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An Unusual Introduction About The 4 Different Types of Veterinarians That Also Happens To Be Very Informative About Pet Dentistry:

Human Beings: Thanks to decades of human dentists “educating the public” about the importance of gum health and dental hygiene, everyone knows that unless they brush, floss, routinely go in for a dental check up and cleaning, that they are going to start loosing their teeth in early adulthood, and they won’t be getting any French kisses.

And we know from human studies that inflamed gums are the number one port of entry for bacteria into our blood stream leading to septicemia, liver disease, kidney disease, and especially cardiovascular disease.

Dogs and Cats: Everything I just wrote about human beings (except for the French kissing part) applies to dogs and cats too. In fact, due to differences in salivary pH, our veterinary patients accumulate plaque and calculus 5 times faster than people!

Not only do pets accumulate plaque and calculus 5 times faster than people, don’t forget that pets age about 7 times faster than people.

And 7 x 5 = 35.

Therefore, since it’s recommended that people go to a dentist for professional cleaning every 6 months, that means you should bring your pet in for professional cleaning 35 times more often or about 70 times a year. … (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist…just kidding)

Mathematical kidding aside, dental disease can seriously reduce your pet’s quality of life. More to the point, a little effort and attention taking care of your pet's mouth will likely improve your pet's life span, prevent numerous diseases, prevent the pain and irritation of inflammed gums, and help a lot with bad breath. To see just what you can do to improve and maintain your pet's oral and dental health, please read below.

If you’ll let me explain that there are 4 basic types of vets offering dental care, I think it will give you a much better understanding of what’s going on and what’s available. Not only that, but you can apply this to other areas of veterinary clinical care.

Level One Veterinarians: If the pet has obvious pain, discomfort, or strong oral odor on physical exam…especially if mouth pain is why the owner brought the pet in…, then the vet will offer to “pull” the offending tooth under anesthesia and clean up the rest of the teeth while doing the job.

If, during physical examination of a pet brought into the clinic, the vet demonstrates obvious heavy tarter or easily visible gum disease, the vet will recommend dental cleaning and inspection under anesthesia.

Level one veterinarians tend to be very practical and relatively inexpensive when it comes to dental care for your pet. It’s just that they’re not heavy into PREVENTIVE dental care, and because they do relatively little dentistry, they are not as likely to have extensive equipment or experience in doing more than the basics.

But even at this basic first level, in advanced countries, at least, you can expect cleanliness, careful anesthesia, pain management, fairly good basic dental skills, antibiotics and after care if needed…and a referral to a specialist or other vet if it turns out that the problem is bigger than first thought…cancer of the jaw for example.

Level one doesn’t mean bad…such basic, inexpensive, and practical care.

Level Two: Vets at this level will do everything level one veterinarians offer, but in addition they will check every pet for EARLY signs of plaque and disease and discuss with their clients the need for dental hygiene at home and preventive professional cleaning on a fairly frequent basis…usually every 6-36 months depending on the age, breed, oral condition, and genetics of the individual pet.

Level two vets typically have lots of client education material and dental hygiene product choices available at their clinics. And level two vets will typically have a fairly high standard of dental equipment and a tech well experienced and meticulous in his or her work.

But the level of actual dental services are still pretty basic involving mostly the common and important services of cleaning, polishing, inspecting, and extractions if needed. Fees at such clinics also tend to be fairly inexpensive. Level two vets are willing to put in the considerable effort of promoting dentistry to their clients on their pet's behalf before the gums start to recede and oral disease is obvious.

Level Three: Veterinary clinics offering level three dental services for your pet will have spent a lot of time, money, and effort to be able to offer you this very high level of medical care. And you can expect such care to cost several hundred dollars each time you bring your pet in for dentistry.

They aren’t “ripping you off”, though, they are simply doing the job at a very high standard and that costs money. So what’s different? Well, a level three clinic will include or offer some or all of the following that less expensive clinics might not:

Very aggressive check ups designed to catch periodontal disease early. This may include special fluorescent lights and/or dyes that highlight plaque. And it may include recommendations to have dental x-rays done to make sure decay hasn’t begun hidden under the gums. Level three vets know that offering dental care after it’s easily visible without x-rays may be too late to stop permanent damage to the underlying dental structures.

Blood chemistry and other testing prior to anesthesia.

More extensive anesthetic protocols. Some vets have elaborate equipment and highly trained personnel to monitor your pet while under anesthesia in addition to having a well trained dental hygienist. They will run IV Fluids, perform Oxygen therapy, and have continuous EKG, pulse oximetry, and machines that measure and monitor CO2 concentrations during the dental procedure.

Before and after digital pictures of your pet’s teeth. They will keep detailed records about each tooth and procedure your pet has.

Complete oral radiographs…either done routinely or done when deep decay, root disease, cancer, mineral deficiencies, or jaw bone disease is suspected.

Level three vets will offer fluoride treatments.

Level three vets will offer to coat your pet’s teeth with sealants to further protect from plaque accumulation.

Level three clinics are likely to have the latest high tech equipment and highly trained, certified techs and assistants. The vet performing the dental procedures is likely to have additional training, certification, or post doctorate degrees.

And, as with level two veterinarians, you will be highly encouraged to come in for preventive dental work on a regular basis. Not only that, but they will want you to take your pet’s oral health seriously at home and offer your pet dental hygiene products, toothpastes, diets, and they will expect you to reinforce the sealants that they applied with a little take home kit.

Level Four:

Yes, some clinics offer even more. Level four clinics will have a veterinarian skilled as a dental surgeon supervising the techs during routine cleanings and, of course, performing the extractions, gum surgery, capping, bridging, cavity repair, and root canals should they need doing. Some vets are even skilled at orthodontics.

I’ve written about the different levels of veterinary dental care mostly to introduce you to all the possible options for your pet and to explain why the range in fees among clinics can be so large. If you were to phone a few vets telling the receptionist that your pet had a toothache and you wanted to know how much it might cost to have that taken care of, you’d probably get a range of quotes from $125 to $1000. Now you have an idea why.

Let me make something clear: Just because your vet offers level one…basic and inexpensive… dental care doesn’t mean he or she is a poor vet. It simply means …at least where dentistry is concerned… the offerings are basic.

And thank goodness such vets exist.

Think of all the people with pets in America who spend a whole lot more each month than they make…all the pet owners in America on social security or other types of very modest means…

Where do they go if their pet is in agony with a bad tooth?

Offering Level three or Level Four care is cool, it’s ideal, and it protects the clinic from getting sued for inadequate care, but such clinics have to turn away those who can’t afford their fees. Not because they’re uncaring, but rather because they have to pay for all that equipment, all those tests, and all those certified salaries.

This same logic often holds true for procedures other than dentistry, whether it be general surgery, wound care, trauma treatment, or whatever.

There are different levels of care or standards offered by different clinics and in general the price difference is big and indicative.

And again, it doesn’t mean the lower level clinic is bad, it’s just more practical and that may be all your pet needs or all you want.

The only important question, in my mind, is that if you’re going to a lower level vet, will he or she tell you, when needed, that “ hey, I can treat this with minimal expense, but this case is a little more serious than you might realize and it would be better if you went to see Dr. FancyPants who's set up and experienced in tough cases like yours