While taking care of your pet, you usually arrange routine check-ups and balanced nutrition along with physical activity, but have you ever thought about their dental care? Habitually, we forget our pets’ dental care. Pet parents often fail to realize the importance of dental care for their pets. Because they consider frequent bad breath and tiny gum infections minor issues. If dental issues are not treated in time, they may develop into severe infections that could be fatal for your pet. Some dental issues need surgical procedures because it is the final course of treatment for restoring the oral health of your pet.
When a pet has serious dental issues, such as advanced periodontal disease, abscesses, fractured teeth, or oral tumors, it requires animal dental care and oral surgery. Untreated dental diseases cause pets severe suffering, making them incapable of eating and living comfortably. Advances in the veterinary field have improved pet dental care and led to safer and more effective oral surgeries for animals.
In this blog, we’ll explore everything you need to know about oral surgery. It will also include when such operations are required, the types of procedures, and what is involved in them.
Common Dental Conditions Requiring Surgery in Pets
There are some dental issues in pets that become major conditions where surgical treatment is the only option available. A pet dental specialist usually becomes necessary for the following specific issues:
1. Tooth Abscesses: When Infection Becomes Too Painful
A tooth abscess is an infection in teeth that occurs deep in the root area. It can lead to:
- Jaw pain, along with swelling of jaw tissue
- Inability to eat or chew
- Bad breath with a foul odor
- Recurring pus or bleeding between the gums
Treatment involves surgical removal of harmful infections. Veterinary surgeons use tooth extraction procedures or root canal operations that relieve pets from pain.
2. Broken or Chipped Teeth: Not Just Cosmetic
Dogs often chip their teeth when biting down on tough objects. Chipped teeth expose the inner layers of the tooth, causing the effects.
- Intense pain and soreness
- Unwillingness to eat and drink
- Blood oozes from the infected area.
Treatment largely depends on the severity of the condition. In severe cases, a pet dental specialist may need to perform root canal treatment or tooth extraction.
3. Oral Tumors: An Early Cancer Detection
Any tumor diagnosed in the mouth requires treatment because it forms either as benign or malignant. Some symptoms may include:
- Growths detected anywhere inside the mouth area must be approached as a medical issue.
- Slobbering or swallowing is somehow challenging.
- The foul breath and bleeding gums indicate this condition.
Dogs will require dental care of the animal and oral surgery to remove growth after a biopsy to ascertain relevant further treatment procedures.
4. Severe Periodontal Disease: The Silent Threat for Your Pet.
Advanced periodontal disease is considered a common problem in dogs and cats, but it is seldom addressed. The buildup of plaques and tartar leads to gum infection in the form of bone destruction, which results in complete tooth loss. Symptoms include
- Red, bleeding, or puffy gums;
- Loose and missing teeth
- Increased pain during oral intake.
Modern medical interventions should begin with thorough mouth cleanings. These interventions may also include removing permanent teeth to improve chewing and, in some cases, tissue grafts to support proper mastication.
Types of Pet Dental Surgeries: What the Procedures Entail
If a serious dental condition has to be treated in a pet, the examination of a professional dental specialist might lead to one of the following surgical options:
1. Extractions: Removing Severely Damaged Teeth
The most common pets’ dental care treatment for pets is tooth extraction. It has to be performed in cases where there are certain dental conditions that affect the teeth.
- Causing much pain and distress.
- Over-service of tissue will cause damage to the surrounding gums as well as the structures of the teeth.
The surgical extraction of the teeth through extractions is more helpful because the animal will eat and play pain-free.
2. Root Canals: Saving the Tooth Rather Than Extracting It
Root canal surgery is an advanced dental procedure that removes diseased tooth material without damaging the outer parts of the tooth. Surgeons perform this surgery in specific medical situations.
- Fractured yet structurally sound teeth
- Teeth with deep cavities or infections
Surgery is a complex yet effective form of saving a pet’s biting ability rather than removal.
3. Gum Grafting: Repair of Damaged Gums
The procedure of gum grafting addresses periodontal-degenerated gum tissue to achieve these three vital outcomes:
- Rebuild gum tissue.
- Prevent further tooth loss.
- Improve overall oral health.
Animal dental clinics and pet oral surgery facilities employ this procedure to help treat severe gum disease in animals.
4. Jaw Realignment: Correcting Trauma or Genetic Issues
In cases of natural birth defects and injuries, pets might develop misaligned jaw structures. The extreme conditions require surgical treatments, which are as follows:
- Improve the chewing function.
- Reduce pain and discomfort.
- Prevent long-term complications.
What to Expect Before, During, and After Surgery: A Step-by-Step Guide
Pet oral surgery procedures will help alleviate your anxiety about treating your pet.
1. Before Surgery: Preparing Your Pet
- The veterinarian will perform blood testing and X-ray scans to determine if anesthesia is appropriate for your pet.
- You must follow instructions about fasting and medication changes before the surgical procedure begins.
2. During Surgery: What Happens in the Operating Room?
- Your pet receives anesthesia to prevent pain during the procedure.
- The veterinary staff continuously monitors heart rate and breathing patterns and checks for signs of distress.
- Medical staff will perform the required dental procedure, which may require extractions, root canal treatments, or tumor removals.
3. Post-Surgery: Healing and Aftercare Care
- The surgery will make your pet feel drowsy, and it will cause slight pain following the surgery.
- Medical staff will administer painkillers and antibiotics to your pet.
- The healing process requires soft food and a quiet space for rest.
Don’t Wait Till It’s Too Late!
Failure to provide dental care to your pet can lead to life-threatening problems that escalate into physical discomfort and expensive medical emergencies. Therefore, it is important to seek a vet right away if your pet demonstrates any pain symptoms.
Clients who require professional pet dental treatment with oral surgery expertise should call Atlas Pet Hospital right away. Their staff includes experienced professionals working to deliver individually tailored care towards your pet’s specific health requirements.
Don’t wait—give your pet the dental attention they deserve!