Dental disease is one of the most common health problems affecting dogs and cats, yet many pets continue eating and behaving normally even while experiencing significant oral pain. By the time symptoms like bad breath, difficulty chewing, drooling, or loose teeth become noticeable, dental disease has often been progressing beneath the gumline for months or years.
At Paradocs Animal Hospital, our approach to pet dental care focuses on early detection, professional teeth cleaning, digital dental x-rays, and advanced treatment designed to improve both oral health and overall wellness. By treating dental disease early, we can help reduce chronic pain and lower the risk of bacteria spreading to the heart, kidneys, and liver over time.
Comprehensive pet dental care requires much more than removing visible tartar from the surface of the teeth. Proper dental treatment includes examining every tooth, cleaning beneath the gumline, probing for periodontal pockets, taking dental radiographs, and treating damaged or infected teeth when necessary.
Anesthesia allows our veterinary team to safely and thoroughly perform these procedures while your pet remains comfortable and continuously monitored throughout treatment. During anesthesia, we closely track heart rate, oxygen levels, blood pressure, and temperature to support your pet’s safety from start to finish.
Without anesthesia, only the visible surfaces of the teeth can be cleaned, leaving painful disease and infection hidden below the gumline untreated.
Professional dental cleanings remove plaque and tartar above and below the gumline to help prevent periodontal disease, tooth loss, infection, and chronic oral pain.
Digital dental x-rays help identify tooth root infections, fractures, bone loss, and other hidden problems that cannot be seen during a visual exam, allowing us to safely treat or extract diseased teeth.
We provide species-specific dental care for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and other exotic pets experiencing overgrown teeth, malocclusion, and oral disease, along with equine dental care during farm visits to address sharp points, hooks, and other dental abnormalities that affect chewing and performance.
Frequency depends on your pet’s genetics, age, diet, and how quickly tartar accumulates. Some pets need annual cleanings while others develop severe disease within months, which is why we assess dental health at every wellness exam.
Absolutely. Pets continue eating despite significant oral pain, broken teeth, gum infections, and tooth root abscesses because survival instinct overrides discomfort, which is why dental disease often advances silently until it’s severe.
Anesthesia carries inherent risk, but AAHA-accredited monitoring protocols, pre-anesthetic bloodwork, and species-appropriate drugs significantly reduce complications, and attempting dental work on awake pets causes stress, pain, and incomplete treatment that allows disease to worsen.
Untreated dental disease progresses to chronic pain, tooth loss, jaw bone destruction, and bacterial infections that enter the bloodstream and damage the heart valves, kidneys, and liver, significantly shortening your pet’s lifespan and quality of life.
Yes. We perform dental evaluations, tooth trimming, and treatment for rabbits, guinea pigs, rodents, and other exotic species, and our veterinarians address equine dental issues including sharp points, hooks, and malocclusion during farm calls.
