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.
Find all of our veterinary services here...
NOT THE SERVICE YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?
