Banderas Pet Hospital and Boarding, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

Regular Hours: Monday through Friday 7am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - noon




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DentalCare320

Dental Care for Your Pet - It’s Not Just Important - It’s Critical

Bad breath in pets is often joked about, but it is not a laughing matter. Dental disease affects up to 80% of pets over the age of three, and just like humans, there can be serious consequences of poor dental health.

Dental disease can have major effects on your pet’s organs, including the heart, liver and kidneys. The most obvious signs to look for are:

Bad Breath

Brown or discolored teeth

Loose teeth

Pain when eating - lose of appetite

Lethargy or loss of normally playful nature

Failing to groom (cats)

What about a non-anesthetic dental?

In our hospital, some of our younger pet patients have a minimal amount of tartar to be removed. Pets do not understand why you are putting sharp objects into their mouth and scraping away the tartar on their teeth, so we will administer a light sedative (much the same as you might receive from your dentist) to ease your pet into a calm state

They need the professional, trained hand of an experienced technician under a veterinarian’s supervision to perform this very important part of their health care.

If your pet needs a dental prophy call 949-766-4449 for a dental exam to see if your pet’s dental care can be performed in a non-anesthetic manor.

Beware the "Gentle Dental" Teeth Cleaning Company

First of all, never allow a boarding or grooming facility who might bring in a company to clean teeth every few months, sometimes calling it a “gentle dental” to perform a dental prophy on your pet’s teeth.

Many veterinary practices see the results of accidental injury to pets by people unsupervised by a veterinarian attempting to perform a dental prophy. You wouldn’t allow anyone outside your child’s dentist’s office to perform a dental cleaning on your child; don’t allow anyone outside of your veterinary hospital to perform any kind of dental cleaning on your pet.

Do NOT allow your pet to have any dental care done by companies brought in by day care facilities or grooming parlors every two or three months. They can not administer sedatives, take x-rays, treat infections or have the supervision of a Doctor. The instruments used in dental cleaning are razor sharp and can cause injury to your pet’s mouth or gums without the safe use of a calming sedative.

Should I be concerned about the risks of anesthesia?

Anesthesia is a minimal risk for pets just as it is for humans. Our hospital is modern with state-of-the-art equipment and well trained, caring team members. Before placing our patient under anesthesia we perform pre-surgical blood work.

We take a proactive approach to any anesthetic procedure including pre-anesthetic testing, inhalant gas, electronic monitoring and intravenous fluids. Pets are monitored throughout the dental procedure and as they recover in ICU.

We use the safest of anesthetics and we are convinced that the small risk involved with the anesthetic procedure far outweigh the risk to your pet’s health with bad teeth.