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Dental cleanings:
Routine teeth cleaning is as important for our pets as it is for ourselves. While under a brief anesthesia your pet's teeth will be cleaned with an ultrasonic scaler, polished, and treated with fluoride. A full oral exam is performed to evaluate the mouth teeth and gums for any sign of disease. X-rays are taken as needed. When finished, your pet will wake from anesthesia and go home the same day with a dental report card complete with before and after pictures, x-rays, and details of the care needed during that visit.

Dental X-rays:
X-rays are vital in allowing us to diagnose and treat teeth problems below the gumline. We use state-of-the-art digital x-ray equipment to ensure that we obtain the best information about your pet's teeth as quickly and accurately as possible, thereby allowing us to wake your pet from anesthesia in a very short time.

Root canal therapy:
Broken, infected, dead or dying, and abscessed teeth that would have had to be extracted in the past can be saved with root canal therapy at Broad Ripple Animal Clinic. While any tooth can have a root canal performed and be saved, a few key teeth in the pet's mouth are ideal candidates. The four large canine teeth are especially important for your pet, as they are used like fingers to pick up food, toys, and treats. The large premolars in the back of a dog's mouth are the most important teeth used in chewing. If one or more of these teeth are damaged or missing excessive stress is placed on the remaing premolars, resulting in eventual damage and lost. We are happy to offer this service to preserve these essential teeth.

Root canals are much less traumatic than extracting the teeth, with a healing time of less than a week versus several months for an extracted tooth.

Vital pulp therapy:
Vital pulp therapy is used to save a recently broken tooth. The procedure consists of smoothing the fractured crown of the tooth, removing a small amount of damaged pulp (nerve of the tooth) and sealing the break. Like a root canal, vital pulp therapy is instrumental in allowing your pet to avoid the pain and discomfort of extracting an otherwise healthy tooth.

Crown restoration:
Fractured or damaged teeth that have no pulp exposure are candidates for restoration. Special polymers are used to smooth and seal the defect of a tooth to help restore normal function, relieve discomfort, and provide a natural look.

Enamel sealing:
Enamel defects can lead to pain, sensitivity, staining, and very rapid accumulation of plaque and tartar. Thorough cleaning and smoothing of the defect followed by application of a polymer sealant will approximate the natural enamel surface and provide for healthy teeth for years to come.

Oral surgery:
We provide a wide array of oral surgeries including surgical tooth extraction to minimize trauma, mass removals, jaw fracture repairs, and much more.

Orthodontics:
While it is possible to use orthodontics to give pets a beautiful smile the chief use is to alleviate discomfort or provide natural function of the teeth. Teeth that come into the mouth in the wrong position can impinge on the palate and gums or strike other teeth causing wear and pain. Dog teeth move much more quickly than our children's teeth, so consequently most procedures can be just a few weeks from start to finish.