Dental Health

One of the most common problems we encounter in our pets is dental disease. Bad teeth, left untreated, can cause pain and infection in our dogs and cats. This can be mild, or serious, and may affect your pet’s overall health. As part of our preventive health care, we do a thorough oral examination whenever possible, and may recommend brushing, dental treats, and/or a dental cleaning in the clinic. We carry certain products which can assist in pet oral health.

Just like humans, our dogs and cats can benefit immensely from regular professional examinations and cleanings at our hospital. Just what exactly does that entail? Read below to find out!

It’s Not Just a Cleaning, It’s a COHAT!

What exactly is a COHAT, you ask? It is an acronym coined by Veterinary Dentists that stands for “Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment and Treatment”. This starts with a thorough patient history including a review of diet, chewing habits, and home care strategies currently in place, and as thorough an oral examination as the patient will allow in the examination room. This can allow us to find early signs of dental disease, and develop a problem list.

Once a problem is identified, together with illustrative tools such as models and diagrams, our doctors will describe any current oral disease processes, and develop a treatment plan.

A “dentistry” at Westbridge Veterinary Hospital is a complete oral examination under anesthesia, and involves the following:

  1. Once the patient is anesthetized, a much more detailed oral examination is performed. All hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity and are examined and findings accurately recorded in the patient file.
  2. Whole mouth intra-oral dental radiographs are taken at this point. Virtually all dental patients require whole mouth intra-oral dental radiographs to allow assessment of the 60% (as a minimum) of each tooth that is hidden from view as well as the surrounding bone. **Neglecting dental radiograph would be providing sub-optimal dental care.**
  3. A flush of the mouth with an antibacterial solution is performed.
  4. Dental calculus (tartar) is removed with forceps or a mechanical scaling aide.
  5. Probing depths are taken at several points around every tooth and abnormal depths recorded on the dental chart.
  6. Crowns (the tooth surface above the gum line) are examined and explored for damage (abrasive wear, fractures, discolouration) and findings recorded on the chart.
  7. Following the more detailed clinical and radiographic examination, the treatment plan is re-evaluated. New findings and treatment options are communicated to the owner to obtain informed consent for the new plan.
  8. All teeth are scaled above and below the gum line to remove all mineralized deposits (calculus, tartar).
  9. Remaining teeth are polished above and below the gum line. This smooths the surface of the tooth, preventing early accumulation of plaque and tartar.
  10. The oral cavity and gingival sulci (area of the gums that surrounds the teeth) is flushed to remove all debris.

Just think…

Most of us brush our teeth on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times, and STILL end up with various dental diseases such as cavities. It is not surprising that our pets share many of the same issues, often multiplied.

From reading the above description of a COHAT, there are two things that should be immediately evident:

  1. It is a detailed and precise procedure that takes an appreciable amount of time, and
  2. The oral care that we provide to our patients parallels in many ways the care that we receive from our dentists, and many procedures such as the scale and polishing are identical.


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Digital Dental Radiography

As mentioned above, digital dental radiography is an asset to a complete oral health examination. Below are some examples of where dental radiography has helped our patients, and a more detailed description of its benefits.

  1. Crown: the part of the tooth in the black portion of the image, which represents the part of the tooth that is visible in the mouth.
  2. Enamel: enamel is the hardest substance in the body, and envelops and protects the inner portions of a tooth.
  3. Dentin: a mineralized substance which makes up the bulk of a tooth, and serves to protect the pulp cavity (see below for definition).
  4. Pulp Cavity: seen as the darker gray line in the dentin, this is the central cavity of a tooth containing the pulp, including the root canal,, containing blood vessels and nerves allowing a fresh supply of nutrients and blood for each tooth.
  5. Periodontal Ligament: seen as a black line surrounding the root of the tooth, this is a group of specialized connective tissue fibers that attach a tooth to the alveolar bone within which it sits. These fibers help the tooth withstand the substantial compressive forces which occur during chewing and keep the tooth embedded in the bone.
  6. Alveolar Bone: this is a thickened layer of bone lining containing the tooth sockets on bones that bear teeth.

Disease can affect each complex part of the tooth listed above, either alone or in combination. Without radiographs, we are only seeing and diagnosing disease in the enamel and partially the crown.

Compare the image on the left, a dental radiograph, with the image on the right, an actual photograph of the same tooth after extraction. Note that the tooth was cut in half to facilitate easier extraction. This is a great example of the fine detail that can be obtained with dental radiography. Take a look at the picture below.

This is a photograph of the same tooth, still intact in the mandible, prior to extraction. Note that visually, above the gum line there are no abnormalities and the tooth would otherwise appear to be vital. This is a great display of the importance in dental radiography, as left untreated, this was a very painful tooth.

CLICK HERE for more on digital dental radiography.