Dental CareCaring for your pet’s teeth is an easy way to prevent a host of health problems caused by dental disease. At Valley Center Veterinary Clinic, we offer preventative care and treatment of dental disease to give your pet a pain and infection free mouth.

Dental disease in pets is characterized by plaque, tartar, gingivitis, and periodontal disease. Bacteria above the gums inevitably make their way below the gums to eat away bone, cause oral pain and eventually tooth loss. Fractured teeth can expose pulp cavities and predispose to pain and infection. There may even be systemic risk to distant organs from the continual release of bacteria and toxins from unhealthy teeth and gums. At Valley Center Veterinary Clinic we emphasize preventative care and treatment of dental disease to give your pet a pain and infection free mouth.

Our goal is a pain and infection free mouth for your pet.

PDP (Preventative Dental Procedure)
Pet Dental Care
  • Scaling and polishing of all teeth
  • Full mouth dental radiographs
  • Complete oral exam by veterinarian
  • Treatment and prevention of periodontal infection if desired.
  • All extractions staged for a later date
COHAT 1 - Mild Dental Disease
Pet Dental Care
  • Scaling and polishing of all teeth
  • Full mouth dental radiographs
  • Complete oral exam by veterinarian
  • Extractions and treatment or prevention of periodontal infection as deemed necessary and possible (Procedure capped at 4 hours)
COHAT 2 - Moderate Dental Disease
Pet Dental Care
  • Scaling and polishing of all teeth
  • Full mouth dental radiographs
  • Complete oral exam by veterinarian
  • Extractions and treatment or prevention of periodontal infection as deemed necessary and possible (Procedure capped at 4 hours)
COHAT 3 - Severe Dental Disease
Pet Dental Care
  • Scaling and polishing of all teeth
  • Full mouth dental radiographs
  • Complete oral exam by veterinarian
  • Extractions and treatment or prevention of periodontal infection as deemed necessary and possible (Procedure capped at 4 hours)

“By three years of age, most dogs and cats have some level of periodontal disease (infection of gum tissue and bone around the teeth). Not always apparent to pet owners, periodontal disease can cause oral pain, infection, inflammation, and other health problems, decreasing the quality of life for these pets. After a proper dental procedure, many pet owners report the emergence of a “whole new pet” —one who is happier and more active.” - From American Animal Hospital Association Dental Care Guidelines

Our goal is a pain and infection free mouth for your pet.

Dentistry for pets focuses very simply on treating and preventing infection and pain. Dentistry in pets is much more than scaling tartar and plaque from the crowns of each tooth. Veterinary dentistry focuses on maintaining teeth and gums in a healthy and pain-free state, removing dead infected teeth, relieving inflamed gums, and treating painfully damaged or fractured teeth. It is typically some mixture of dentistry and oral surgery. Pets receiving regular dental care typically require less invasive/surgical intervention to maintain their oral health. We understand that dental care can be expensive and that the thought of anesthetizing your pet can cause concern (See our Frequently Asked Questions section at the end of this page). Early and Regular Comprehensive Oral Health Assessments and Treatments (COHATs), though, are the best way to both minimize costs and ensure safety. Multiple short procedures over a pet’s lifetime to maintain dental health are almost always preferable to longer more involved procedures as pets age and dental disease worsens. Nevertheless, for those pets requiring more involved procedures, there are few things that can improve health and comfort more than ensuring a mouth is free of infection and pain.

***All pets are required to be up to date on core vaccinations. Dogs are required to have the Bordetella vaccine.***

Frequently Asked Questions:

The anesthesia used during COHAT procedures is hands down the safest of any we perform. Pets can be kept at an extremely light plane of anesthesia during COHATs as we rely mostly on local anesthetics for pain control (just like your dentist). This allows for safe procedures and rapid recoveries. In addition, our technicians monitor pets at all times using a combination of digital monitoring equipment and physical parameters for maximum safety.

“All COHATs are dental procedures but not all dental procedures are COHATs”

The combination of processed pet foods (very nutritious but not optimal for dental health) and the fact that pets can’t tell us when their mouths hurt (and often don’t show pain even when it does) typically means that by the time a pet is seen for a COHAT a large amount of pathology already exists. COHAT costs are reflective of the time, training, and instrumentation needed to properly address a pet's oral and dental health in one safe anesthetic episode. Veterinary dentistry is usually a combination of dentistry and oral surgery. Think wisdom tooth removal not filling cavities. In addition, a properly performed COHAT includes dental radiographs (before AND after extractions), an oral examination by a veterinarian, a conversation with an owner about pathology noted on examination and radiographs, and treatment of any problems noted. This is all part of our goal to treat your pet’s dental disease in one anesthetic episode if possible.

***When comparing our COHAT with other dental procedures be sure to ask what is included and how the veterinary team has trained to perform COHATs and recognize dental disease.***

For young dogs and cats with healthy mouths this is ideal. See VOHC.org for more resources for home care. For older pets who have not had a COHAT, however, brushing can cause pain and trauma to an already painful mouth. We do not recommend this for older pets or pets with known dental disease until they have had a COHAT.

If a COHAT is canceled for a non-emergent circumstance less than a week before the scheduled date, a non-refundable deposit equal to the low end of the designated COHAT level must be paid prior to rescheduling. This deposit is non-refundable but will be applied towards the COHAT cost when performed. This policy reflects the large block of our schedule that COHATs typically take.