What Is A Dental?

A Dental, also known as a "prophy" or prophylaxis, is a cleaning and polishing of a dog or cat's teeth.  It is important to realize that dental disease does not reach a particular level and remain there. Dental disease continuously progresses.  As dental disease progresses, the treatment becomes more involved, meaning longer and more elaborate (and more costly) dental procedures.  This means that sooner is better than later when it comes to addressing your pets dental disease with an appropriate treatment.

After your pet has been placed under general anesthesia, your veterinarian will examine all of the teeth and gums.  Using an ultrasonic instrument, your veterinarian will remove the tartar on the teeth by scraping the tartar with a vibrating probe.  This allows minimal damage to the tooth enamel.  After all the tartar and plaque has been removed, the teeth are polished with a special tooth polish, then fluoride is applied.

At the Howell Veterinary Care Center, we are also recommending a dental sealant called Oravet to help maintain the health of the teeth after the dental.

We are caring for our patient's dental health by using the "Ultimate Dental Station", a state of the art, specialized veterinary  dental unit.