What is COHAT? COHAT stands for Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment & Treatment consisting of visual, radiographic and probe examination of the teeth and oral cavity.

Who Needs a COHAT?  Every dog and cat annually. 80% of pets over the age of 3 have periodontal disease

Why is anaesthesia necessary? An awake oral examination is a good initial assessment, but this can only reveal so much. It is impossible to fully evaluate the oral cavity, back of the throat, and teeth during an awake exam. Radiographs can only be taken when pet is fully anaesthetised.

Anaesthesia for your Pet: Although anaesthesia is very safe there are always risks associated with it. Our goal at Faxbridge Veterinary Hospital is to mitigate these risks through our safe anaesthetic protocols and procedures. Every patient gets a complete physical examination prior to their procedure. All pets over the age of 7 have a pre-anaesthetic blood panel done to identify any underlying issues that may lead to adverse events during or after their procedure. It provides us with vital information on liver and kidney function and can give an indication of a problem and if so, how severe and the type of treatment necessary. Pre-medication is given to decrease anxiety; an intravenous catheter is placed to allow fast direct access for drug administration. All patients receive IV fluids during their procedure, this helps maintain their blood pressure and perfuse their organs adequately during their anaesthetic.  Our anaesthetic protocols are the safest available for our patients.
A dedicated RVN (Registered Veterinary Nurse) monitors the patient every 5 minutes throughout the procedure.

Complete Oral Examination and Cleaning: Your pets’ entire mouth and back of their throat is examined. The entire surface of each tooth and around each tooth is examined and probed. A dental chart is created detailing the findings of your pet’s oral exam. Each tooth is cleaned above and below gum-line. Teeth are then polished to smooth each tooth surface and delay further tartar accumulation. More disease in cats is found when doing dental X-rays compared to visual inspection and findings from periodontal probes. Much of the tooth structure lies below the gum line. Radiographs are essential for diagnosing and treating disease. Full mouth dental x-rays are standard of care at Faxbridge Small Animal Hospital and we recommend them for every dental treatment.

Further treatment: After all x-rays and cleaning are completed the veterinarian determines if any further treatment is needed. Any mobile and very painful teeth will be extracted on the day however, most major extraction's and procedures may be performed in approximately 3-6 weeks’ time. As oral surgery takes a long amount of time, several anaesthetic procedures spaced out over a period are much safer for your pet than one long procedure.

Extractions: In a lot of cases extractions are required particularly if patients are older. Most extractions are performed using advanced surgical techniques and these involve gingival flaps, removal of overlying bone and sectioning of multi-rooted teeth. All surgical extraction sites are closed with dissolvable sutures.

Recovery: Your pet will discharge later today (with a few exceptions). You will receive a call as soon as your pet has recovered from aesthesia to let you know all is well and to set up a time for discharge and collection.  Your pet will have multiple local anaesthetic blocks which are effective for up to 18 hours after the procedure. This will help with pain relief for the first day post operatively. Further pain management is with oral medication for up to 1-week post- op. All patients that have stitches are required to wear a buster collar for 7 days.

Oral Health is linked to Systemic Heath and our goal with our COHAT Protocol is to provide a mouth free pain an infection for your pet. Infection and inflammation in the mouth can lead to infection and inflammation elsewhere in the body.

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