Garrettsville Animal Hospital

A Dental Cleaning

What to expect when your pet is scheduled for a professional dental cleaning:

• You will escort your pet to the office for morning admission.  Your pet will be a little hungry, as the procedure involves anesthesia, so we need to have him/her fasting (no food after 9 pm the night before), so he/she won't have an upset stomach. 
• After you have signed an admission form, complete with all phone numbers where we can reach you should it be needed, and we have answered all your questions, a member of our animal heath care team will bring the pet back to the treatment area, where we will draw a blood sample for pre-surgical bloodwork (if this has not been done prior to admission).
• The Doctor who will be performing the surgery will give your pet a complete physical, prior to administering pre-surgical medications.  These include a mild sedative, which will keep him/her calm prior to anesthesia, and will allow a smaller amount of anesthesia to be given.  An antibiotic and a pain medication will also be given at this time.
• Following this exam and dosing of the medication, he/she she will be escorted to a cage or run, which will be lined with a fluffy blanket, or towels, so he/she can rest comfortably while waiting for the surgery time to arrive.
• The actual procedure will involve full anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, which keeps water from going into their airways.
• The Technician and Dr will then fully evaluate the mouth, gums and teeth to deterimine if any unforseen health concerns need to be addressed.   This will include any extractions that we may not have been aware of, due to extensive tartar or fractured teeth as well as any masses that need to be removed.  If we do find any of these, we will want to reach you by phone at this time, which is why it is so important that you have given us the best contact number for you.
• The cleaning is performed, tooth roots are probed for periodontal pockets, if extractions are needed, this is done at this time, and then the teeth are polished and an application of flouride foam is applied.
• At this time, your pet will be taken off of the anesthesia machine, and placed back in a nice warm cage or run where he/she will continue to be monitored by a health care team member, until fully awake.  We will then call you and let you know how the teeth cleaning and exam have gone, and schedule a time for you to be re-united with your best friend and their fresh breath!