What is staging in veterinary dentistry and why will we be doing it?

As teeth cleaning, teeth x-rays and subsequent surgical treatments all require anesthesia, we all want to do this in the safest way for our patients and your pets!  Safety already includes checking kidney, liver and other organ function prior to the day of the procedure, pre-medications to reduce stress and the amount of anesthetics needed, local anesthesia, careful monitoring of blood pressure, heart and breathing rhythms and oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations throughout.  At Sleepy Dog, we also prioritize a calm and unbrushed experience for the pet.  

Currently, the veterinary field is moving towards staging dental procedures.  This means that the first (and sometimes only procedure) is performed with a full mouth evaluation (probing and evaluating each tooth for visible health or disease) and full mouth dental x-rays.  Each tooth is then scaled (build up is removed with an ultrasonic scaler) and polished (to make sure the small grooves created by scaling the teeth are smoothed, preventing further build up).  A temporary sealant is applied and voila!  Pearly white!   The veterinarian then evaluates the dental x-rays and the visual exam together and recommends further treatment if necessary.  If this further treatment is extensive (like surgical mass removals or complex tooth extractions), she will discuss with the pet parent upon recovery.  A second procedure is then scheduled to complete these recommendations.  That procedure is less lengthy as the preventative and diagnostic measures have already been completed.  

So why is this safer for your pet?  It sounds like two procedures instead of one, right?  

It’s safe because each procedure is much shorter (around one and a half hours for the first and one to two and a half for the second).  These anesthesia times are safer than more lengthy ones (which traditionally have been up to four hours total).  It also allows us nerdy veterinarians to study and consult on what we are seeing and the best treatment course.  We are also more efficient, because we know exactly what we are facing when we dive into surgery of that mouth!  

This is a big shift for us all.  It will take us time to get used to this as change can be intimidating and scary!  But the beauty of medicine is it is always changing and improving, and we don’t want your pet to be left behind.  We want them to have a healthy mouth that helps their whole body to be healthier and more comfortable and we want to do it in the safest and most informed way possible!