alpine animal doctors veterinary services

DENTAL CARE

For more information or to make an appointment for this service please call...

5756 2444

Hospital Opening Hours

Monday: 8.30 to 5.30
Tuesday 8.30 to 5.30
Wednesday: 9 to 1
Thursday: 8.30 to 5.30
Friday: 8.30 to 5.30
Saturday: 9 to 1
Sunday: Closed
7047 Great Alpine Road,
Porepunkah, VIC 3740

Dental health for dogs and cats

Oral health care for pets is vitally important for your pet’s overall wellbeing — just as important as keeping your own teeth and gums healthy.

Unfortunately, all too many people are unaware of the serious health issues that can arise when your pet suffers from unhealthy teeth and gums. It’s led to a crisis in animal oral health in Australia, with four out of every five dogs having some degree of gum disease, dental plaque, tartar or gingivitis. For cats the figures are even worse, approaching epidemic proportions.

Apart from the risks of serious long term health issues arising from poor oral health your fur babies can also suffer toothache. Mostly they will suffer in silence but the pain and discomfort they experience can be severe — another good reason for regular pet dental care. 

Alpine Animal Doctors offer an extensive range of pet dental care. In our purpose-built dental surgery we can provide treatment to fix most oral health issues, from a scale and polish of your pet’s teeth to extractions to surgery to remove tumours and abcesses affecting an animal’s gums.

When your pet visits us for dental treatment it’s a little more involved than when you go to your own dentist for a routine visit.

Animals undergoing dental procedures must have a general anaesthetic before we can safely delve into that forest of sharp fangs. Just like your own dentist we may also need a series of x-rays that gives us a clear picture of each tooth, using digital equipment specially designed for dental radiology.

Because the bacteria in plaque and tartar can cause major damage to the heart and kidneys your pet may be given a short course of antibiotics prior to their dental appointment. Generally we will also take a blood test, particularly in older pets, to ensure the kidneys have not been compromised.

Despite all of these additional checks and procedures oral health care for your pets will usually cost considerably less than your own dentist charges you. In most cases the cost can be largely covered by pet health insurance if you have cover.

The best way to avoid the possibility of your pet ever needing extensive dental work is to make sure you book them in for a regular annual dental checkup, a simple, inexpensive procedure that can avoid a lot of problems further down the track. Prevention is always better — and usually cheaper — than leaving treatment too long.

You can find a more extensive explanation of the oral health issues pets may suffer in the Winter 2011 issue of our Talk with the Animals newsletter. Clients are also always encouraged to call us if you have any questions.

In addition to our in-house pet dental services we also offer on-farm dental treatment for horses and large animals, including portable x-rays.

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E&OE. The information provided in the articles on this site is intended as a guide to assist readers to become better informed about health issues that may affect their pets and livestock. They are not a substitute for appropriate veterinary advice and treatment. They should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any individual animal and no person should place reliance on information derived from them, where such reliance may result in loss, damage or injury. Always consult a qualified veterinarian to obtain advice.

Although Alpine Animal Doctors make every effort to ensure that the information contained in our articles is accurate and up-to-date we can accept no responsibility for errors or omissions that may occur.