West Slope Veterinary Dentistry & Oral Surgery

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Grand Junction, CO
West Slope Veterinary Dentistry & Oral Surgery

We are a mobile veterinary dentistry practice with care provided by a board-certified veterinary dentist.

Based out of Grand Junction, CO, WSVDOS serves all of Colorado’s western slope and beyond! In collaboration with veterinary hospitals across the Western Slope of Colorado & Beyond, West Slope Veterinary Dentistry & Oral Surgery is a mobile practice providing vet dentistry by a Board-Certified Veterinary Dentist™. We are based in Grand Junction, & service surrounding communities - see website for

full list of communities served. Our goal is to enhance the oral health care of your patients and pets - we primarily serve the small animal population (dogs & cats). Visit our website or email us at [email protected] with questions and referrals. Common referrals include, but are certainly not limited to:
Dental Consultations
Extractions
Oral Surgery
Root Canals and Metal Crowns
Jaw Fractures
Oral Tumors
Treatment of Periodontal Disease

12/19/2024

Can you tell which teeth are baby teeth and which are adult teeth?

This happy pup has a mixed dentition, meaning it has both puppy (deciduous) teeth and adult (permanent) teeth. This occurs in the phase of life when the puppy teeth are falling out and the adult teeth are erupting into place, so both puppy teeth and adult teeth are present in the oral cavity. The adult teeth begin to erupt in the mouth around 2 months of age and eruption of the adult teeth continues through 6-8 months of age. It is important to have your veterinarian or veterinary dentist exam your pet when the adult dentition is erupting to make sure the adult teeth are erupting into a normal position and the corresponding baby teeth are falling out. As a general rule, a baby tooth should fall out right before or at the start of eruption of the adult tooth. The red arrows in the last picture are pointing at the baby teeth remaining in the upper jaw. The yellow arrow is pointing at the erupting adult canine teeth.

12/12/2024

Putting off an anesthetized oral exam or dental procedure because you’re nervous about anesthesia and your pet? While concerns related to anesthesia are common among pet owners it’s important to know anesthesia can be safely performed in healthy pets, pets with illness, and pets of any age. It’s also important to know anesthesia free dental exams and cleanings are NEVER a good supplement, and result in missed and untreated dental issues that can cause pain and discomfort for your pet. Please reach out to us with your questions, or for guidance.

$Root canal therapy has a high success rate, and is a superior option for treating fractured teeth - especially strategic...$

12/06/2024

Root canal therapy has a high success rate, and is a superior option for treating fractured teeth - especially strategically important teeth like the canine teeth. This handsome boy was referred to Dr. Ringen for a root canal of his broken lower left canine tooth which his pup parents did not want to be pulled. As you can see from the “after” picture, Archer has plenty of tooth structure left for grabbing toys and playing tug-o-war! Please reach out to us if you have any questions regarding root canal treatment for your pet or patient!

11/26/2024

We got a new puppy! …I mean baby!! 😅🥰 And he’s been keeping us pretty darn busy over the past month! Despite the arrival of our newest junior partner, is still available for consultations and all of the veterinary dentistry needs.

10/23/2024

This case highlights the importance of regular anesthetized oral health exams. Skye, a 4 year old Golden Retriever who previously only ever had awake oral exams, was referred to Dr. Ringen for an anesthetized oral health exam and treatment of a fractured tooth. At time of exam, an oral growth was identified next to one of her mandibular molars, and subsequently biopsied for analysis. The anesthetized oral health exam was vital for finding the growth as detecting disease/abnormalities this far back in the mouth is nearly impossible on awake oral health exams.

10/18/2024

We feel incredibly fortunate to work with so many great vet clinics on the western slope, and of course, the great vet techs that make it all happen day in and day out! We are so grateful for all the hard work, dedication and love that you all put into our shared cases - our appreciation is endless! From Sadie and Dr. Ringen at , happy vet tech week!

10/11/2024

Meet Shorty! This cute Frenchie puppy had a cone beam CT scan and subsequent evaluation by Dr. Ringen for his cleft palate. His cleft palate is shown in the picture and in the 3-D reconstruction of his skull. Yep, although not terribly common, dogs and cat do get cleft palates which can be surgically repaired. Shorty’s surgery has been scheduled and we’ll keep you posted on the results! As always if you have any questions about the health of your pet’s teeth and oral cavity, please feel free to reach out to us!

10/03/2024

Persistent deciduous (baby) teeth are deciduous teeth that don’t fall out when the corresponding adult tooth erupts through the gum line. These persistent deciduous teeth negatively impact the eruption and position of the erupting adult tooth resulting in a malocclusion. As pictured here, the baby canine tooth that is still present pushes the erupting adult canine forward, causing a malocclusion. The persistent deciduous canine also disrupts how the gingiva fully attaches around the adult tooth and therefore predisposes the adult tooth to periodontal disease. At we always recommend extracting these persistent deciduous teeth. If you have any questions about your pet’s occlusion, or are concerned about the presence of persistent deciduous teeth or of a malocclusion, please feel free the reach out to us to discuss your pet’s oral health.

09/25/2024

Shelly was referred to for removal of an oral tumor that was discovered and diagnosed by her regular veterinarian. Surgery is almost always the first and best treatment option for an oral tumor. Dr. Ringen was able to completely excise the tumor which included some of her mandible and the teeth around the tumor. The surgery was a success and considered a curative treatment. If an oral growth is identified in your pet’s mouth please reach out to us with any questions regarding the growth, treatment options and prognosis after treatment.

