The Dental Step by Step

Here as promised is part 2 of blog on dental disease.  In this part we will go through all the steps of a dental (and have photos of 832 at stages of her dental) so you are prepared should your pet need one. At the end we have letters and photos from 2 clients saying what a difference a dental made to their well loved pet.

832 aka Kitty settling into her kennel before her dental

After being recommended a dental we will book your pet in on a day that best suits you. We ask that you starve your pet from 7pm the night before, but allow them access to water overnight. You then bring your pet in between 8am and 9am on the day of the dental and we admit them, making sure we have the best numbers to contact you on during the day. We then weigh your pet and get them settled into their designated kennel for the day. If you have an older animal one of the veterinary surgeons may have discussed the importance of running a small blood test, checking liver and kidney parameters, before any drugs are administered. At this point a pre-medication is given; this helps to make your pet a little bit sleepy. After enough time has passed we administer the anaesthetic, ensuring your pet does not feel pain during the dental and is asleep the whole time. 

Tartar on 832's molars

 The first step in a dental itself is removing any large plaques of tartar from the teeth. Once this has been done tooth health can be fully assessed and it can be determined if any teeth need to be removed. Tooth removal can take a while, depending on which tooth it is and how healthy the tooth is. The next step is to then finish scaling and polishing the teeth (just like your dentist may do for you). After this your pet would be woken up gently and carefully carried back into its kennel where it can finish waking up from the anaesthetic comfortably, safely and at its own pace.

We usually ask you to phone at around 2pm to check on how your pet is doing, one of the staff at Gibson and Jones will let you know how the dental went (or if it is still underway) and how many (if any) teeth were removed. At the same time we may be able to give you a better idea on when we feel your pet is ready to go home.

832 having her teeth brushed!

When you come to collect your pet we will discuss with you the aftercare your pet will need, this is tailored to the individual and will depend on whether any teeth have been removed and how many teeth remain. Generally we recommend feeding your pet soft food for 24hrs before returning to its normal diet and will also recommend toothbrushing (which 832 has been having done regularly since her dental).

You would be surprised on how much a dental can change an animal’s life, especially when you think that they have been fine. Eddie Sowden has a greyhound called Beauty and wrote the following letter on his experience:

“Beauty is a 9 year old ebony/brindle greyhound who came to me via Greyhound Rescue.

Recently her teeth became loose and showed bad decay and the vet at Gibson and Jones decided removal was the best way to proceed. She had all her teeth removed apart from two rear ones and when I collected her in the evening she was ok.

I was quite concerned about her sedation but she was tested beforehand and it turned out not to be a problem.

We went home and she enjoyed some chicken and rice as she was very hungry (she loves her food). She had chicken and rice for 3 days and then went back to her normal biscuit meal, well moistened and softened.

She recovered very quickly and is a much livelier dog. Obviously her teeth were making her unhappy and she now eats normally, except for hard dog biscuits.

Beauty taking it easy after her dental

She was very comfortable going to Gibson and Jones as she knows the nurses and is always pleased to see them.”

Judith Porch has a cat called Muriel that came into us for a dental almost 2 years ago. Here is what she had to say about Muriel's dental:

Muriel before her dental

“Here are the two photos. The first is taken on 16th January 2011 and the second is taken in August 2011. As you can see she was in a very poor way beforehand. She was struggling to eat and couldn't groom herself so had become irretrievably matted and had to be shaved whilst having her teeth out. She had also become very quiet and lack-lustre, in fact she had been unwell for so long that we had forgotten what a friendly cat she was as she rarely bothered with us anymore. We thought that we would lose her as she was only 2 kilos in weight and having her teeth out was our last resort.

As you can see from the second photo the operation was a huge success! Even though she had all her teeth removed apart from the canines she came home after the operation and immediately wanted to eat soft food and drink cat milk. The transformation in her was dramatic and once her fur had grown back she looked and acted like her old friendly self coming to sit on my lap and chasing our other cat around. She is now (one year later) over 4 kilos and as beautiful and glossy as she was years ago.
 I have nothing but praise for the team at Gibson and Jones and Mr Jones in particular who operated on her. His patience and expertise ensured her speedy recovery. 

Thank you for taking such good care of her and giving her a second chance to live.”



Muriel after her dental