Paws-itive Press
Say Ahhh-nesthesia
By Fran Faulkner
As a Certified Veterinary Technician since 2008 with a degree specializing in Animal Science, I may be bias against anesthesia-free teeth cleaning for your pet. Regardless, I would like to attempt to ease your mind by discussing the pros and cons of anesthesia-free teeth cleaning. My hope is that you will better be able to make an educated decision in regards to your pet’s oral health.
The only benefit I have found to anesthesia-free teeth cleaning is for animals that are intolerant of anesthetics. By this I mean your veterinarian has diagnosed this animal with a metabolic disease which would prevent or post-pone an anesthetic procedure. Examples would be liver disease, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, Cushing’s or Addison’s Disease, cancer, etcetera. Please take note that I refer to this as a ‘teeth cleaning’ as opposed to a ‘dental prophylaxis’. They must be approached as 2 completely different standards of care!
Other than the aforementioned, I really cannot see any benefit to an anesthesia-free teeth cleaning. Without anesthesia, there are many aspects of a quality dental that fall by the wayside. A thorough oral exam cannot be performed with a wake animal. Veterinary professionals need to gently probe the gum tissue surrounding each tooth in order to discover gingival pockets and determine their depth. Deep gingival pockets tell us whether there is loss of tooth attachment or bone loss which may compromise the integrity of the tooth. Masses in the oral cavity may be found on a thorough exam and could be otherwise missed if your pet is not cooperative. As far as the cleaning itself, plaque starts beneath the gum line and can be easily scaled when a pet is sound asleep. Polishing the teeth helps smooth the enamel’s surface of etchings left behind by the scaler and cannot be well-performed without anesthesia. Other treatments like extractions, mass removals, biopsies, antibiotic infusions and so on need anesthetics in order to be performed safely and properly. I haven’t even touched on the patient’s patience! Most animals (especially cats) are not tolerant of a teeth scaling while awake.
This leads me to the really important stuff: pre-operative preparation. A blood chemistry and CBC (complete blood count) can give us a lot of insight to what is going on in your pet’s body. Depending on how comprehensive the lab work is, it will measure organ function and evaluate blood cells to screen for disease. These results help us to decide if we need to change our anesthetic protocol to ensure the safety of your pet or post-pone the procedure altogether. Your vet may even take a chest X-Ray to evaluate the heart and lungs to ensure that nothing is overlooked. Overall, if your veterinarian recommends a professional dental prophylaxis, it is because he believes the benefits outweigh the risk.
To prolong the time before your pet needs a dental procedure; you can incorporate home dental care! Oral rinsing is good, chewing is better and brushing is best. Please speak with your veterinarian about which method(s) work best for you and your pet. Age is not a disease, folks. If it were, we’d all be in big trouble!