There are many ways of preventing dental disease and its side effects,providing your pet with a longer and more comfortable life. While none ofthese measures “guarantee” perfect dental health, it is well known thatyour pets general well-being can be greatly increased by caring for theirteeth.

BrushingTeeth

By far the single most effective method of plaque control in any pet is brushing ofthe teeth. This is not said to be glib or flippant – it truly is the best thing an ownercan do for their pet’s dental hygiene. And it is not as difficult as most peoplebelieve. To brush the teeth of a cat or dog we recommend a finger toothbrush. You can usea normal toothbrush or an electric toothbrush as well, but these are often moredifficult for starters as you need to visualise the teeth to initially make sure you arebrushing correctly. With a finger toothbrush you can feel where you and brushappropriately. It is recommended to use pet toothpaste with a brush. The pet toothpastes arelower in Fluoride than adult human toothpastes as dog and cats swallow what youput in their mouth; we however spit it out. The toothpaste adds some abrasivenessand also flavours the brushing, making it more enjoyable. The best approach to brushing is to make sure the pet’s mouth is closed, and togently slip the brush under the lips in to the cheek pouch. Do not open the mouth.Brushing can then take place – in any type of motion you like. We are only reallyaiming at brushing the outside surfaces of the teeth – to clean the other surfaces,you would have to open the mouth and place the brush inside the mouth. Dogs andcats do not have flat molar teeth like humans, they have pointy sharp teeth usedfor sectioning, and thus opening the mouth and brushing like a human is notrequired. The inside surfaces of the teeth generally do not accumulate as muchplaque as the outer surfaces, and by the time they require a scale and polish, theoutside surfaces would too.

What Happens When We Don’tAdequately Care For Our Pet’s

Teeth?

Raw Bones

Bones are useful to help with dental disease control and also give your dogsomething to do. There are risks involved with bones (especially inappropriatebones). Bones are a common cause of foreign bodyobstruction, anywhere from themouth itself all the way through the gastrointestinal tract. Bones that have brokenor have been cut can perforate various parts of the GIT. Worst of all bones can beresponsible for fracturing teeth. The most important piece of advice we can give toyou when advising about using bones, is that all bones fed to your pets need to beraw and un-cut. Cut bones, or bones that are flat can get caught between teeth andcause slab fractures, which are by for the most common tooth fractures that occurin the dog. We suggest chicken necks and wings for small dogs only - otherwiselarge uncut bones are most appropriate.

DentalChews

There are many chew products on the market today designed to aid in dental care forpets. In general these products work because they physically rub on the teeth and wipeoff the plaque. Realistically these products only work partially due to the animals oftenhaving a preferred side to gnaw on, and animals only gnaw with a few teeth in themouth. These are drawbacks in any products that require the animal to “chew”something – some of the foods included. It is important that chew products are of an appropriate size for the animal. In generalcompanies recommend products that are not sizedproperly. In general our pets shouldbe trying to gnaw on an object that is bigger than their head. Small objects are all toooften sectioned in one bite and promptly swallowed. Small objects are not reallygnawed on for long enough to actually help reduce plaque levels. If the animal has tospend a long period gnawing on the object, and utilise many areas of its mouth, thenthis will be more effective.

“Lets face it –h u m a n s a r eadvised to brushtwice daily, usemouth washes anduse daily dentalfloss and we stillhave to visit ourdentists twice ayear to havecalculus removedfrom our teeth. Tothink that a boneonce a week willkeep a dog’s teethhealthy is farfetched.”

Dental Diets-Prescription Dry Foods

There are a few dental specific foods available on the market at the moment. All ofthese veterinary products work to some degree at reducing dental disease. The dietswork by one of two ways – physically rubbing against the tooth and removing plaqueand chemically binding calcium, reducing calculus formation.Hills Science Diet Prescription t/d, Hills Science Diet Oral Care, Eukanuba DentalDefense System and Royal Canin Dental range all claim to work at reducing plaqueaccumulation in the mouth by physically removing it. The Hill’s diet kibbles aredesigned and manufactured to not break apart until the tooth penetrates the whole waythrough it, unlike other kibbles (including the rest of the premium foods’ range) thatcrumble to pieces when “chewed”. These diets are effective, but do have theirdrawbacks. The main drawback for dogs is that all teeth must bite through the kibblepieces for them to all be cleaned. This is not possible for all teeth, as not all teeth aregnawing teeth that are used to bite through foods. The main limitation for their use forcats is the fact that cats DO NOT chew (have you ever noticed when cats vomit thereis often whole kibbles present?).

Everything Else!!

There are many other “tools” to help you keep yourpets teeth clean and free from infection. Gels, in-water mouthwashes, pastes, sprays all help to some degree, but willgenerally not be enough by themselves to control dentaldisease. We consider them helpful in combination withothers practices.

Tip for dogs with hairy faces- clipping the hair around the mouth and face to stop hairfrom getting caught in the teeth makes a big difference to the health of their gums.

22 Belmore St Penrith 2750 T 4721 5494 F 4732 3807 E vets@penrithvet.com.au www.penrithvet.com.au