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Dental Care for Your Pet
Santa Ana

If you have a pet at home, you know the world is its chew toy. From chomping down on their favorite treats to gnawing on your furniture, your furry friend will certainly have worn out his teeth. Regular dental care can protect your pet’s teeth, strengthening them in the process.

We are one of Santa Ana’s leading veterinary clinics. Our staff of experienced vets can assess your pet’s dental needs and provide the treatment required. If it’s a cat tooth extraction or a simple dog teeth cleaning, Santa Ana‘s Affordable Animal Hospital is the leading choice. Contact us to schedule an appointment.

A Pet Parent’s

Guide to Dental Care

There are many toys available today, designed to keep your pet’s teeth clean, but they aren’t a permanent solution to pet dental care. As a pet parent, you need to start brushing your pet’s teeth from the time they’re young, so they get acquainted with the process and don’t resist it later.

Here are a few more tips to follow:

• Don’t use the toothpaste you use. Get special pet-friendly toothpaste.
• Stick to toothbrushes that have soft bristles. They will prevent bleeding while brushing.
• Switch to crunchy kibble from soft foods. They won’t stick to your pet’s palate and cause gum decay.

Common Symptoms of Dental Health Conditions in Pets

Your pet may experience one or more of these symptoms if he has a dental condition:

  • Teeth sensitivity
  • Teeth chipping & breakage
  • Yellowing of teeth & tartar accumulation
  • Swollen gums
  • Bleeding of the gums while brushing
  • Excessive drooling
  • Weakness in the jaw (characterized by your pet dropping food out of its mouth)
  • Dental pain & pawing at the mouth constantly
  • A sudden decrease in appetite

If you notice any of these symptoms, please immediately bring your pet over to our Santa Ana veterinary care center.

How We Can Help

Our team of specialists at Affordable Animal Hospital in Santa Ana, California, has worked with cats and dogs of all ages, helping them maintain their dental health. We offer a variety of dental care services, including dental surgery, extractions, and cat & dog teeth cleaning for Santa Ana‘s furry friends.

We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to dental health. We customize your pet’s treatment plan, according to his needs.

Trust Us for Customized Dental Care

At Affordable Animal Hospital in Santa Ana, we start our dental care treatment with a thorough evaluation of your furry baby. We learn his medical history and do a comprehensive dental evaluation to identify his underlying conditions. We may order an X-ray to get clarity about your pet’s dental condition.

Next, we prepare a personalized treatment plan to suit his needs. We start by injecting general anesthesia. Often, pets get scared and try to jump out of the treatment seat, bite the vet or squirm so much that it becomes impossible to treat them. Anesthesia allows us to administer dental treatments to your pet safely.

We use state-of-the-art technology to provide pain-free treatment. Our services include everything from teeth cleaning and filing, to dental surgery.

This is the Pet Teeth Cleaning Procedure We Follow:

  • We start by anesthetizing your pet and inserting the breathing tube.
  • We will rinse your pet’s teeth with plain water.
  • Next, we gently scrape-off the plaque and/or tartar on your pet’s teeth and gums, using scaling instruments.
  • Our vets will use a periodontal probe to check your pet’s dental sockets for signs of gum disease.
  • We order an X-ray of your pet’s mouth, teeth, and tongue to identify any further treatments that may be needed. If there are any fractures in the teeth or extensive infection, we treat those immediately.
  • If no other treatment is necessary, the teeth are then polished to remove any microscopic particles and scratches. Your pet’s mouth is gently rinsed.
  • A foam sealant may be applied on the surface of your pet’s teeth.
  • Your pet will then be safely awoken from anesthesia.

We follow the same process for both dogs and cats.

Schedule Timely Teeth Cleaning & Prevent Teeth Decay

Your pet’s teeth are exposed to a variety of pathogens. From old kibble stuck to the gums to any dirt that your pet inadvertently chews on while digging a hole, there are numerous ways in which bacterial build-up can happen in your dog’s mouth. Not cleaning it regularly can result in the formation of dental plaque and tartar. During the span of a few years, your pet’s teeth will start decaying at the roots.

Just as with human teeth, your pet’s teeth can benefit from regular cleaning. Our Santa Ana, California animal care hospital is fully equipped to clean your dog or cat’s teeth completely, remove plaque and tartar accumulation, and file their jaded teeth until they’re back in shape.

We use a breathing tube to help your pet breathe during the procedure.

Tooth Extraction Services at our Santa Ana Veterinary Center

In some instances, a simple tooth cleaning will not be the ideal dental care solution. Your pet may have advanced periodontal disease and tooth extraction may be the only way to treat their gums.

The vets who work at our Santa Ana Affordable Animal Hospital have worked on hundreds of dogs and cats who required tooth extractions. We understand the unique medical histories and carefully extract teeth, based on the requirements of each of our patients. Our priority is to provide your pet with a completely comfortable and pain-free tooth removal experience.

Post-Cleaning Procedure

Dental cleaning will help you get rid of the existing plaque, tartar, and decay, but if you don’t adopt the right teeth care practices, your pet’s dental hygiene may begin to suffer. So, here’s what you need to do after the teeth cleaning treatment at our Affordable Animal Hospital in Santa Ana:

• Start brushing your pet’s teeth every day, with a soft-bristled children’s toothbrush. You can also use a finger brush. Choose toothpaste flavor your pet would like, such as beef, vanilla, chicken, etc. Use specially-formulated pet oral sprays to get rid of any bacterial build-up in your pet’s mouth.

• Change your pet’s diet to include foods like carrots, apples, and pumpkins – they don’t cause plaque build-up. Stick to dry kibble, since it doesn’t stick to the roof of your pet’s mouth.

• If your dog likes to chew on bones, remove any fat or excess meat from the bone. Also, make sure that you give him only large bone pieces since smaller fragments can pierce their gums and cause bleeding or get lodged in his throat.

How Our Vets Remove Decayed and/or Chipped Teeth

  • First, we start by getting an X-ray of your pet’s teeth to understand his requirements. A surgical or non-surgical procedure is chosen, depending on his dental condition. Our vets will be able to advise you on the best treatment for your furry baby.
  • Next, your pet is put under anesthesia. We insert the breathing tube to help your pet breathe during the surgery.
  • In the case of a non-surgical extraction, a dental elevator is used to separate the teeth from the teeth socket. The decayed teeth are slowly lifted out of the socket. The teeth socket is then sutured.
  • During the surgical extraction, a surgical flap is made to give the vet access to the alveolar bone. A drill is used on the teeth to access the roots and extractors/forceps are used to gently pull out the diseased teeth. Once the teeth are extracted, a mucogingival flap is created and the socket is sutured.

Caring for Your Pet’s Teeth Post-Surgery

Your pet’s teeth will be really sensitive after the surgery.

It’s important to follow the below steps to care for your pet’s teeth:

  • Use the oral pain reliever prescribed by the vet, for the stated time.
  • Add warm water to the kibble so it becomes easier to eat.
  • Give foods that can be grabbed and gulped down, as it involves less chewing.
  • Don’t give chewing toys and bones until a few weeks after the surgery.

Visit us at Affordable Animal Hospital in Santa Ana, California, for post-surgical check-ups.

Affordable Animal Hospital

1901 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, Ca 92706

Tel:
(714) 942-2986

Hours:
Mon: Closed
Tue-Fri: 9am to 6pm
Sat-Sun: 9am to 2pm