8:00am – Brutus arrives fasted at the clinic, and is quite upset about missing his breakfast. His mom fills out his anesthetic consent sheet, while he gets comfortable in the treatment area.
8:30am – Brutus has pre-operative bloodwork done to make sure his internal organs are in tip-top shape for anesthetic. He also gets a physical exam from his doctor to get the go-ahead.
8:45am – Blood work looks great! It’s time for Brutus to have some injectable sedation. This will allow him to relax and allow the RVT’s to place an IV catheter in his leg for venous access and to receive IV fluids so that he will stay hydrated during the procedure.
9:15am – Brutus now receives his injectable anesthetic dose. At this point he is intubated and hooked up to anesthetic gas and oxygen to keep him comfortable and asleep. He is also hooked up to a surgical monitoring device that keeps track of his: Heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, etc. This helps his RVT’s keep him at a good plane of anesthesia.
9:30am – Brutus has his full mouth x-rayed. This allows his doctor see what is happening below his gums. This gives his doctor a look at how healthy the roots of his teeth are and if any teeth need to be removed.
10:00am – Now it’s on to scaling and polishing! Just as your dental hygienist does for you, Brutus’s RVT cleans and polishes his teeth until they shine! This is also when his teeth are checked for any abnormalities or gingival pockets that would indicate a problem.
10:45am – Uh oh! Brutus has a slab fracture on one of his upper carnassial teeth. That is the large tooth near the back of his mouth that resembles an iceberg. His doctor gives him local freezing (just like when you have a cavity filled), then goes ahead with extracting this tooth. This tooth in particular can be very fussy to get out as it has three roots holding it in. With some strength and patience, his doctor is able to remove it and sew up the flap nicely. No more oral pain for this guy!
11:45am – Wakey wakey Brutus! Brutus receives an anti-inflammatory pain medication while he wakes up and gets snuggled up in cozy blankets while his RVTs monitor his recovery.
1:00p – Brutus has his vitals monitored throughout the afternoon to make sure he is comfortable.
5:30p – Brutus’s family is here for him! He goes home with a pain medication and a strict no chewing hard food, toys or bones for the next two weeks! He will have a follow-up appointment in two weeks so they doctors can have a look at how his mouth has healed. At this point he will be allowed to start with his brushing again to improve his dental health!
BEFORE
AFTER
