A: Just like humans, dogs and cats have sensitive nerves in their teeth that make dental procedures very painful without a way of blocking that discomfort. Human dentists administer a local anesthetic and ask their patient to just hold still. We can likewise numb an animal's mouth, but convincing them to hold perfectly still for us is a lot more challenging! In order to provide the thorough and deep ultrasonic cleaning necessary to treat and prevent periodontal disease, we must completely anesthetize the patient, in the same manner as we do for surgery, although at a much lighter level. This requires multiple induction drugs, an anesthetic gas, an endotracheal breathing tube, vital systems monitoring, IV fluids, and a Veterinary Nurse monitoring the patient's vital signs to ensure your pet's safety while the veterinarian carries out the dental procedures. A pre-anesthetic blood test is necessary to ensure the pet is healthy enough to undergo any procedure---or to provide the veterinarian with the additional information needed to compensate for any ongoing problems, such as infection, liver or kidney disease, dehydration or anemia. These conditions combine to make veterinary dental care more expensive than our human annual visit to the dentist. However, it is much more important that your pet receive dentistry regularly by a qualified veterinarian. (Not just a local groomer who scrapes off the exposed tartar and ignores the real disease hidden under the gums!) Unless you are performing a good daily brushing, your pet likely has a significant amount of dental plaque and tartar, and inflammation and infection developing deep at the tooth roots, contributing to eventual tooth and bone loss. This periodontal disease causes painful gums, difficulty eating, and infection which often affects other organ systems, including the heart, liver and kidneys. For more information, please see Periodontal Disease on the
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