How to Find Anesthesia Free Teeth Cleaning for Your Pet

Dental health is just as important for dogs and cats as it is for us. Aside from causing bad breath and unsightly teeth--bacteria can spread to other organs including the kidneys, liver, lungs, heart and brain. And since brushing our cat or dog's teeth is not something we commonly keep up with--or do in the first place--keeping up with periodic professional cleanings is essential. In recent years, non-anesthetic teeth cleaning performed by professionals has become a popular, less expensive and sometimes safer alternative to taking your pet to the vet's office to get "put under." Here are ways to find anesthesia-free teeth cleaning.

Instructions

1. Search online for "anesthesia free teeth cleaning" or "non anesthetic teeth cleaning" plus your city or state. The websites are normally for licensed professionals who strictly provide pet teeth cleanings services. There are also veterinarians who go to various locations to do teeth cleanings as opposed to being done at the office where it is normally performed under anesthesia, although some veterinarians perform anesthesia-free teeth cleanings at their office. Certain pet teeth cleaning services will also come to your home.

2. Check at pet supply stores to see if they offer teeth cleaning days. Many pet dental cleaning services and even veterinarians set up at pet supply stores on certain days of the month to offer cleanings. Also check with groomers. Some groomers include teeth cleaning in their services or have certain days when professional teeth cleaners (including vets) offer services at their location.

3. Check the skill level of the professional who will perform the teeth cleaning. The level can range from a "tooth-scraper" with little or no professional training to a licensed veterinarian or veterinary dental technician. Former licensed dental hygienists for people also perform anesthesia-free pet dental cleanings. Ask what type of license or certification the practitioner has.

4. Find out some details about their technique such as how they get the pet to calm down and what their success rate is, i.e. the percentage of pets whose teeth they are able to clean as opposed to those who end up not being good candidates.

5. Inquire about the procedure itself, including what the teeth cleaning entails. For instance, some pet teeth cleanings just consist of a scaling, whereas others also include a polishing.

6. Ask for recommendations from other pet owners you know who have had anesthesia-free teeth cleanings performed on their pets.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the practitioner wears clean gloves, and cleans and sterilizes the equipment between cleanings.

• The average price for an anesthesia-free pet dental cleaning is $100.

• Age 3 is a good time to start having your pet's teeth cleaned professionally, as the majority of pets over that age have some degree of periodontal disease.

• Teeth cleaning without anesthesia is safer for older pets, pets with certain medical conditions and certain breeds that run a higher anesthesia risk including flat-faced breeds such as Persian cats, pekingese, pugs and bulldogs.

• If your pet is aggressive or overly skittish at the vet's office, he or she is probably not a good candidate for anesthesia-free teeth cleaning.

• Only a licensed veterinarian can administer anesthesia, legally prescribe antibiotics and other medications, check for oral melanoma and extract teeth. If there is infection and/or the condition is more serious than tarter and plaque, your pet would need to see a veterinarian.