My Personal Dental Journey and How it Shapes Patient Care

How My Personal Dental Trauma Shaped My Approach to Caring for our Pet Patients

Dental work is the ever-dreaded task when it comes to ourselves and our fur children, but the importance goes beyond just a nice smile. Making sure the oral cavity is in tip-top shape is important for organ health, heart health, oral comfort and so much more. The goal of this article is to help pet parents learn my background with my dental anxiety and to show the similarities that we take for our beloved patients at Arya Animal Acupuncture to provide the most exemplary care within our power.

My Childhood Dental Trauma

Let me give a little background story on my own experience, which has helped shape me to have the high standards that I have for our patients at Arya Animal Acupuncture. When I was in the 5th grade, I was innocently enjoying the joys of a snow day with what else other than the glorious fun of sledding! Little did I know that the day would come to an unfortunate end. While amid the excitement, a sled came crashing towards me and smacked me dead center in my mouth. Of course, the first moment after that was just feeling the excruciating pain radiating through the center of my being, followed by panic and numbness to assess the situation. The final result was a broken tooth with major pulp exposure. This was the start of years upon years of issues and complications, which have resulted in extreme anxiety for me, even for a routine cleaning.

The Long Road of Dental Work

This goes beyond just the cosmetic aspect, which, don’t get me wrong, had its fair share in the role of this experience. Going through crown after crown that either felt uncomfortable in my mouth or of course, looked like a tooth that was just completely out of place in my mouth, and numerous times a temporary crown became loose and just fell out!

Never something a teenage girl wants to worry about or experience. It took about 10 years before the tooth started to die and the inevitable root canal was needed. My anxiety was naturally elevated, but this experience changed my outlook on dental care forever. The pain control for the root canal was typical local anesthesia, but upon testing to see if I could still feel pain or discomfort and despite me saying, “yes”, it was said that I was given the standard amount, and they were going to proceed with the procedure. Let’s just say, to no surprise, that sharp pain went shooting through my skull and vibrated through my body. I kept my low scream to a minimum, but based on my reaction, finally, my words were heard that I could still feel pain. After the root canal, the tooth developed an abscess, on a holiday weekend at that. Once again I was back to feeling more pain and discomfort in my mouth, not being able to eat what I wanted, not being able to talk without discomfort; one easily becomes irritable with all these factors. Something to keep in mind for our fur babies too.

Finding the Right Dental Team

Years went by just fine with no issues, other than a crown that I wasn’t fully happy with for cosmetic reasons. The time finally came for yet another replacement, but when the yearly radiograph was taken, I knew there was a problem since I’ve seen this issue on so many of our patient's dental radiographs. There was a perfect, fairly large, round darkened spot at the root of my problematic tooth; now, when we see this on our precious fur babies' radiographs, we are left with no option but to extract, which is something I did not want to accept for myself. Fortunately, on the human side, there are more options available to us.

The dark spot on the radiograph was a cyst, mine was a very large infectious cyst that threatened the health of the bordering teeth. The bottom line, it needed to be surgically removed, and a bone graft would have to be placed in this area. I was honest about my anxiety and fears, and I was given a detailed play-by-play of the procedure and what to expect for recovery.

I was given medication before to help ease my fear and anxiety, which in turn helped my team to be able to work efficiently on the day of my procedure. The local anesthetic blocks were applied perfectly, and my voice was heard when they asked if I could feel anything. This was the first procedure that went smoothly thanks to the amazing team covering all aspects of patient care and concerns. Post-op care went as expected, and I was covered in all aspects of pain control.

Providing Exemplary Patient Care

Now, enough about me, and how does this relate to our fur children? The similarities may surprise you. The big fear with dental procedures for our fur babies is the use of general anesthesia, it is okay to have a respected fear of anesthesia. It is however a necessity to use general anesthesia to perform a proper oral health assessment also known as a dental cleaning.

We first need to be able to obtain radiographs, scale the tartar off on the crowns of the teeth and below the gum line, and perform a detailed oral exam which includes probing each tooth and checking all oral structures/ gum tissues for any abnormalities.

Unfortunately, dogs and cats will not sit there with mouths open and sitting still while we do what is necessary to make sure we do everything that we want done for ourselves.

The Importance of Dental Radiographs

Those dental radiographs are more important than what one may think, it is crucial to fully assess the health of each tooth and not rely on just a physical exam. In my case, my tooth probed normally and at the time there was no pain below the gum line. However, the damage was already done, there was significant bone loss and the cyst now put surrounding teeth at risk. Early detection is key, and this is what we strive to provide for our pet patients.

Keeping Patients as Comfortable as Possible

One may think, since my fur baby is already under general anesthesia if an extraction or other treatment is needed, you just go right ahead and proceed with it, right? That is not quite true, even though we are using general anesthesia, our patients can still feel pain and discomfort.

Our goal is to keep the procedure as stress-free and pain-free as possible, so just like people, we will place local nerve blocks before an extraction or potentially painful procedure. This ensures that pain is not felt during a procedure to help maintain smooth and steady vital signs during this time. Not only does it help control pain during, but also upon recovery, we want to make sure there is no pain and of course, that your pet is not in pain when they go home. Unlike people, they cannot tell us if they are in pain. We will provide oral pain medications to stay ahead of any discomfort that they may feel.

We already know dogs and cats are more stoic than we are when it comes to oral pain, which may have some pet parents fooled into thinking that oral pain medications are not needed. Remember those local nerve blocks to help stop the pain at the time of the procedure, it will eventually wear off, which is why we need to have those oral pain medications already on board so that there is no gap in providing that comfort.

We will send home two types of pain medications to take care of pain from different angles. One will act as an anti-inflammatory and the second will help with general pain. That’s exactly what I was provided with for my procedure. At Arya, we provide individualized care, some cases may require an antibiotic, Chinese herbs, or other medications, but that's the benefit of a team that is familiar with your baby and their specific needs.

The Benefits of Pre-Procedure Medication

One final note, if it is recommended that your fur baby take an oral medication before their dental procedure to help with their anxiety, trust me, it is worth it. From personal experience, it helped me get through my procedure with a positive experience and outcome. I had my anxiety, even with a full understanding of what was going to be happening to me. Now change that role to our fur children, who do not understand.

We can explain everything step by step to you, as the pet parent, but that understanding does not always translate to the real patient. If we feel they would do best with medication on board before their visit, please understand that it helps make the entire day go smoother for everyone involved, but mostly your fur baby. When we can help take that edge off first thing in the morning, the fear of what may be happening lessons for them, which then helps them accept and tolerate their anesthesia better, which means we can use less, which leads to better vital signs under anesthesia, which finally leads to smoother recovery and an easier time in the evening when you are home with your baby.

There are many steps involved at Arya Animal Acupuncture to ensure that your pet has the best experience and top-notch care when it comes to veterinary dentistry. Many small details go into each step, and one article is truly not enough. This article shared my own experience, which in return, I want nothing but the best for our patients at Arya Animal Acupuncture. Here we strive for perfection with each dental procedure and to provide individualized care, while also keeping standards that we would want for not only our fur babies but also ourselves.

Read about how to take care of your dog’s teeth daily (Bonus! Demonstration video on how to brush your dog’s teeth):