Copper's Day at the Dentist

It was an early Monday morning and I was a little annoyed I had not eaten breakfast.  My mom told me she was sorry but we had to go to the dentist and this meant I could not eat in the morning.  When we arrived, we were greeted by the friendly receptionist who I couldn't wait to sniff. 

After we checked in I was then weighed on the scale.  Sorry but I am unwilling to admit my weight, I am a beagle you know.  Then I had to say goodbye to my mom and they led me back to my room.  My room had cozy blankets and I was in a place where I could see everyone and everyone could see me. 

I could see the x-ray machine and the dental cleaning machine.

The dentist came to visit me and sang to me, "When you're smiling"  He gave me a check up and listened to my heart.  He even looked in my eyes with a bright light and looked in my ears.  I can't believe he did this again, even though he had just done this last week.  

The dentist told the ladies it was okay to give something to make me relax.  I felt a little tired but was still awake enough to watch other dogs and kitties, my favorite of course, coming back for their treatments.  When it was time to get my teeth cleaned, they put me on a table.  They gave my front leg a little haircut.  Then while one person was hugging me, another person put an IV catheter into my leg.  The IV catheter hurt a little and I was scared and moved around a bit but it was over quickly.  Then they gently wrapped the IV catheter up and put me back in my room. 

Then I was getting really sleepy.  They took me out of my room and placed me back on the table.  This time the table was really warm and had lots of blankets. While one person hugged me again, another person placed a syringe into my catheter and injected some white fluid.  I slowly drifted off and began dreaming of the bunnies I had been chasing yesterday.

After Copper was anesthetized, her mouth was kept open while an appropriately sized intubation tube was inserted into her trachea (windpipe).  This tube was connected to the oxygen and anesthetic gas to keep Copper anesthetized.  Copper was kept on a warming blanket.  Several monitors were connected to Copper.  These included monitors to measure heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and body temperature.  A Bair hugger, which is like a pillow case with warm air flowing through it, was placed over Copper. 

A fluid line was then attached to Copper's IV catheter.  This fluid line ran through a fluid pump which regulated Copper's calculated fluid rate, then through a fluid warmer and then to Copper.  The technicians then administered Copper's antibiotics and pain medications.  
 

After the technicians finished Copper's setup and made sure she was stable, Dr. Davis began taking the "before" digital pictures.  Then the dental technician began her process of charting the teeth, cleaning the teeth, and finally, polishing the teeth.  During all of these procedures, another technician was writing down the values on the monitors every 5 minutes and continuously checking Copper's condition.  After relaying her findings to Dr. Davis, he x-rayed all of Copper's teeth. 

Copper was really lucky that all of her teeth were in good condition and no abscesses or fractures were found.  Only a mild amount of gingivitis was identified.  If abscesses, fractures, or cavities (caries in dogs) had been found, Dr. Davis would have notified the owner via telephone communication immediately to discuss a corrective plan.  Sometimes, dogs need teeth extracted, fillings, root canals, or restorations of fractured teeth.

Dr. Davis then completed the procedure by taking the "after" digital photographs.  The technicians began the procedure of waking Copper up.

All of a sudden I heard a woman asking if I wanted to chase a bunny rabbit.  I was a little confused because I thought that I had been chasing bunnies for the last 90 minutes!  Then I felt someone rubbing my head and I realized that the thing sticking out of my mouth was a tube and not a bunny.  I started to move around a bit because I didn't like the tube, but the woman quickly took the tube out of my mouth and I felt better. 

Then they moved me back to my room where I had lots of warm blankets and warm water bottles.  For the rest of the day, people kept coming back and asking if I was okay.  I got to watch lots of other dogs and yes, kitties, come and go all day.  I even got to see a bunny.  It was a nice little gray and white one.  I couldn't get anyone to understand me as I kept telling them I wanted out to meet him.  I did get to go outside to the potty and there were lots of great smells. 

A little later on my mom came to get me.  I heard her up front talking to the dentist.  He told her he inspected my teeth, even though I knew I had really been chasing bunnies all day.  One of the ladies took me out to see my mom and I was really excited but I was still a little sleepy from all of my bunny chasing.  I kept trying to tell her about my day.  She thanked everyone for taking good care of me and said goodbye.  Out the door we went until our recheck appointment.