Dental

Good pet dental health in Melbourne is within reach - call us today to schedule an appointment to address your pet's tooth pain and avoid additional disease. Plaque can develop due to poor dental care and hygiene, and tartar develops as a result of plaque. Tartar accumulation can result in gum disease, which can quickly become serious. Gum disease, if left untreated, can result in tooth loss and has been related to heart disease.

Place your pet's dental health in the hands of a professional.

Dental hygiene is crucial for the dental health of your pet. Inadequate dental care can result in plaque, which can progress to tartar and gum disease – a potentially dangerous condition. Gum disease left untreated can result in tooth loss and has even been linked to heart problems!

Dental disease in cats and dogs

Regrettably, gum disease in pets is a common preventable disease that can be unsightly and even hazardous to both cats and dogs. Periodontal disease (periodontitis) occurs when the tooth's supporting components become inflamed on one or more teeth caused by bacteria on the teeth and surrounding tissue.

Signs of dental disease

Bad breath is one of the most common symptoms of dental illness. Examine your pet's gums for redness or swelling, and look for yellow or brown teeth (plaque, tartar or scale sitting on their teeth).

Appetite loss and weight loss can also be indicators of advanced oral disease. Additionally, when a pet has scale on one side of their teeth but not the other, this may indicate that they have stopped eating on that side of their mouth - the eating behaviour change may be due to tooth sensitivity in one or more of their teeth. In these instances, you should schedule an appointment for your pet with us immediately.

Teeth may become loose as periodontal disease progresses and produce an abscess (frequently visible as a draining sinus beneath the eye across the face) or may fall out due to a lack of supporting tissue. Additionally, there is a well-established correlation between dental disease and kidney, liver, and heart illness in humans: it is theorised this link will manifest in our pets as well. Teeth cleaning is critical for healthy pets!

Cleaning your pet's teeth can help prevent gum disease.

If your furry friend has been diagnosed with dental problems, the next step is to schedule teeth cleaning with our Melbourne pet dental experts to remove plaque and treat any associated periodontal disease. We clean teeth under general anaesthesia; depending on the severity of the patient's illness, the procedure can take from as little as 15 to 20 minutes, up to an hour.

At-home dental care for pets

It is critical to brush your pet's teeth at home to decrease their risk of developing gum disease - but it should not be the sole measure taken.

Brushing alone does not eliminate tartar or scaling from their teeth. To help prevent gum disease, we recommend a dry food diet twice daily – speak with us to determine which food is best for your pet.

Using dog food to aid in the prevention of tartar

To avoid trips to the dog dentist it is critical to take excellent care of your dog's oral health, beginning with their nutrition.

Dry food advantages continue to improve as brands polish their products. For example, Eukanuba's usage of a phosphate crystal coating on their dry foods can help prevent germs from forming tartar or scale. Whereas Hills' T/D dry food is fibrous, which means it does not break on impact, but instead wipes the slime from their teeth before it hardens into tartar or scale.

Dental chews are also an excellent technique to keep teeth clean and tartar buildup at bay.

Bones can also help keep teeth clean, but only if your pet is chewing and gnawing on a large, uncut bone - as it is the chewing and gnawing that cleans the teeth. Additionally, you should avoid allowing your dog to eat the bone, as this can result in broken teeth and costly tooth extraction or root canal therapy to preserve the tooth.

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Meet Dr. Scot Plummer

BVSC(HONS)

Dr Plummer has always had a deep love for animals and graduated from the University of Queensland with Honours. in his Bachelor of Veterinary Science. After the success of his Brisbane clinic, Dr Plummer has launched Melbourne Pet Surgery with the goal of lowering the cost of high-quality pet care for all Melburnians.

About Scot Pricing philosophy