Dental Care
Our dental services include teeth cleaning and polishing, dental x-rays, tooth extractions and oral surgery.

One of the most debilitating diseases that your pet can develop during its lifetime is dental disease. Unfortunately, dental disease is also one of the most common problems we see in our patients at the Animal Medical Center.  However, there is good news!  Through appropriate preventive measures and prompt treatment of problems as they arise, we can deal with these dental problems before they become a serious threat to your pet's health.

Routine dental care is not only important for your pet’s oral health, but also for his or her overall health. If dental disease is left untreated, it can progress to periodontal disease that can lead to oral abscesses, diseased teeth and eventually can cause damage to internal organs such as the heart and kidneys.

At the Animal Medical Center, we are proud of the level of dental care that we can provide for our patients. Dr. Leffler and his staff take a special interest in providing the best possible veterinary dental care.  We are constantly updating our knowledge in the field of veterinary dentistry to provide you with the latest and best recommendations for optimal oral health.

Laser Surgery
The health of your pet is as important to us as it is to you. We are pleased to offer an exciting new option to traditional surgery. Laser surgery is a safe, comfortable procedure. In many procedures the scalpel can be replaced with the laser to provide a much better alternative.

Why laser surgery?

• There is less pain - Less anesthesia can be used causing less complication because the laser seals nerve endings as it "cuts". Pain after surgery is reduced.
• There is less bleeding - The laser seals the small blood cells during surgery.
• There is less swelling - Tearing, crushing and bruising are obsolete with the laser, because laser energy doesn't physically come in contact with the tissue.
• Prevents infection.

• Laser reduces the risk of infection - As the laser removes diseased tissue it also kills bacteria that causes infection.
• The laser is precise - The laser can remove unhealthy tissue without affecting the healthy tissue surrounding it.
• Quick recovery - The healing process is rapid and there is less post-operative discomfort.
• Laser procedures heal differently than traditional surgery resulting in less trauma to your pet. This may shorten the time spent in the veterinary hospital.

Laser Therapy
Laser therapy is a new therapy for treating pain, inflammation, and edema and for repairing superficial lesions.  It was developed to overcome the limits of traditional Laser therapy. Some advantages of laser therapy over other forms of therapy are fewer side effects/risks, quick and convenient, and does not require the use of drugs or surgery. Other benefits are that there isn't a need for your pet to be sedated, or restrained. Laser therapy is extremely safe and can be combined with other medications.

1) Anti-Inflammation: Laser therapy has an anti-edema effect as it causes vasodilation, but also because it activates the lymphatic drainage system (drains swollen areas). As a result, there is a reduction in swelling caused by bruising or inflammation.

2) Anti-Pain (Analgesic): Laser therapy has a high beneficial effect on nerve cells which blocks pain transmitted by these cells to the brain and which decreases nerve sensitivity. Also, due to less inflammation, there is less edema and less pain. Another pain blocking mechanism involves the production of high levels of pain killing chemicals such as endorphins and encephalin from the brain and adrenal gland.

3) Accelerated Tissue Repair and Cell Growth: Photons of light from lasers penetrate deeply into tissue and accelerate cellular reproduction and growth. The laser light increases the energy available to the cell so that the cell can take on nutrients faster and get rid of waste products. As a result of exposure to laser light, the cells of tendons, ligaments and muscles are repaired faster.

4) Improved Vascular Activity: Laser light will significantly increase the formation of new capillaries in damaged tissue that speeds up the healing process, closes wounds quickly, and reduces scar tissue. Additional benefits include acceleration of angiogenesis, which causes temporary vasodilation, an increase in the diameter of blood vessels.

5) Increases Metabolic Activity: Laser therapy creates higher outputs of specific enzymes, greater oxygen and food particle loads for blood cells.

6) Trigger poins and Acupuncture Points: Laser therapy stimulates muscle trigger points and acupuncture points in a non-invasive basis providing musculoskeletal pain relief.

7) Reduced Fibrous Tissue Formation: Laser therapy reduces the formation of scar tissue following tissue damage from cuts, scratches, burns or surgery.

8) Improved Nerve Function: Slow recovery of nerve functions in damaged tissue can result in numbness and impaired limbs. Laser light will speed up the process of nerve cell reconnection and increase the amplitude of action potentials to optimize muscle action.

9) Immunoglobulins: Laser light has a direct effect on immunity status by stimulation of immunoglobulins and lymphocytes. Laser therapy is absorbed by chromophores (molecule enzymes) that react to laser light. The enzyme flavomono-nucleotide is activated and starts the production of ATP (adenosine-triphosphate), which is the major carrier of cell energy and the energy source for all chemical reactions in the cells.

10) Faster Wound Healing: Laser light stimulates fibroblast development (fibroblasts are the building blocks of collagen, which is predominant in wound healing) in damaged tissue. Collagen is the essential protein required to replace old tissue or to repair tissue injuries. As a result, laser therapy is effective on open wounds and burns.

Internal Organs
Ultrasound is an excellent, non-invasive tool that is very useful to study the heart and major blood vessels leaving it, as well as the liver, spleen, kidneys, pancreas, adrenal glands, urinary bladder, prostate gland, and other internal organs. It is a an option in cases where the next step would often be an exploratory surgery.

Cancers
Cancers, abscesses and other abnormal tissues are also often easily seen with ultrasound. The exact nature of the problem, sometimes cannot be determined without an actual biopsy but in these cases, ultrasound can help guide the veterinarian to the exact location of the problem. Ultrasound may also be used to help guide a biopsy instrument to allow a portion of the tissue to be removed for diagnosis of disease without having to do an actual surgery. Many ultrasound-guided biopsies can be done with just a local anesthetic.

Pregnancy
Pregnancy diagnosis is an important use of ultrasound. Early and accurate diagnosis can help guide breeding programs. The earliest that a pregnancy has been seen in dogs using an ultrasound is 12 days gestation, but the recommended time should be 25 to 30 days post breeding. One important point is that the ultrasound cannot be used to accurately count the number of pups a bitch is carrying. In some cases an exact count can be done, but often we are limited to saying whether she will have a large litter or there are only two or three pups.