Dental Prophylaxis Procedure

Dental prophylaxis is a procedure performed to clean the teeth. It’s important to have your dog or horse prophylaxis done once yearly, some cases may require a prophylaxis more often. Having a dental performed slows the progression of gingivitis (Inflammation of the gums) and periodontal disease (bacterial infection, plaque and calculus built up, painful, gum recession, bone loss, missing or broken teeth). Inflammation of the gums leads to infection which can be painful for both animals to eat, it also causes halitosis (bad breath), and can lead to other infections, such as in the internal organs. Horses have twenty four deciduous teeth and thirty six to forty four permanent teeth. Just like dogs, horses have incisors, canines, premolars, …show more content…
Before cleaning, check the teeth for abnormalities, such as gum recession, pockets, occlusions, fractures, and abrasions. Once the oral exam is complete, continue with chipping tarter off the teeth. After the large pieces of tarter are removed, you can take your ultrasonic scaler to remove the stains and clean under the gum line. Now that the dog’s teeth are cleaned, you can take your hand scaler for in between and hard to reach spots, rinse mouth thoroughly before applying your polish, it’s important to apply polish because your ultrasonic scaler applied microscopic scratches on the teeth. Rinse polish, check for pockets one last time, apply fluoride, and rinse again. Once complete, wake your dog from anesthesia. While both procedures have a common goal, healthy teeth, they are performed differently for the hypsodont and brachydont teeth and require a different set of tools. “Unless your pet's teeth are brushed daily, plaque, which is an accumulation of bacteria, will build up at the gum line. Eventually calculus forms, further irritating the gums, and then infection progresses to loosen and destroy the tooth’s attachment. In addition to loose teeth, infection under the gum line can spread to the liver,