Dentistry

We are here to provide the care your pet needs.

At Home Dental Care

One of the most important habits you can build to promote your pet’s dental health is brushing their teeth regularly at home. This helps to remove plaque and prevent tartar buildup, which can lead to tooth decay and gum disease. At Champlin, our team recommends visiting VOHC.org, this website gives you access to board certified veterinary dentist recommendations and approved products. These products are a useful tool when trying to find pet safe products for dental care!

**It is important not to use human products, as they may be harmful to our pets**

Dental care options that you can provide at home include: 

  • Regular tooth brushing
  • Rubber toys
  • CET Hextra Chews
  • Kibble designed for dental health or cleaning teeth

Visit us at Champlin Park Pet Hospital for regular check-ups with the veterinarian and to get insightful advice. We will detect any dental issues and provide crucial guidance on how to care for your pet.  

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Why is Pet Dental Care Important?

Dental care is necessary for maintaining the overall health of your pet. Proper care will help prevent bad breath, plaque and tartar buildup, and tooth decay. There are oral diseases such as gum disease which can lead to more serious health issues down the road. Pet dental care will help your pet feel more comfortable and live a better life.

Dental Procedures

Dental care is necessary for maintaining the overall health of your pet. Proper care will help prevent bad breath, plaque, tartar buildup, and tooth decay. When pets have a lot of calculus build up on their teeth, that allows constant bacteria to be present in the mouth. This overload of bacteria can cause underlying issues that can become chronic health issues such as:

  • Heart Disease
  • Respiratory Disease
  • Eye Issues
  • Organ damage
  • Tooth Abscesses

Pet dental care will help your pet feel more comfortable and live a better life. Most dogs and cats benefit from annual dental procedures in the clinic as well. Even with consistent tooth brushing at home, there is still a lot of plaque that builds-up under the gumline, and preventative dental cleanings allow us to prevent significant periodontal disease from continuing.

Our vets in Champlin diagnose your pet and ensure the appropriate steps are taken. Oral surgery for pets is common, and we will ensure you and your pet feel safe every step of the way. Ignoring dental care can lead to painful and costly dental procedures for your pet down the road. If you have any questions concerning the costs of pet oral surgery, contact us today. 

Although regular check-ups and at-home care can help maintain a healthy mouth for the short term, the best consistent treatment we can provide to ensure a healthy mouth is dental prophylaxis procedures under anesthesia. We know anesthesia procedures are stressful, for both humans and animals alike, but unlike humans we are unable to clean pets’ teeth properly or take full mouth radiographs without using 

Is Dental Work Necessary for Dogs and Cats?

Absolutely! Dogs and cats may have strong teeth, but they are susceptible to some of the same threats that hamper humans. As mentioned, there are preventive measures to keep your pets’ oral health at its best. These include brushing, dental chews, and toys. If you’re looking for pet dental care near you, then our dental specialists at Champlin Park Pet Hospital have a supportive team and will keep you informed. We’re here to answer any questions regarding how much it will cost to clean your dog’s teeth or your cat’s teeth and if other treatments are available.

Will My pet be able to eat after losing a tooth?

Adult dogs have 42 teeth, and adult cats have 30 teeth. Extracting or losing a couple teeth probably won’t affect your pet’s mouth much once they have healed. Your pets’ gums and roof of their mouth is so tough that many pets continue to eat hard food with few or no teeth at all. If your pet has been dealing with tooth issue(s) for a while, having diseased teeth extracted may lead to your pet eating more, because they will ultimately feel better. 

Dental Findings Under Anesthesia

Since dogs and cats aren’t fans of us looking in their mouths for very long, we aren’t able to see too much while they are awake during their exams! However, when we have pets under anesthesia for dental procedures, we can find a lot of unexpected things. Here are some things we often find: 

Fractured Teeth

Fractured teeth can be found in both dogs and cats; however, dogs are a lot more likely to end up with fractured teeth, due to the number of things they chew on. The bigger teeth in dog and cat mouths are more likely to be fractured, as they are the teeth they commonly use to chew with. Here are some examples of fractured teeth we find upon oral examination.

Fractured teeth are high risk of becoming or creating tooth root abscess’s, due to the open pulp cavity being exposed, allowing bacteria to manifest within the tooth eat eats away at the root under the gumline.

Feline Oral Resorptive Lesion (FORL)

As the name suggests, this issue is cat specific. Dogs can also have tooth resorption, but it is a bit different when it comes to cats. What is a Feline Oral Resorptive lesion? FORL’s happen when the tooth structure is being eaten away and leads to the exposure and death of the sensitive pulp of the tooth. The cause of resorptive lesions is still unfortunately unknown.

These are some examples of what we see when a feline has resorptive lesions.
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Furcation Exposure

The furcation is a normal anatomical region where the roots begin to diverge in a multirooted tooth. Normally, this area is sealed from the oral environment by the periodontium (gingiva, periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, cementum). Accumulation of plaque and calculus buccally often results in periodontal inflammation and infection. Extension of periodontal disease between the tooth roots directly exposes the furcation to the oral environment, resulting in attachment loss that allows food and debris to lodge in the space. These structures include the gums (gingiva), ligaments attaching the teeth to the bones (periodontal ligament), and the bones in the skull themselves which hold the teeth (mandible/maxilla). Periodontal disease is preventable with daily teeth brushing and yearly or twice-yearly dental cleanings. Over time periodontal disease can lead to bone loss; periodontal ligament breaks down; and loose, diseased teeth.  

The gumline representations of what a furcation exposure looks like.

Loose or Mobile Teeth

Often, loose teeth are a result of periodontal disease in dogs and cats. This is caused by inflammation and infection from dental calculus/tartar, and bacteria living in the mouth wear away at the structures keeping the teeth in place.

Significant amounts of calculus along this dogs’ teeth are causing the bone and ligaments around the tooth to weaken. This will ultimately result in mobile teeth.

These are just a couple of issues we can see in our pet’s mouths. If you are worried about your pet’s oral health, please contact us today to set up an appointment!