Dentistry

A Stage One dental includes general anaesthesia, comprehensive oral assessment, dental charting, full mouth dental x-rays and a scale and polish

The dental charts and x-rays can be discussed with you, so that you are fully on-board and able to implement a more bespoke and tailored dental home care plan for your pet.

If your pet is given a clean bill of dental health, we will get you booked in for a post-op check with a veterinary nurse (3 days and 1 month after the procedure) to discuss and demonstrate home hygiene to keep them clean.

If there are teeth that require extraction due to disease, we will arrange a second procedure, usually a couple of weeks later (called a Stage Two dental).

A Stage Two dental involves treatment (extraction) of teeth that the veterinary surgeon identified after the Stage One dental, under general anaesthetic.

Your pet will be booked in for a post-op check with a veterinary nurse (3 days and 1 month after the procedure) to discuss and demonstrate home hygiene to keep them clean.

No, we have structured our dentistry fees so that the price paid is similar to if it had been all under one general anaesthetic.

The staging process allows us to accurately estimate for what is involved, so you are fully informed of costs of treatment at every step.

The main reason for the staging 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 can take up to one hour alone)

Extended anaesthetics can lead to low blood pressure (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.

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

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.

It also allows for proper planning of appropriate and pre-emptive pain relief, which is more effective if given ahead of the time needed.

Performing a Stage Two on a separate day allows the oral surgery to be performed in a cleaner environment, rather than immediately after the descaling process.

If your pet is able to receive one anaesthetic, then there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to cope with a second (or third).

Furthermore, every pet’s anaesthetic is closely monitored by trained professionals, as well as electronic multiparameter anaesthetic monitoring equipment.

Two shorter planned anaesthetics are certainly much safer than one excessively long one, especially when dealing with a chronic problem which is elective as opposed to being an emergency.

Although this is offered by some groomers, it presents a major animal welfare concern.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) have published a statement on non-anaethesia dentistry (NAD)

A non-veterinary professional is not trained to evaluate pathology.

Anaesthesia is needed for any meaningful sub-gingival treatment (under the gum line).

NAD leads to a cosmetically improved oral cavity but with persistent infection, inflammation and pain.

The procedure is therefore not only ineffective, but masks the pathology present delaying appropriate healthcare.

In addition, the stress or discomfort incurred during this time-consuming cosmetic procedure is wholly avoidable and indefensible from a medical and ethical stand point.

Our team of trained veterinary nurses will guide you through this process through their post-operative consultations and dental clinics

The gold standard of dental care at home is daily tooth brushing https://youtu.be/lLGd_VdCvAs

Ongoing home dental care and routine check-ups are essential to maintain your pet’s mouth and gums and keep their teeth as healthy as possible.

Regular nurse appointments ensure that success is being achieved at home, and to help and offer support if problems are starting to return.

As we know from our own experiences, dental pain can be really uncomfortable but it does not usually stop us from eating.

Many dogs will eat despite having painful, loose or infected teeth because of their instinct despite the dental disease being a painful condition.

My pet had a dental last year, but now their gums are inflammed and they need another one. Why did the last one not work?

- A dental procedure addresses the disease present at the time, but is not protective against future disease

- Active post-operative dental homecare is the only way that this can be achieved, but our team of veterinary nurses can support you with this.

This depends on the individual policy, but is certainly worth checking.

Some insurance companies offer a pre-authorisation service, where they will confirm if the costs will be covered before treatment is undertaken. This could be done by submission of an estimate and the clinical history to the insurance company. If you are concerned about the costs and wish to know if your pet will be covered beforehand then just let us know.

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

Our Pet Health Club® members also receive a 10% discount on the cost of dental treatment.

Please talk to us if you have any further questions on costs of treatment and payment.