Newport Harbor Animal Hospital - Pet Dental Services

Newport Harbor Animal Hospital - Pet Dental Services

At Newport Harbor Animal Hospital, we have found that good pet dental care, at all ages of your pet's life, really pays off as your beloved pet ages. When your pet's teeth go bad, eating is painful, nutrition declines and health erodes.

As an American Animal Hospital Association accredited hospital, we follow the AAHA Pet Dental Care Guidelines. In these guidelines it is stated that dental care, for your pet, is necessary to provide optimum health and quality of life. We all have examples of oral pain and how miserable it can make us. The same is true of our pets.

The exam on an awake patient helps us to plan for treatment of the mouth. However a complete exam can only be done on a patient under anesthesia. The strict standards we follow before, during and after an anesthetic procedure, help to ensure that your pet is safe and comfortable.

Pet Dental Care Starts Early Too

We will start talking to you, very early in your pet's life, about the importance of dental care. Oral examinations are an important part of a yearly pet wellness exam. Periodontal disease begins at a young age, in many of our patients. Starting early dental exams is important.

It all Starts Under the Gums

It is well proven, in research, that oral disease processes all start below the gum line, out of our view. During our dental cleaning, we take great care to clean these areas well and assess these hard to reach areas for damage or infection.

We have an up to date digital dental X-ray, in our hospital, which facilitates quick and accurate assessment of every tooth, while your pet is under anesthesia. If we need to do an advanced procedure, like a periodontal treatment or an extractions, we will call you during the procedure. If we anticipate that your pet could feel any pain, we will use local anesthesia and pain medications to make your pet comfortable.

The last step in our dental treatment is polishing the teeth. This prevents pitting of the tooth enamel and helps to prevent the onset of plaque and tartar.

Our staff will teach you and talk to you about home care. We would much rather work on prevention as opposed to treatment.

If you have any veterinary dental questions, please be sure to ask our knowledgeable staff.