February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Many people do not realize the effect that dental health can have on their pets. More than 8 out of 10 pets over the age of four suffer from periodontal disease, a condition in which bacteria attack the gums. As the bacteria multiply on the tooth surface, they form a coating called plaque. The bacteria forming the plaque produce toxins, which inflame the gums. In time, the plaque hardens into tartar which further irritates the gums. The inflamed gums pull away from the teeth and infected pockets of plaque and food particles form under the gumline. At this stage, bacteria from the plaque can enter the pets bloodstream. This is where the danger lies! Once the bacteria enter the bloodstream, they can travel to major organs and set up infection there. The liver, kidneys, heart, and lungs are the organs that usually get infected secondary to dental disease. The bacteria also infect areas within the mouth, causing dental abscesses and jawbone infections. All of these infections are easily preventable by providing your pet with routine dental care. Your veterinarian can tell you during your pets routine physical when your pets teeth have accumulated plaque and tartar and the gums have become infected. When this occurs, it is time for your pet to have a dental cleaning to remove the bacteria and plaque.
In honor of Pet Dental Health month, Brenner Animal Hospital is offering all dental services at a 15% discount for the month of February. We have now extended the discount period through March in order to try to accomodate the over whelming demand for this program. We appologize to those clients that had to wait for their dental appointments during February! We have also had a questions about whether we honor this discount for new clients- the answer is we honor the discount for all of our patients, new or old.
For those of you with pets over the age of seven, Brenner Animal Hospital also offers a significant discount on its Senior Health Profile Program in February and March. Please see the whats new section for details on the program!
Our services and technology are constantly improving, so that we can provide for your pet the most advanced and skilled care possible. In the recent months, we have added a state of the art dental radiography (X-ray) unit. We have also upgraded our main radiology (X-ray) unit, our hematology (bloodwork) unit, and our anesthesia monitoring units with the most recent technology. We try to continually upgrade our equipment to offer our patients the most up-to-date medicine.