What to expect after teeth cleaning?

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ericbakes

ericbakes

Member Since 2011
Hello, everyone!

I'm taking Melville in for a teeth cleaning on Friday morning, and I'm curious about what to expect. What have your experiences been? Any questions I should ask my vet?

The reasons I'm taking him in is that his breath has been horrible lately. Additionally, I have noticed that he has been chewing his food in a funny way that made it look like he was experiencing some pain. On his last checkup, the vet pointed out swollen gums, some bleeding, and signs of infection. We didn't see this on previous visits, so it's something that popped up fairly recently. I assume this is due to a diet of 100% wet food.

The vet was very optimistic about the outcome. He said that the gums haven't receded from the teeth yet, so no extractions would be necessary. He seemed to think that we caught it early enough that it won't be a problem. He even said that Melville should feel much better after the cleaning. Since there are signs of infection, though, the vet put Melville on a short course of antibiotics, five days before and five days after the cleaning.

My only experience with this was about 15 years ago when my parents took our aging cat in for teeth cleaning. It was the start of his rapid decline, beginning with a reaction to the general anesthesia. I may be remembering this incorrectly, but it had something to do with throat irritation from intubation. So, I'm a little nervous going into this. However, I know this is a relatively routine procedure for healthy cats (which, aside from being diabetic, Melville is).

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
eric
 
How old is he?

They have some anesthetics which are safer in older cats.

Then can use some local or regional anesthetic blocks to prevent something called 'wind up'.

Keeping him warm under anethesia can be difficult since it lowers body temp. You might ask if they could warm the IV fluids somewhat.

Some vets want diabetics fasting overnight with no or a half dose of insulin in the morning; at least 1 vet allows food until 6 am the day of the procedure.

Monitoring glucose before/during the procedure to ensure no hypo is likely.

Check blood pressure.

Take x-rays to confirm no bad roots or gum disease.
 
Hello,

My diabetic cat has had two dentals done since his diagnosis, and also underwent anaesthesia just a couple of weeks ago to remove something caught in his throat. He sailed through all those procedures with no problems whatsoever. And I'm sure you'll find that many, many people here have had similar experiences.

Prior to my cat having anaesthesia he did have a blood test done to check his kidney and liver function etc. Is your vet offering that? That might reassure you somewhat. And your vet may adjust the anaesthetic depending on the blood results.

I think anaesthesia is much better these days than it was 15 years ago when your parent's cat had a dental.

It's always a worry when our cats need things doing. I was SO nervous when Bert went to the vet recently that I could hardly see straight. But he was just fine. And by the next day he seemed to have forgotten all about the experience. And with your cat - this dental could help him feel a lot better too! That would be a great outcome! :smile:

You may like to have a look at this recent thread started by someone asking a similar question to yours:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=85237
 
I take my cats to a dental specialist - this is all the person does - dental work on dogs/kitties.

What I find helpful is to write down my questions so I don't forgot, and also if I don't always see the dentist on day of dental, I bring a note with the cat for the dentist. In it, I remind her of the medical condition, any drug allergies, specific foods the cat can have (I even bring my own with the cat's name on it, just to be safe) and any other concerns that I may have.

Things to discuss:

- what type of anesthesia will be used - some are easier on the cat than others. My cats are super-sensitive and need the lightest amount possible as they are slow to come out of it - also there was a recall a couple years back on ketamine - which I am sure is fixed by now, but I just say, no ketamine - there are lots of other drugs that can be used and I'd prefer one that did not have a recall on it.

- will xrays be taken before the cleaning/extractions and after extractions - this ensures that every part of the tooth is removed - root, nerve, etc.

- if there is an "iffy" tooth, will the dentist remove it anyway, to avoid going through this again in a year or two (and save you additional cost)

- what is the cost for extractions? My dentist, does an exam and either I point out the questionable tooth or she does. Then she provides an estimate with a low/high cost depending on extractions being needed. This at least gets you mentally prepared to what the total cost may be.

- will pain meds be supplied after procedure and what type - buprenex is typically the best kind to use. Do not allow metacam

- will any antibiotics be needed? what kind - do not allow convenia - this is not good for cats and not for dental issues anyway. But some vets may use it, because it is an "easy" shot.

You can read more about the risks of convenia on Dr. Lisa's site -
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=convenia

- what methods do they use to keep kitty warm during/after procedure - my place has a warming table that is heated by water and they can adjust the temperature to keep it from burning the cat or getting too cold.

- will kitty come home same day, or will he have to stay overnight? Will kitty be monitored 24/7?

- what happens if there is a problem after I bring kitty home, will someone be there for me to call?

Let us know how kitty does.
 
This is a post that I put together on dental procedures. Despite what your vet told you, it's impossible to know exactly what's going on in a cat's mouth unless you have pre-procedure dental X-rays. It's very hard to get a cat to sit still in order for your vet to get a complete visual inspection and even if it were possible, things like resorptive lesions may not be visible. If extractions end up being needed, your vet should get post-procedure X-rays to make sure there are no roots left in the gums. Pre-procedure labs should also e completed if they haven't been done in the last 2 months.

