Anesthetic and Non-anesthetic Dental Cleaning for Pets

Should your pet have dental work done by a veterinarian while it is anesthetized? Or, can your pet take advantage of the less expensive non-anesthetic dental work that is being offered by some vet clinics?

There’s a big difference in the price of anesthetic dental treatment compared with the price of non-anesthetic dental treatment, but there is also a big difference in what can be done to your pet’s teeth. How do you know which is best?

Here are six questions that I use to help clients understand whether anesthetic or non-anesthetic dental treatment would be best for their pet:

1. Does this pet have a truly stinky mouth with abscesses? Yes, then it’ll need teeth pulled, so please request an anesthetic.

2. Does this pet have painful teeth that should be extracted? Yes, then please request anesthetic.

3. Does this pet hate to have its mouth handled? Yes, then allow it to be sedated. This either can be full-blown anesthesia or an injectable sedation rather like valium.

4. Is this pet naturally haywire? Yes, then request sedation or anesthesia so the miniature jack hammer used to bust off tarter will not accidentally put a hole through the roof of your pet’s mouth.

5. Does this pet have a so that positioning it in a technician’s lap for the nonanesthetic dental can be painful? Yes, then request anesthesia or sedation so your pet’s head and neck can be positioned and maintained in comfortable way.

6. Does this pet have serious dental problems and serious heart, kidney, or liver disease? Yes, then request a sore neck nesthesia, but also request a cardiac and blood oxygen monitor, IV fluids, and herbs to help the liver detoxify the anesthetic.

Anesthesia scares many pet families and they are right not to take it lightly. If families have pets that are calm and have minimal dental disease, they’re candidates for anesthesia-free dental care. If pets are aggressive or regular rodeo candidates, they need anesthesia or sedation. If the dental disease is severe, pets need anesthesia.

There’s a delightful video on non-anesthesia dental care by Jan Rasmussen, the author of Scared Poopless. The video is at http://www.dogs4dogs.com/.

After you watch the video and answer the questions above, you’ll have a good idea whether your pet is a good candidate for non-anesthesia dental care.