Dental surgery under general anaesthesia is the standard of care for treating dental disease in companion animals, with modern anaesthesia making it safe for most patients.
Dental surgery under general anaesthesia is the only way to properly assess, scale, and treat dental disease in companion animals. Conscious dental work is inadequate because animals cannot be properly examined or treated, and the procedure is distressing. Modern veterinary anaesthesia with appropriate monitoring is very safe for healthy patients; for older or compromised patients, pre-anaesthetic blood work and tailored protocols reduce risk further. The risk of untreated dental disease — chronic infection, pain, and systemic effects — greatly outweighs anaesthetic risk in most cases.