately, at present many animals booked in for dental treatment require bad teeth to be removed. In the ideal world we would perform a dental to clean the teeth before they decay. With our new x-ray system we are discovering dental disease in teeth that would have been missed by just looking at the teeth directly.
The requirement for dental treatment can be reduced by brushing an animals teeth. This often requires getting animals used to the idea whilst they are still young although it is not impossible to start teeth brushing in older pets. To be effective, you need to use a toothpaste designed for animals (they do not foam, have no fluoride and are often meat or yeast flavoured) and a soft toothbrush. Studies show that ideally the teeth are brushed daily or at the very least every other day. Less frequent brushing than every other day appears to provide no benefit in dental care.
There are some diets, chews and toys that can also be beneficial in helping to keep pets teeth clean.
One of our veterinary surgeons, Steve Bonthorne, has developed a keen interest in veterinary dentisty and is keen to see pets with oral and dental disease.
Our Walnut Tree Hospital now has it's own dedicated dentistry suite that includes a dedicated digital x-ray system. This enables us to see hidden dental disease within teeth and below the gum line. Our Stoke Road surgery also has dental equipment that enables it to perform simple dentistry such as scaling and polishing teeth and extracting obviously diseased teeth. The high speed drills are also suitable for treating dental disease in rabbits such as trimming the front incisors (a significantly better method than trimming them using e.g. nail clippers that can shatter the teeth and cause root damage). (PHOTO will appear soon of new suite at Walnut Tree).