You should also make sure that your vet does not prescribe Metacam for pain (it has an FDA black box warning due to its causing acute renal failure in cats) or Convenia if an antibiotic is needed. Convenia is an antibiotic that lasts for 2 weeks and many vets like it because you don't have to pill your cat. However, if your cat has a reaction to Convenia, once it's in you can't get it out or neutralize it. My vet typically prescribes clindamycin. Since your vet believes there is an infection, getting the antibiotic started in advance was a good thing. (It also sounds like your vet is not using Convenia.)

If it ends up that your cat does have extractions, most of us ask for buprenorphine for pain management. It can be given either as a subcutaneious injection, like insulin, or you can use a syringe without a needle to deposit it in the cheek pocket. Usually 2 - 3 days of pain meds are all that's needed but with extractions, pain meds are needed.

It's unlikely that the changes in dental health are due to your switching to canned food. It's what amounts to an urban legend that hard food keeps a cat's teeth clean. As someone here once commented, if that were the case, if we ate a steady diet of cookies and crackers, then none of us would need our teeth cleaned. Dr. Lisa's website on feline nutrition discusses this issue.
 
Lots of good information. Thanks, everyone!

Melville is on antibiotic pills five days before and after, so I don't think I'll have to worry about the various shots (although it's good to keep those names in mind for future procedures). Good call about keeping the cat warm, and I didn't even think to ask about x-rays. I'll check in with him tomorrow about that. And if he ends up needing an extraction, I'll definitely ask for the pain meds. Melville is only 6 years old, so hopefully that means his teeth are still relatively healthy.

Thanks again for your input! I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Is this his first dental? You may find writing your questions down will be helpful, so you don't have to try to remember everything.

When it's over, ask the vet to give you a kitty toothbrush and toothpaste. There are ones that are FD friendly, maybe he has it. I think it may be a gel rather than a toothpaste like we know it.

And once his mouth is healed, you can introduce the brush and cleaner by letting him lick it off the brush and working up to actually brushing the teeth.

He will help keep the tartar off, won't do much if there are resportive teeth, but overall if you can brush teeth, it's a good thing.

Good luck tomorrow and here's hoping for just a cleaning and nothing else.
 
Thanks again, everyone, for the good advice. I just wanted to follow up and say that Melville's cleaning went great. He didn't have any trouble with the anesthesia -- in fact, the vet's assistant said that when she went back to check on him after a few hours, he was wide awake and ready to go home! I picked him up at 2pm and brought him straight home. Against the advice of my vet, I gave him a *little* food soon after. It took a couple days to get his BG under control, but other than that, everything was quickly back to normal.

I can't believe how much of a difference this cleaning made. Before, we could smell his rank breath from the foot of the bed. It was horrible. Now, we tell him it's "minty fresh." I'm going to start letting him nibble on the kitty toothbrush soon. Even though everything went smoothly, I want to keep those teeth clean so I can delay the next dental as long as possible.
 
Hi Eric,
Glad to hear everything went great for Melville. :smile:

When I saw your original post last week, you don't know how hard it was for me to not respond with "Whiter teeth, fresher breath, and if you believe the TV commercials, lots of offers for dates!" :lol:

Carl
 
Ah but did they really use minty fresh toothpaste or was it really anchovy/salmon flavored?
:-D

Glad it went well and he recovered quickly. Introducing him to tooth brushing is a great idea.
 
I have never seen salmon or fish flavored polish that the vets use. Vet use human polish and it come in bubble gun, fruit and maybe some other flavors.
 
Hillary & Maui said:
Larry,

I was making a funny.
Click to expand...

But I'm not! The CET toothpaste we get for Tess is Poultry flavored. It also comes in Seafood, Beef, Malt and Vanilla-Mint! :shock: On the last one, what cat would like that!

Here's a great video on brushing cat's teeth. It helped us a lot. Also get the little round end toothbrush in the video, the flat ones just do not work! It's made by CET also.
 
I've seen fish flavored pastes at petsmart...
Carl
 
Ann & Tess said:
Hillary & Maui said:
Larry,

I was making a funny.
Click to expand...

But I'm not! The CET toothpaste we get for Tess is Poultry flavored. It also comes in Seafood, Beef, Malt and Vanilla-Mint! :shock: On the last one, what cat would like that!

Here's a great video on brushing cat's teeth. It helped us a lot. Also get the little round end toothbrush in the video, the flat ones just do not work! It's made by CET also.
Click to expand...


Hee hee, I know, I have he seafood and poultry pastes. The malt is not diabetic friendly at all and even for me, vanilla mint is yucky - crest makes it and I tried it and didn't like. I'm more traditional in my toothpaste selection ...pick a mint any mint, just not the wacky flavor combos, vanilla, lemon, etc....not in toothpaste anyway.

So does this mean that Tess has chicken breath?! :lol:
 
AND whiter teeth:-)
Now, when you take her out to the "cat park", and some handsome Tom slides on over and says "Het sweetie, you have a beautiful smile! Can I get your number?".....her answer should be "Hiya big boy, sure....at +6? 103 ;-) ;-) "

:-)
 
Carl & Bob said:
AND whiter teeth:-)
Now, when you take her out to the "cat park", and some handsome Tom slides on over and says "Het sweetie, you have a beautiful smile! Can I get your number?".....her answer should be "Hiya big boy, sure....at +6? 103 ;-) ;-) "

:-)
Click to expand...


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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