Getting Your Pet Proper Affordable Dental Care (Your Pet's Teeth)

By Susan Braden

Oral hygiene is extremely important to the health and well-being of humans. Lack of correct oral hygiene can result in oral diseases, loss of teeth, and a lot of pain! Like their masters, pets also need good oral hygiene. It is important to find affordable dental care for them -- your pets deserve clean teeth too!

Why Should I Worry about My Pet's Teeth?

Most people do not understand why their pet's breath smells bad. Bad pet breath, similar to poor-smelling human breath, is most often caused by poor oral hygiene. Since pets cannot brush their teeth on their own, there is not really anything that they can do to maintain their oral hygiene without your help. Taking your animal to the vet to get a teeth cleaning is key in keeping your pet's mouth in good shape. When they lack proper oral hygiene, pets get oral diseases just like humans do. However, we can help prevent pet oral diseases by getting affordable dental care for our pets!

Get a checkup to determine the current condition of your pet's teeth. Be sure to attend a caring, trustworthy veterinarian. You may want to ask other animal owners which vet they recommend.

How Do I Get My Animal an Affordable Dental Care Plan?

The first option you need to consider is whether animal dentistry care is included in your pet health plan, if you have one. If your pet health coverage already includes dentistry care, you may not need a new affordable dental care plan. If you do not have a pet dental plan included in your health plan, or if you do not have health coverage for your animal at all, then think about how much coverage you need for your animal.

Most animal oral health plans do not cover basic dentistry needs such as cleanings and other preventative procedures. They do however, cover special oral conditions, procedures that a pet might need after an accident, and restorative procedures. If your pet is in good oral condition, you might want to find a plan that covers just cleanings and preventative procedures. However, if your pet's mouth is in bad condition, you might want to investigate a normal pet plan with high coverage.

What Should I Expect at a Pet Cleaning?

When going to get a cleaning for your animal, several things have to happen. The pet must undergo anesthesia, so the night before it cannot eat. Sometimes, your animal will also be prescribed antibiotic beforehand so that if it does have an infection, the infection will die down a little bit before the cleaning.

Once your animal has been put under, the cleaning proceeds much like a human cleaning, including the removal of tartar, the checking of gums, checking for loose teeth, checking for cavities, and also the polishing and smoothing of the teeth. All this will ensure that tartar and plaque will not stick to your pet's teeth as much. A pet cleaning will also help prevent many oral diseases that your animal may get, that could even spread to the rest of its body.

Follow these steps to ensure proper oral care for your pet. To recap, find a good veterinarian that does pet teeth cleanings. Go and get a checkup at the veterinarian to find out what kind of condition your pet's teeth are in. Get a good pet dentistry plan that fits your pet's needs (if their health plan does not already include one.) Finally, receive the affordable pet dental care that your animal deserves!

For more affordable dental care tips from Susan, see this article.