What the Four-Point Dental Grade Means
The oral exam is where dental disease gets caught early enough to manage rather than late enough to require extractions. Pet oral exams near Glenaire are available at our Cary care center minutes away, and this is what the grading actually measures and why it's tracked the same way every visit.
What the Four-Point Dental Grade Means
Grade 1 is normal. Some tartar, gums that look good, no odour worth noting. Grade 2 is early disease: tartar building up, some gum inflammation, reversible with a cleaning. Grade 3 is moderate: pockets beginning to form, bone loss starting, a cleaning will help but the disease has progressed. Grade 4 is severe: significant bone loss, teeth that are loose or painful, a cleaning that will likely include extractions.
Most pets arrive at a cleaning when they're a Grade 3 or 4 because the earlier grades produce no symptoms a pet parent would notice. A dog with Grade 2 disease eats normally, plays normally, and gives no sign that anything is wrong. This is why the oral exam runs at every wellness visit and is graded and recorded rather than noted informally.
The exam also covers the soft tissues: lips, tongue, cheeks, and throat. Oral masses in pets are not rare, and they're more manageable when caught small. Glenaire cats whose owners never see inside their mouths are the usual population who come in with a mass already significant.
Where to Get a Pet Oral Exam Near Glenaire
The grade is recorded each visit so the trend is visible year over year, not just the snapshot. For Glenaire pet owners, the care center in Waverly Place is a short drive down Kildaire Farm Road.
Book at Petfolk Veterinary & Urgent Care - Cary, 316 Colonades Way #214C, Cary, NC 27518. Free parking on site. Call (984) 203-9092 or book online.
Pet Oral Exam