Pet dental care

Your pet’s teeth are not a cosmetic concern. Periodontal disease starts at the gumline and works downward into bone, and by the time it is visible from across a room it has usually been under way for a long time. What follows is what a dental visit actually involves, who performs it and what determines the cost.

What happens during a dental visit

A dental procedure here is not a quick scrape-and-polish while your pet is awake. Awake cleanings cannot reach below the gumline, cannot show what is happening at the tooth roots, and are stressful for an animal who has to be held still for them. A full dental visit follows a sequence built around safety and a complete picture of the mouth:

1. Pre-anesthetic exam and bloodwork. Before any sedation, your pet gets a physical exam and bloodwork to confirm they are a safe anesthesia candidate. TKis pre-anesthetic bloodwork standard for all ages or age-dependent, and what panel is run?
2. Anesthesia induction and monitoring. General anesthesia is the only way to clean thoroughly under the gumline, take dental X-rays and treat what is found without your pet moving, feeling pain, or learning to fear the room it happened in. TKwho monitors anesthesia — a dedicated licensed veterinary technician? — and on what equipment?
3. Full-mouth dental X-rays. The visible crown is often the least of it. Root disease, resorption and abscesses sit below the gumline and are invisible without radiographs. TKconfirm dental radiography is in-house. Neither current site mentions it, and if it is a real capability it belongs on this page as a differentiator
4. Scaling and polishing. Tartar and plaque come off every tooth surface, above and below the gumline, and the teeth are polished to slow the next round of buildup.
5. Charting, and treating what is found. Every tooth is examined and charted individually. A fractured tooth, resorption or advanced periodontal disease is discussed with you and, where it is safe to do so, treated in the same anesthetic event rather than putting your pet under a second time. TKare extractions found mid-procedure typically done same-visit or rescheduled, and how are owners reached during the procedure?
6. Recovery and pain management. Your pet recovers in a quiet space and goes home the same day in the large majority of cases, with pain control if anything beyond a cleaning was needed. TKconfirm same-day discharge is standard and what post-op pain management looks like

Fear Free, on the day of a dental

Fear Free matters most at the two moments a pet cannot tell you how they feel: just before anesthesia, and as they wake up. A dental means a car ride, an unfamiliar room, an IV catheter and hours out of your sight. Every one of those is a real stressor even when the medicine is routine.

What changes is specific to an anesthetic day rather than to a regular exam. The IV catheter goes in slowly and calmly rather than through forced restraint. You get guidance on lowering the anxiety before you leave home TKis pre-visit anti-anxiety medication offered to dental patients who are anxious about carriers or car rides?. Recovery happens in a quiet space, away from barking and unfamiliar noise, rather than in a busy treatment area.

None of that changes the medicine. It changes whether your pet leaves associating the veterinarian with something frightening or something merely unremarkable.

Who performs dental procedures

Dr. Michael Berman joined the Veterinary Dentistry Academy in 2017, and is Arizona’s first Fear Free Certified veterinarian, certified in 2016.

TKconfirm whether Dr. Berman performs dentals at both locations, or whether Dr. Kitchen, Dr. McBroom or Dr. Thomas also performs them — particularly for exotic-species dental needs, which are anatomically different from dog and cat dentistry

What a dental procedure costs

Cost depends on what your pet actually needs. A straightforward cleaning is priced differently from one that turns up extractions, and size affects the anesthesia. TKshould a COHAT price range publish? If so, what range, and does it vary by weight the way spay and neuter pricing usually does?

Until a range is published, the honest answer is this: book a consult and you will have a specific estimate before anything is scheduled, rather than a surprise afterwards.