Kingston Vets's home page
Emergency 01482 223688
Out of hours 01482 223688
Park Street Hospital 01482 223688
Cottingham Surgery 01482 843210
Beverley Road Surgery 01482 854422
Anlaby Surgery 01482 655333
Holderness Road Surgery 01482 797007
Thorngumbald Surgery 01964 601607

Dentistry

Has your vet recommended dental treatment for your pet?

Your vet has recommended Dental treatment for your pet. At Kingston Veterinary Group we use the dental staging process to do this.

This leaflet will give you more information on the process. If however you still have question then please contact us.

Pre Dental Staging

In preparation for the first stage of dentistry your vet may have recommended a pre anaesthetic blood test. To ensure its relevance to your pet we would advice this test take place  1-2 weeks before your dental appointment.

If, at your initial appointment disease is detected that means we are  concerned your animal may have dental pain,  we will advise appropriate pain relief for your pet. It is imperative to realise that animals will continue to eat even if experiencing discomfort  so  please ensure you continue the prescribed medication until the dental appointment .

Dental Staging

Stage 1

During this stage your pet will go under general anaesthetic to proceed with the investigative phase.

Stage 1 comprises of a general anaesthetic, descaling and polishing of all teeth, a set of  x-rays  of all the teeth,  probing and examining of the teeth, a visual examination of the mouth , tongue, gums etc   and recording on a dental chart of any disease found. It is important to realise that the scaling procedure involves cleaning the sub-gingival areas of the tooth – this means we clean the tartar from under the gum line. It is this part of the process that is the most important as if tartar is not cleared from here then periodontal disease will simply continue . This is why we are  strong advocates against dental scaling without a general anaesthetic.

We will contact you during the procedure  if we discover anything that means immediate attention is required. Please ensure the telephone number you give on admit is available all day.

Once your pet is in recovery our nurses will call and arrange a discharge appointment.

If no further work is required the registered veterinary nurse will discharge your pet and discuss with you steps to take to start on dental hygiene and cleaning programme

If however dental disease is diagnosed during the stage 1 procedure the vet will discharge your pet. At this point we will go through the X-rays and dental chart and provide you with an itemised estimate of the work that is required to do. Pain relief where appropriate will be started and we endeavour to book a stage 2 procedure at this discharge appointment

The stage 1 dentals will take place after any stage 2 procedures so please don’t be concerned if we call you later in the afternoon to organise a home appointment.

Stage 2

This part of the staging procedure is only for those patients who have had dental disease diagnosed on x-ray and examination .

The stage 2 process will be booked at least 7 days after the stage 1 and we will endeavour to book a suitable appointment time for you.  

The stage 2 procedures take place first in the day. Your pet will be given a premed and pain relief as required. The procedure take place under general anaesthetic. Local anaesthetic nerve blocks are also used to ensue a multimodal approach to pain relief.

Extractions then take place as previously discussed with you. If any new problems are noted to have occurred we will contact you to discuss them.

Most extractions are surgical and involve surgically cutting the gum and sectioning the teeth to be removed. The post extraction sites are then re x-rayed to ensure no root remnants are present.

The gum is then sutured closed with dissolvable sutures.

Once all the extractions have taken place we will then repeat the dental scale and polish.

Once your pet is in recovery we will call to organise a home appointment. When you come to collect your pet we will go through the post operative information , ensure you have the medications required and book your first post op appointment. These appointments are important to ensure your pets gums are healing well.

Post Staging

As soon as the patient starts eating plaque will stick to the surface of the teeth. Our qualified nurses are keen to help you. Tooth brushing is the recommend way to reduce this build up and we can offer advice on the best techniques to do this. Please don’t start brushing until the nurse or vet has given you the go ahead after treatment. If you are unable to brush other options can help reduce the plaque build up and we are happy to discuss them with you.

We would expect to repeat the stage 1 process at a 12-18mth interval dependent on the patient though this can very in different diseases . This will allow your pets mouth to stay as healthy as possible and reduce the number of extractions required .

Download our Guide to your Pet's Dental Care