Four and a half year old Barry, the Saint Bernard, visited us this month to have a dental prophylaxis (scale and polish). Weighing on the scale at 87kgs, Barry is our biggest patient on record. We made a special bed for Barry as he was too tall to fit in our hospital cages.

The preparation for the procedure was quite involved due to his ‘extra large' size. Extra team members were needed to assist the surgeon and nursing team. Apart from being covered in excess slobber, the team managed very well with the bigger than average patient. Barry, the oversized teddy bear, was given ‘extra' special care as he was so cuddly and happy to be the centre of attention.

Barry had a routine dental prophylaxis performed which included grading/charting of all of his teeth. We finished off with a full scale and polish. There were no extractions needed.

At home you can ensure your pet's teeth are looked after with proper dental homecare and this generally consists of regular feeding of raw bones, chews and veterinary tooth diets. Find out more about dental homecare here.