The first step in determining if acupuncture is a good option for your dog is a thorough physical exam with a veterinarian. They can detect signs of pain that you might not see, including subtle signs of lameness. This exam can be done either with your primary doctor who can then refer you for acupuncture, or it can be done at Two Hands Four Paws right off the bat.

Extractions or surgical removal of a tooth is not something that any of us as veterinarians want to do. We will only make that decision if it's in the best interest of your pet. Those reasons for needing an extraction would be pain, infection, or in rare situations, if we're trying to save another tooth that is sometimes a more important tooth from a structural standpoint. When we do perform extractions, those are surgical extractions. It's oral surgery where we make sure that we're providing any pain relief and medication necessary to keep the pet comfortable following that extraction. But in most situations, that tooth has been compromised to the point where we can no longer keep that tooth healthy and it's in the animal's best interest to extract or surgically remove that tooth.

Here at Aspen Vet Clinic, during any of our wellness exams or wellness visits, our doctors are evaluating a full physical exam, including looking at your pet's mouth and oral health. During that initial examination, we can get a pretty good idea of whether or not it's important for your dog to undergo a dental procedure or a dental cleaning in order to properly clean and evaluate the full health of your pet's mouth.

The only way for us to know the full health of a mouth is to take oral x-rays or radiographs, which give us an idea of what's happening below the gum line. When you look at your dog's mouth, all you can see is the crown of the tooth, which is kind of like the tip of the iceberg. It's the top half of the tooth, but ultimately the bottom half of the tooth, the part that's stuck in the jaw is the most important part of that tooth. The only way that we can evaluate that is by taking oral x-rays or radiographs.

The two biggest problems that we see in vet med are one, gingivitis, which is inflammation of the gums. Usually what that looks like for an owner is you see a rim of red around the tooth right at the level of the gum line. That's the first sign of gum disease or gingivitis. In time, that can progress to periodontal disease, which is disease below the gum line that's affecting the alveolar bone or the bone of the jaw that holds the root of the tooth in place. These are both prevented with a lot of the things that we're going to be talking about.

A healthy dog's mouth is just like your mouth when you leave the dentist. It is clean and you see no plaque, no tartar, there's no redness, there's no bleeding of the gums, and especially there's no odor. That's one of the big things that we see as a first sign of dental disease in our canine patients.

One common misconception is that many clients don't view it as a major surgery, while in reality, it is. For females, we are removing body parts, and the same holds true for males. Ensuring that the dogs are calm and resting during the recovery is very important. Some clients don't believe in spaying and neutering for various reasons, but there are many health benefits to spaying or neutering your pet.

Dog spays typically take around 20 minutes on average. The time varies depending on the size of the dog; smaller dogs take less time, and bigger dogs take more time. Dog neuters, on average, take about eight to 10 minutes, as we don't go inside the abdomen for these procedures.

Although there's always a possibility of complications during any surgical procedure, the chances are usually very low. The most common complication we see is during the recovery period. If the owners don't put the cone on their dogs when unattended, the dogs may lick their incisions, attempting to alleviate the itchiness of the healing process. This could potentially introduce infection or even open up the incision.

We take great care to ensure all our surgeries are pain-free. We use local blocks, such as Lidocaine and Bupivacaine, as well as preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative pain medication. We also provide medication for the dog to take home. This ensures our patients are extremely comfortable, and usually, it's all the pet parents can do to keep them quiet because they feel so good.