[attach id=237534 size="medium"]Few dog owners clean their pet’s teeth enough.[/attach]
Did you brush your dog’s teeth today? Yes, dogs need dental care too. Unfortunately, dental hygiene for dogs is sometimes overlooked. Many people expect dogs to have bad breath and few people brush their dog’s teeth frequently enough.
It’s true that dogs went thousands of years without toothbrushes, oral hygiene and dental X-rays, but so did we. And our mouths, just like those of our four-legged friends, suffered for it – with gum disease, tooth loss, chronic pain and much more.
Dental hygiene is just as important to your dog’s overall health as nutrition, proper exercise and routine grooming.
“Although dogs don’t eat the wide range of cavity-causing foods we enjoy, they need regular dental care for many of the same reasons we do,” says veterinary surgeon Alex Schiro.
We brush our teeth daily to prevent plaque build-up, which will develop into tartar, becoming gum disease later. The same happens to our pets.
Dr Schiro explains that pets fed on soft foods, rather than hard, tend to build up more plaque and tartar on their teeth. These areas grow bacteria and eat away at the teeth and gums.
Continuously forming in the mouth, plaque produces acids and chemical toxins, which attack the teeth and gums, resulting in oral problems, such as halitosis (bad breath), gingivitis (gum inflammation), oral pain and tooth loss.
Many pets require scaling (gentle removal of tartar and plaque on the tooth surface and under the gum line) and polishing, much like their owners – the main difference being that the teeth are cleaned when the pet is under general anaesthesia.
“Bad breath is often the first indication of oral problems. Around 85 per cent of persistent bad breath in dogs is thought to be caused in this way. Common signs of gingivitis are excessive drooling, reluctance to eat and bleeding gums. This also causes pain, which makes the pet depressed and lethargic,” continues Dr Schiro.
Bacteria not only cause disease in the mouth – they can also affect other body organs, like the heart and kidneys.
Catching teeth problems early will help you avoid severe dental disease.
According to Dr Schiro, dog owners should begin brushing their puppy’s teeth when they are six to eight weeks old. However, it is never too late to start. And it should be done at least three to four times a week.
“When brushing the teeth of your pet, pay attention to the condition of their gums,” advises Dr Schiro.
“Healthy gums are pink; sick gums are red, swollen and/or bleeding. Teeth may be loose and your dog will pull away because it is painful. Abscesses may be forming, which means infection and, at worse, bone loss.”
These conditions are indicators of severe oral problems. Simple everyday care with natural products could prevent the above scenario and a trauma to your pet to have these dental problems corrected.