Home dental care for pets is very important. You brush your teeth every day; that comes natural to you. But when it comes to brushing our pets teeth it seems that a high majority of us forget to do so. It is believed that 38% of dog owners do not brush their dogs teeth at all, 44% of dog owners occasionally brush their dogs teeth, and only 18% brush at least once a week.

Brushing reduces the build-up of “plaque”, a mixture of food and bacteria. Plaque forms in hours, and it mineralises and becomes rock hard after a few days. Unfortunately teeth brushing is much more effective daily than less frequently. Brushing every week will not reduce the build up of mineralised plaque (calculus).

Dental care for pets reduces the risk of diseases such as: periodontal disease, gingivitis, gum problems and even digestion problems. Undiagnosed dental disease can lead to pain, and complications that can lead to illness or even death. In most cases our pets do not show mouth pain and often do not change their eating habits or appetite. Often the only symptom owners note is bad breath.

Bad breath was the only symptom for veteran staff pet, Poppy. Lovely Poppy has featured on many posts in the past as her owner, Graham, has been part of our Orchard family for 8 years now. Poppy is a Border Terrier and recently turned 11 years old, so she is an older lady! She recently came in for a dental procedure and she is a perfect example of what we have discussed!

This picture shows Poppy’s teeth just days before her dental procedure:

And Poppy’s teeth after her procedure:

So, Poppy. Let’s hear your story! We will be speaking to her owner, her vet, and (perhaps) Poppy herself!

Graham:

“Poppy had smelly breath for around two months prior to her dental procedure. We brushed her teeth weekly (or close to!) for most of her life. She has also had two ‘scale and polish’ procedures in her lifetime. Visually, her teeth looked okay. Perhaps a small amount of plaque here and there, so the cause of the smell was not obvious at first. She saw Jack who noted she perhaps had slight inflammation in her gum so she had a course of antibiotics. As Jack predicted, the smell went away, but came back after the end of the course. Further investigation was needed.

Other than a bad smell, we noticed Poppy had started licking quite a bit, or more than before anyway. She is a tough little Terrier, so she didn’t show obvious signs of pain. This is where I’ll hand over to Jack to explain in more depth, as I’m not a vet…

Jack:

“We often tell clients that we do not know what we will find during a dental surgical procedure until the patient is under anaesthetic and Poppy clearly followed this principle. Poppy presented for smelly breath but, aside from a build up of calculus, no obvious problems were seen when I examined her mouth when she was awake.

We decided that a dental examination under anaesthesia would be the best plan of action. We recommend blood tests for most patients having a general anaesthetic, but this is of greater importance in more senior dogs. Poppy’s bloods were all fine, so we booked her in for a dental investigation under anaesthesia.

Six unstable incisors were identified immediately, which had not been possible to examine when Poppy was conscious. After cleaning and looking over the teeth with a dental probe several x-rays were taken and resorptive disease was identified in several of Poppy’s teeth. This is a common condition in cats but less common in dogs. The body starts dissolving the hard minerals of the teeth. Resorptive disease becomes painful when the dentine and pulp cavity is exposed. Disease can be invisible as problems may only be below the gum line affecting the roots. Poppy’s condition was advanced and the roots of the affected teeth had almost completely become part of the bone.

In the first operation we removed nine teeth. All of the teeth removed would have been causing Poppy pain and she is much better after having had them extracted. We would not have been able to identify and treat these teeth without an examination under anaesthetic. Over to Poppy!”

Poppy:

“My teeth were pretty much white and looked okay, but I had smelly breath. I really thought it would be a simple case of maybe a chipped tooth and a good clean being needed. Even though I was in pain, I can’t tell anyone… Luckily my mum and dad knew the signs to look for, and took me to see Uncle Jack.

I had 9 teeth taken out in total. This was a long operation and I will need to return for 4 further extractions soon. I was eating okay, and drinking okay, and showing no signs of pain. So if I had not had an anaesthetic and Uncle Jack carefully examining my mouth I would still be suffering silently, and with smelly breath! It got to the point that no-one wanted to be near my face, which was horrible for me. I am a licker!

Here are a couple of images of my x-rays, and my teeth after my dental operation. You’ll see one of my teeth has been taken from the X-ray, and if you compare my before and after, I have only a few bottom teeth left!!”.

Dental care for pets

Following these guidelines is a great way to help your dog prevent the need for dental surgery!

Brush your dog’s teeth at least daily with a dog toothbrush and dog safe toothpaste.
A good diet! – Just like in humans, this is important in dental care for pets. There are specialist dental diets for pets with recurrent disease problems.
Dog chews – Be aware that many dog dental chews are high in calories, so adjust your dogs food intake if giving a dental chew!
Never give hard bones / chews – These can easily chip a tooth, or wear down your dog’s teeth.
Consult your vet

During your pets booster vaccination, your vet will always conduct a health check. This includes your dog’s teeth. However, a lot can happen in a year, so we recommend at least seeing your vet every 6 months. The easiest way to do this is to join our Well Pet Club. Your pet’s annual vaccination is included, with a health check, and then a six month health check!

Dental care for pets is very important. Dental procedures are among some of the most lengthy operations seen in a veterinary practice, and can often be expensive. Sometimes operations can’t be avoided, but regular dental care for pets will help reduce the risks and cost.

To summarise:

Dental care for pets is very important. Dental procedures are among some of the most lengthy operations seen in a veterinary practice, and therefore can often be more expensive. Sometimes operations can’t be avoided, we all know that, but keeping on top of dental care for pets will help reduce the risks further down the line.