What is the vet looking for during a dog dental exam?

Basically, we're just looking for anything abnormal. To say that there's one thing I'm searching for is not true. It's just once you know what a normal mouth and healthy gums look like, you're looking for anything that varies from that—tartar, gingivitis, any of those things. So we start there, and then we kind of dig a little deeper if necessary.

When we do a dental exam, we're looking for oral pathology. And what is oral pathology? Well, oral pathology is any kind of dental disease, whether it’s inflamed gums, a broken tooth, a foreign body in the mouth, or some type of a mass or tumor, so we’re essentially looking for any kind of dental disease.

During a dental exam, a veterinarian looks for several things such as tartar buildup on the teeth, gingivitis (redness or bleeding in the gums), visible tooth fractures, masses in the mouth, and any unusual odors. All these factors are assessed simultaneously to determine the overall oral health of the dog.

During a dog's dental oral exam, we are looking for any fractures of teeth. We also conduct probing with instruments to see if there's any pocketing around teeth. Additionally, we evaluate if any teeth are loose and check for the presence of any tumors or other abnormalities in the mouth.

During a dog dental exam, a veterinarian will check for various signs of oral health. First, we check the color and hydration of the gums. Pink, hydrated gums are a good sign, while dark red, purple, sticky or dry gums may indicate problems such as dehydration or gingivitis. We look for obvious signs of disease, like fractured or missing teeth or oral masses. We also look for tartar or calcified tartar on the teeth. That's what we have to scale and crack off the tooth, and that's a big reason why we require anesthesia with our dentals. It's not a comfortable procedure. When they're asleep, they don't feel it, which is great. The degree of tartar build-up helps us grade the dental health from one to four, where one is just minor build-up and four indicates severe disease necessitating tooth extraction.