You wouldn’t argue with the suggestion that routine dental care is an important part of maintaining your health. What would you say if someone told you that this same concept applies to your pets?

Over time, your dog or cat’s teeth are subject to all the same sorts of issues that a human might experience. It’s just as important to include regular checkups, cleaning and other care that might be needed if you want them to have the best possible quality of life.

Affordable Animal Hospital in Echo Park can be your partner in this effort, providing services that can help you make sure your pet has a happy mouth, from dental cleaning to extraction.

If your pet is three years old, or older, the chances are that it already has some gum issues. It’s been estimated that 85 percent of pets of that age have periodontal disease.

It’s not hard to understand how this can happen. Pets don’t have a way to let you know that they have a sore or loose tooth, and on top of that they have an ability to tolerate pain that is greater than most humans possess.

Without the help of a trained veterinarian, you’re not likely to observe that there’s a dental problem that needs to be addressed.

Regular checkups and cleanings are the first step toward long-term dental health for your pet. Ideally, these will make it possible to detect problems in their early stages and spare your pet the pain that real dental problems can bring.

At the same time, there’s a good chance that you can spare yourself the need to pay for urgent, expensive treatment that might be required if a serious dental issue has developed.