Besides the obvious YUCK factor when your pet has bad breath, did you know dental disease can cause pain, infection, fractured jaws, blindness, and worsen systemic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease? At every exam, we look at your pet’s teeth for signs of gingivitis, broken teeth, swelling, and pus and let you know if your pet could benefit from a Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment and Treatment (COHAT). All of our COHATs involve general anesthesia, charting the entire mouth, full mouth intra-oral digital X-rays, scaling, polishing, and an application of an anti-plaque gel. Then the doctor develops a treatment plan to address all the problems seen during the charting and xrays. In many cases, teeth are too diseased to stay in the mouth and they are extracted. Pets don’t actually need teeth, but they do deserve and need a healthy mouth free from pain and infection.
We recognize there are hospitals and laypeople offering less comprehensive dental services. They may not have intra-oral radiology, or may not even put your pet under anesthesia to perform the procedure. Let me state clearly: these procedures are a complete and utter waste of your hard-earned money and do absolutely nothing to address the source of the periodontal disease, which is under the gum line. It’s like putting a band-aid over a cancer and calling it cured. All you did is save yourself from having to look at the problem, but it is definitely still there. It is much better save up the money and delay a proper COHAT than to waste your money on these purely cosmetic procedures. This is an issue obviously I care very deeply about, and I do not want any of my clients duped into spending money on a worthless procedure.Please ask us if you have any further questions regarding our COHAT.
Your pet’s wellbeing is our only concern.
