After Care for Dental Procedures

What is normal after pet dentistry?

For more information on why dentistry is needed for pets, visit our Pet Dentistry page.  After pet dentistry your pet may be tired or groggy and want to sleep once settled down at home. This is ok and should improve somewhat the following day.

Pain/Discomfort – Many dental procedures cause nothing more than mild discomfort associated with irritated from the cleaning process. For those that have more extensive procedures such as tooth extractions, some pain is expected.

Animals show pain in a variety of ways. Some will howl or cry, some will pace or pant. Some may sleep to avoid the discomfort. Some will act relatively normal but will still have discomfort. Some pets will be more likely to bite or snap due to pain while others may seem needier. Pain should not be excessive.

Each Pet is Different with Pain

Because animals react to pain in such a variety of ways, please use the pain medications as directed even if you feel they are acting normally.

Pain medications are discontinued early only if the pet is having some problem with the medication itself. Like us, post-surgical pain will generally peak at 48 hours after surgery and steadily improve from there. Typically, most pain will resolve within 7-10 days.

Please let us know if you feel your pet is excessively painful despite medications as there may be more that can be done.

After Dental Procedures Pet Care

Below you will find helpful information when caring for your pet during this time.

FEEDING

Please offer small amounts of food and water once your pet has settled down at home. If they do well with this small meal, they can have the rest of their normal volume and then return to their normal feeding routine the following day.

Softer food may be a comfort to pets with extensive dental procedures. One option is to add water to soften normal dry food. f you elect to use canned food that is not part of your pet’s normal diet, we recommend Royal Canine Gastrointestinal diet as it will not cause stomach upset with using a new diet.

You can also use BOILED, lean hamburger or chicken and plain cooked, white rice. This too will prevent most upset stomachs associated with diet changes.

Sutures

If present, sutures in the mouth do not generally have to be removed but will dissolve over the next few weeks on their own.

Home Care

The best way to decrease the tartar reforming on the teeth quickly is to brush the teeth. Daily, like us, is best, but perhaps unrealistic for most. Even once per week can still help, however. Plain water and a soft toothbrush are all that is needed. Human pastes can make pets sick. Animal pastes are just flavor enhancers and can be used or not at owner choice.

Cookies and biscuits, despite the advertisements, do not help reduce tartar. Greenies and CET chews can help but are high fat and contain rawhide. So they are not recommended for the overweight or those with sensitive stomachs.

One other option is Healthy Mouth. This is the only proven water additive that can slow tartar down. You can learn more and place an order at www.healthymouth.com.

Ultimately, genetics is the biggest factor. Some pets need to have their teeth cleaned again in 6 months (especially smaller dogs) while others may not need treatment for years.

If you have additional questions or concerns please call us: 770-479-6505