Book a demo of the industry-leading marketing program for veterinarians Schedule Here
Book a demo of the industry-leading marketing program for veterinarians

Are there ever circumstances when a cat can get their teeth cleaned without anesthesia? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

Well, honestly, no. You might hear people doing anesthetic-free dental cleanings, but there's no such thing. They can break off the tartar, but that's not dealing with the problems under the gum line. Those instruments cause erosions in the enamel, making it easier for debris to build back up in the future.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from

Why does my cat need anesthesia for teeth cleaning? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

It’s a reasonable question because you and I can open up and say, “Ahhh,” and let the dentist clean our teeth. Cats can’t do that. We have to have the mouth open to get a dental x-ray plate in the mouth to shoot the x-rays. We have to be able to clean under the gum line. The cat has to be sedated to truly do a good dental cleaning.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from

What kind of dental and oral problems can cats have? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

Cats can have broken teeth because they chewed on something they shouldn't have or took some type of trauma blow. They can have severe Gingivitis, as we had talked about. Tooth resorption is something that's unfortunately very common in cats. And it is a cavity-like syndrome that occurs underneath the gum line where the teeth slowly resorb, and it’s an excruciating process in cats. We see stomatitis, which is an inflammation of the gums. Once again, we see masses, growths, tumors, and foreign bodies.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from

What does a healthy mouth look like in a cat? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

We see some healthy mouths in young cats. We’ll see a nice, white, happy crown, the white part of the tooth with no tartar and no calculus. And more importantly, we see gums that are a happy, healthy pink—not that red, angry, inflamed tissue called Gingivitis. We usually see these very healthy mouths in cats that are two years or less.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from

Are issues addressed during my cat’s initial oral exam, or do I need to schedule a follow-up appointment? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

Preferably, we deal with it all at the same time. If your cat is under anesthesia, we'd like to have one anesthetic episode with this pet, and I want to take care of everything we can at that point. Now, that being said, we periodically find more things than we had determined we might, so we always have your cell number so that we can give you a call and talk about what we found. And hopefully, we can deal with everything then. But occasionally, these procedures can last two and even three hours. It’s a very rare occasion where we will have to recover the cat and have them come back in two or three weeks to finish the procedure. The vast majority of the time, we deal with it then.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from

How often should my cat's teeth be examined? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

At a minimum, your cat’s teeth should be examined once a year. We examine a cat's mouth and check the teeth every time the cat comes to see us. That's twice-yearly for our wellness plan patients. And every time your pet is in here for any type of illness, whether it’s an ear or skin infection, we always check the teeth.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from

Why are antibiotics and pain medications sometimes prescribed for dog dental procedures? - Animal Hospital of Statesville

Again, dental disease is an infection. And if the infection is bad enough, we want to try to get it under control before getting into the procedure. It helps the mouth heal better. Even after the disease is dealt with, there still may be some infection in the bone surrounding the tooth. We've got to get rid of that as well, hence sending the antibiotics home with you.

Contributed by Chip Cooney from
Subscribe to