The Truth About Pet Dental Cleanings

If you've ever scrolled through pet care content online, you've probably come across something called a "non-anesthetic dental cleaning" — sometimes called an NAD or anesthesia-free dental.  It sounds appealing on the surface: no sedation, lower cost, less worry. We completely understand why pet owners are curious about it.

But as your veterinary care team, we want to give you the full picture — because when it comes to your pet's dental health, what you can't see matters just as much as what you can.

What Happens During a Professional Dental Cleaning Under Anesthesia?
When your pet comes in for an anesthetic dental cleaning, we're doing far more than polishing teeth. Here's what the process actually involves:

Before we even begin, your pet receives a thorough pre-anesthetic exam and bloodwork to make sure they're a safe candidate for anesthesia. We take their health seriously at every step.

Once your pet is safely anesthetized, we can:

• Perform a full oral exam — including probing each tooth and the gum tissue around it
• Take dental X-rays to evaluate what's happening below the gumline, where the majority of dental disease actually lives
• Scale both above and below the gumline to remove tartar, plaque, and bacteria from the areas that matter most
• Polish the tooth surfaces to slow future buildup
• Identify and address painful problems like tooth resorption, fractures, or periodontal disease — and treat them right then and there
• Keep your pet still, calm, and comfortable throughout

Your pet is monitored continuously by a trained professional during the entire procedure. Their safety and comfort are our top priority.

What Is a Non-Anesthetic Dental (NAD)?
Non-anesthetic dentals are performed while a pet is awake, typically by restraining them on a table. A technician or groomer scrapes visible tartar from the surface of the teeth — the part you can see when your pet opens their mouth.

Here's what they cannot do:

• Probe the gum line to check for periodontal pockets (which is where disease hides)
• Take dental X-rays — this is impossible in an awake patient
• Clean below the gumline — the most critical area, and the most dangerous if left untreated
• Diagnose or treat painful dental conditions
• Keep your pet still enough to do any of the above safely

The result? Teeth that look cleaner on the outside — but underlying disease that goes undetected and untreated.

Why This Matters More Than It Might Seem
Here's something that surprises many pet owners: studies suggest that up to 80% of dogs and 70% of cats show signs of dental disease by age 3. Most of that disease is happening beneath the gumline, where no amount of surface scraping can reach.

Untreated dental disease doesn't just cause bad breath and tooth loss. It's been linked to systemic health issues affecting the heart, kidneys, and liver — because the bacteria in an infected mouth can enter the bloodstream.

A non-anesthetic cleaning can give the appearance of a healthy mouth without addressing what's actually going on underneath. In some ways, that's more concerning than no cleaning at all — because it creates a false sense of security.

"But I'm Worried About Anesthesia…"
This is one of the most common concerns we hear, and it's a completely valid one. We want you to feel informed, not pressured.

The truth is that modern veterinary anesthesia is very safe — especially when we take the time to do pre-anesthetic screening, tailor the protocol to your individual pet, and monitor them carefully throughout the procedure. We wouldn't offer it if we didn't believe in it wholeheartedly.

The risk of not addressing dental disease — of letting infection, pain, and inflammation go untreated — is often far greater than the risk of a well-managed anesthetic procedure.

We're always happy to talk through your specific concerns about your pet before scheduling. That conversation matters to us.

Our Commitment to Your Pet
At Lake Forest Park Animal Hospital, we only offer anesthetic dental cleanings — because it's the standard of care recommended by the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). We believe your pet deserves a cleaning that actually improves their health, not just their appearance.

Dental health is whole-body health. And your pet deserves the real thing.