Waxhaw News - The Official Community Publication - Waxhaw, NC Waxhaw News Sept_Oct 2017 | Page 13

Anesthesia-Free
Dental Cleanings,
Are They Worth It?
By: Dr. Susan Bonilla, MS, CVA, CCRP,
CACP
The simple answer is no. Speaking as a pet
parent, I can understand why other pet parents
may fi nd dental cleanings without anesthesia
appealing. No pet parent wants to willingly
have to put
their furb-
aby under
anesthesia.
Speaking as
a veterinar-
ian, I can
tell you that
today’s tech-
nology and
anesthesia
protocols
make an-
esthetic procedures very safe. The small risk
of using anesthesia in no way outweighs the
benefi ts to your dog or cat from a proper dental
cleaning under anesthesia.
While it may seem like dental cleanings without
anesthesia are risk free, that is most defi nitely
not the case. The American Veterinary Dental
College does not recommend anesthesia-free
dental cleanings and California has made them
illegal. This is for good reason. Anesthesia-free
dental cleanings are superfi cial and do not get
to the root of why your dog or cat needs a dental
cleaning in the fi rst place — periodontal disease.
Periodontal disease is painful and oft en does
not have any visible signs until there is so much
damage beneath the gum-line that the pet oft en
has bone loss and loses teeth. Anesthesia-free
dental procedures have no way of cleaning
beneath the gum-line to prevent periodontal
disease, nor are they able to look beneath the
gum-line to identify problems before they be-
come painful and expensive to treat.
Painful conditions can’t be identifi ed during
an anesthesia-free pet dental procedure. It is
impossible to do x-rays and adequately exam-
ine all surfaces of your pet’s mouth while awake.
X-rays and a veterinary oral health exam are
crucial in detecting problems early while they
are relatively easy and much less expensive to
treat.
Anesthesia-free dentals may be less expensive
and appear to clean your pet’s teeth, but do not
be fooled into a false sense of security. Without
x-rays, a thorough oral health exam, and clean-
ing underneath the gum line, your pet will still
suff er from periodontal disease.
SMILE for SEPTEMBER!
DENTAL CLEANINGS & SURGERIES
waxHAW NEWS ● SEPT/OCT 2017 ● 13