09/18/2024

How could you not love this face?! We fell in love with Rose when she came to see Dr. Ringen for extraction of the few remaining teeth in her mouth. Rose was first seen by her regular veterinarian who extracted most of her teeth due to advanced periodontal disease. Unfortunately while extracting one of her mandibular canine teeth the mandible broke. This can happen for a couple different reasons, but her advanced periodontal disease was definitely a big risk factor for the fracture. Once the fracture was stable Rose came to see Dr. Ringen for an oral evaluation and extraction of her remaining teeth, including the other mandibular canine tooth. The dental radiograph reveals diseased and decreased bone around the last mandibular canine tooth and the arrows point to the old fracture. At we are here to help! Difficult or high risk extractions are a great reason to refer to Dr. Ringen, bringing us in to be a part of your patient or pet’s oral health care. Please reach out or call us with any and all questions!

09/11/2024

09/04/2024

This purrrrty, 3 year-old kitty, Molly, came to see Dr. Ringen for her first anesthetized full mouth exam. We know that a large percentage of young cats and dogs can suffer from dental issues that cause oral pain. Molly was no exception - Dr. Ringen found and treated a tooth with early tooth resorption, a disease that eats away the tooth causing significant pain. Early and annual COHAT’s are so important since our beloved fury critters don’t let us know they are dealing with oral pain. It was so great to be a part of Molly’s oral health care. See you next year Molly!

08/29/2024

Here are some great examples of what hard chew toys can do to teeth. When dogs bite down on hard toys like bones, antlers, rocks and hard plastic toys they risk breaking their teeth, which is painful, and can lead to infection and ongoing pain until treated. The tooth fractures seen here occurred from chewing on bones. The fractures exposed the pulp of the tooth and once that happens the options for treatment are root canal to preserve the remaining tooth structure, or extraction of the tooth. Give us a call if you have questions regarding your pet’s chew toys or have discovered that your pet has a broken tooth.

08/21/2024

Canine teeth are of the most common teeth in a dog’s mouth to get traumatized resulting in infection, death of the tooth, and ongoing pain. These teeth are often salvageable, meaning there’s another option for treatment other than being pulled. Root canal therapy is a great treatment option in order to preserve the remaining tooth structure for continued, lifelong use. Jack came to for treatment of his fractured left maxillary canine tooth. Upon further inspection we found that he had also fractured his left maxillary third incisor. Dr. Ringen performed root canal therapy on both teeth and Jack is off and running again with his newly saved incisor and canine tooth! Thank you to for hosting this great case!

08/15/2024

Not all oral growths are cancerous. Determining which oral growths are tumors and which ones are not tumors cannot be definitively made based on looks alone. Biopsy of the oral growth and evaluation by a veterinary pathologist is needed for a diagnosis - and then the surgical treatment can be planned. Dexter, was brought all the way from Dolores, CO by his loving parents for evaluation and biopsy of the boney oral growth of his right upper jaw. Good news for Dexter, the growth was diagnosed as non-cancerous and resulted from significant periodontal disease. One month later, Dr. Ringen removed the growth and teeth affected by periodontal disease, and Dexter is on his way to feeling much better! Thank you to our partnering clinic, for hosting and working with us on such a great case!

08/08/2024

Which side has the bad tooth? Here’s a hint - look at the plaque accumulation. The right side has more accumulation than the left, and this asymmetry is because this little guy was only chewing on his left side since one or more of his teeth on the right side hurt when eating. As a result, more plaque and calculus build up on the side not being used. Sure enough the anesthetized oral exam revealed a deep, infected pocket between the right upper 4th premolar and 1st molar. These teeth were extracted and this pup is on his way to feeling much better!

07/31/2024

Benefits of root canal treatment include the preservation of useful tooth structure, and the immediate return to a normal life after treatment. When teeth are extracted they are completely removed and the extraction sites can take 2 weeks, or in some cases even longer to heal. When possible, root canal treatment is a superior treatment option. Brody was recently referred to Dr. Ringen for root canal treatment of his fractured canine tooth. Brody is a young, active lab with tons of life, chewing, and play time ahead of him - And he still has all 4 canine teeth to use! Thank you for referring Brody and Ridgway Animal Hospital for hosting his treatment!

07/24/2024

Accidents happen! And when they do, we’re here to help 👍🏼 Our dear friend Lundy was playing with her toddler sister and broke her incisor tooth trying to catch a rock. Ouch! Her complete oral health exam revealed no other issues and her fractured tooth was extracted.

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Grand Junction, CO

Website

http://wsvdos.com/

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Videos

Well this was a fun time! It was great to be a part of Medical Monday on KKCO/KJCT (nbc, abc) this week thanks to the invite from our friends and colleagues at Jean A. Fromm, DVM PC - what a great opportunity to help educate our community about oral pain and dental disease in our pets! #westslopeveterinarydentistryandoralsurgery #wsvdos #vetdentistry #boardcertifiedveterinarydentist #mobilemedicine #mobilevetmedicine #westslopebestslope #BestPractices #collaboration #grandjunction #fruita #montrose #cedaredge #ridgway #telluride #Durango

The initial step of a root canal can be seen here where Dr. Ringen is using his high speed drill to access the pulp chamber of the tooth. The pulp is then removed and root canal system is disinfected then sealed. Root canal treatment is a great option for any discolored/non vital teeth or teeth with fractures where the pulp is exposed. #westslopeveterinarydentistryandoralsurgery #wsvdos #vetdentistry #mobilemedicine #mobilevetmedicine #westslopebestslope #bestpractices #collaboration #grandjunction #fruita #montrose #cedaredge #ridgway #telluride #durango