| This is a picture of the mouth of a dog called Temuco . Temuco
is 11 years old at the time of this photograph and very bad at having his teeth
cleaned with a toothbrush so over the years the tartar has built up causing
problems of smell and inflammation of the gums. It is important we clean and
polish the teeth on this dog to try and ensure we keep his teeth. Temuco as an
older dog had some blood tests done before he was given the aneasthetic. Dogs
unlike people will not just sit there and let vets clean the teeth.
Temuco’s blood tests were fine so he was given a premedication injection
to make him relaxed then an injection in the vein of a leg to cause anaesthesia
then he had a special tube put in his air way ( this is the orange tube you can
see in the picture) and he was kept anaesthetised using a gas called
isoflurane. While he is under the anaesthetic his heart , breathing and pulse
is monitored by the qualified veterinary nurse. |
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| In this picture Temuco is having his teeth descaled by an
ultrasound descaler. This instrument is the same type used by the dental
hygienist . The metal end vibrates very quickly while being cooled by water.
The sponge is there to absorb water from the descaler |
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| Here the teeth are being polished. A special polishing paste is
applied to the surface of the teeth and a special rubber polishing fitting is
used. Polishing gives a smooth finish to the teeth to make it more difficult
for tartar to reform. |
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| The polishing is nearly finished . Compare this image to the
first one so you can see the change we have achieved. The best way to look
after teeth is to brush the teeth and have a dry complete diet. Temuco had 3
dental procedures in his life no removals only descale and polishes. Had he
been better with tooth brushes he might have only had one. For dogs that are
bad with tooth brushes we are now trying a product called Dentasept which is
applied to the gums once a day. This custard flavoured paste containing
chlorhexidine an antiseptic used in human dental products. |
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