09/02/2026
🦷 Thinking About Cleaning Your Pet’s Teeth at Home? Read This First! 🐶🐱
We’ve seen quite a few online ads and commercials lately for at-home “dental cleaning” tools that claim to let you remove tartar and clean your pet’s teeth yourself.
While they may look convenient, there are a few things pet owners should know before trying them.
1️⃣ Your pet probably isn’t going to sit perfectly still.
Dental instruments are sharp! One sudden head movement can result in a painful poke or injury to the gums—not exactly a great way to make your pet excited about having their mouth handled in the future.
2️⃣ Removing the tartar you can see is only part of a dental cleaning.
These tools may break off visible chunks of tartar and calculus, but some of the most important dental disease can hide below the gum line, where you can’t see or safely reach it at home.
3️⃣ A proper dental procedure allows us to examine every tooth carefully.
With your pet safely anesthetized, your veterinarian can thoroughly examine the mouth and look for problems such as fractured or cracked teeth, exposed nerves, periodontal disease, loose teeth, and infection that might otherwise be missed.
4️⃣ Polishing is an extremely important part of a professional cleaning.
Dental instruments can leave microscopic scratches on the tooth surface after tartar is removed. Those tiny irregularities give plaque and tartar an easier surface to stick to and can actually lead to faster buildup afterward.
That’s why we polish the teeth after scaling. Think of it a little like preparing and finishing a surface—the final smoothing step matters!
5️⃣ We understand that professional dental cleanings are an expense.
Dental pricing varies considerably from one veterinary hospital to another depending on what is included in the procedure, the equipment and monitoring used, and the individual needs of the patient.
Even if you don’t come to Westside Animal Hospital for your pet’s dental care, please talk with your veterinarian about your pet’s teeth and the benefits of a proper dental cleaning.
And when you see those “As Seen on TV” dental gadgets promising an easy at-home cleaning, remember: knocking off the tartar you can see isn’t the same thing as treating possible dental issues you can’t see. 🦷
Your pet’s smile—and the health underneath it—deserves more than a quick scrape!
Lillie cleaning a patient's teeth the right way ⬇️⬇️⬇️
