Cumberland Animal Clinic offers a full range of pet dentistry services to keep your pet happy and healthy for years to come including dental examinations, dental extractions, and oral surgery as well preventative home care instructions for keeping your dog's or cat's teeth clean and healthy. Afterall, your pet needs good oral care, just as you do. Though it’s often overlooked, routine and preventive dental care is vital to your pet's long-term health and happiness. If neglected long enough, tartar buildup on teeth and under gums can cause bacterial overgrowth and periodontal disease which can lead to heart, lung and kidney disease. Some indications that your pet may be long overdue for a thorough dental exam may include: bad breath, loose or discolored teeth, difficulty eating, red or swollen gums, oral sensitivity, drooling or bleeding from the mouth, irritability, lack of appetite and weight loss. Become familiar with your pet’s mouth and you’ll know when something’s amiss. The good news is that gum disease can be stopped before it starts with regular preventive dental care.

Many owners are understandably nervous about the idea of their pet undergoing anesthesia. Rest assured, we want your pet to be safe, healthy and happy. Prior to performing any dental procedure, we assess the relative risk of anesthesia by conducting a full physical examination and by completing and evaluating pre-anesthetic bloodwork. 

A complete dental cleaning under anesthesia allows us to scale under the gumline, probe for abscessed pockets, and extract teeth if necessary. During the dental procedure, a technician will continuously monitor your pet’s vital signs, including ECG, blood pressure and oxygen levels. A comprehensive cleaning process includes:

• Scaling teeth to remove tartar and plaque
• Thorough check under the gum line for signs of periodontal disease
• Potential extractions
• Digital Dental X-rays
• Polishing of teeth
• Application of treatment to prevent future tartar buildup