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Why Anesthesia is Used for Dental Procedures
January 19, 2012
The fact is, a truly thorough oral exam and cleaning can't be accomplished on a pet who is awake. Anesthesia has several benefits when it comes to caring for your pet's mouth, including:
• Immobilizing your dog or cat to insure his safety and cooperation during a procedure he doesn't understand and is stressed about.
• Allows for a thorough exam of all the surfaces inside the mouth.
• Allows for scaling below the gum line where periodontal disease is most active.
• Pain management.
A dog or cat who isn't sedated simply won't tolerate a thorough inspection of his mouth. He'll move around a lot, making the use of sharp instruments extra dangerous. Cleaning below the gum line of a fully alert animal is something that should never be attempted. Pets won't stand for it because not only does the procedure cause tremendous stress, it's also extremely painful. And if tooth extractions are necessary, they are out of the question for un-anesthetized pets.
Fear of anesthesia often drives people to seek out the anesthesia free service, but today's anesthetics are dramatically safer than those of even a few years ago. And while your pet is anesthetized he is hooked up to a heart monitor; he is never left alone and is under the constant surveillance of a trained vet tech assistant from the moment the anesthesia is first administered until he is fully awake. With these precautions the danger and pain of untreated dental problems are the far bigger risk to health, even with older pets.
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