Every COHAT includes a complete oral and periodontal (dental) examination, full mouth intraoral radiographs, and professional dental cleaning (cleaning above and below the gumline). This thorough evaluation provides the veterinarian the opportunity to identify and resolve any oral disease identified.  It is not possible to accurately evaluate, nor complete the professional dental cleaning in a safe manner without having the patient under general anesthesia.

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department performs surgical extractions in many circumstances to improve the overall oral and systemic health of the patient:

Clinical conditions and procedures where referral to Pulse may be considered (but not limited to):

• fractured or discolored permanent (adult) teeth
• patients with compromised systemic health requiring surgical extractions
• routine surgical extractions
• involved surgical extractions
• tooth resorption requiring surgical extraction or crown amputation and intentional root retention
• caries requiring surgical extraction
• teeth with crown-root fractures that are not salvageable with periodontal surgery
• fractured or discolored deciduous (baby) teeth
• deciduous (baby) teeth in malocclusion

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department emphasizes that many teeth can be saved with a very reliable treatment called root canal therapy. In most circumstances, it is beneficial to the patient to perform root canal therapy opposed to extraction as it is significantly less traumatic and painful, and the patient retains the use of this functionally important tooth.

Clinical conditions and procedures where referral to Pulse may be considered (but not limited to):

• Fractured teeth
• Discolored teeth
• Some cases of malocclusion are treated with crown reduction with vital pulp therapy
• Surgical root canal

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department performs periodontal surgery in many circumstances to improve the health of the dentition.

Clinical conditions and procedures where referral to Pulse may be considered (but not limited to):

• Crown lengthening for infraerupted teeth and fractures that extend below the gumline
• Guided tissue regeneration to improve periodontal disease

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department performs oral surgery in many circumstances to improve the health of the dentition.

• Mandibular and maxillofacial fracture repair
• Symphyseal separation repair
• Oronasal and oroantral fistula repair
• Oral neoplasia: diagnostics, staging, and definitive resective surgery (maxillectomy and mandibulectomy)
• Pyogenic granuloma excision
• Palatal surgery (trauma and cleft palate/lip)
• Lingual and sublingual surgery
• Cyst treatment (dentigerous, radicular, lateral periodontal, canine parakeratinized cyst)
• Temporomandibular joint disease management (luxation, osteoarthritis, fracture)
• Inability to close the mouth (open mouth jaw locking)
• Inability to open the mouth (trismus)
• Facial swelling
• Management of salivary mucocele

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department performs oral medicine on specific intraoral and extraoral disease.

• Feline chronic gingivostomatitis (also referred to as “caudal, alveolar, buccal, lingual and palatal mucositis”)
• Canine ulcerative paradental stomatitis (C.U.P.S., also referred to as “contact mucositis”)
• Eosinophilic granuloma complex
• Masticatory muscle myositis

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department offers prosthodontic therapy when appropriate to improve long-term prognosis for dentition.

• Metal crown therapy to strengthen and protect teeth

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department recognizes that our puppies and kittens often have unidentified oral conditions that require treatment.

Clinical conditions and procedures where referral to Pulse may be considered (but not limited to):

• Fractured or discolored deciduous (baby) teeth (if not addressed urgently, there can be consequences for the developing permanent teeth)
• Assessment and intervention of malocclusions

The Dentistry & Oral Surgery department performs assessment of malocclusions and recommends appropriate interventions to improve the overall comfort of our patients. The goal is never to achieve ideal cosmetics, but every patient deserves a pain-free and comfortable bite.

Clinical conditions and procedures where referral to Pulse may be considered (but not limited to):

• Linguoverted mandibular canines (base-narrow canine)
• Mesioverted maxillary canines (lance canines)
• Class 2 malocclusions (where the mandible is shorter than the maxilla, which commonly results in the mandibular teeth hitting the roof of the mouth)
• Class 3 malocclusion (where the mandible is longer than the maxilla, which commonly results in the maxillary teeth hitting the soft tissues of the mandible)
• Interceptive orthodontics (crowding of dentition predisposes teeth to periodontal disease, selective extractions relieving crowding can improve long-term oral health)