21 Aug Dental Disease in Dogs with Video
Just as we need to clean our own teeth daily so do our pets. It is important to become familiar with your pets oral cavity by starting at an early age to examine your pet’s mouth and monitor for abnormal lesions, areas of pain and bad breath.
Gold standard of dental health care would be brushing however in a lot of cases we are not aware that this is required or haven’t the time to teach our pets to accept this practice.
In these cases we need to provide a chemical and mechanical cleaner with a VOCH approval that will help keep our pet’s teeth clean and breath fresh by reducing the tartar and bacterial buildup .
Options of these products include:
- Dental diets such as Hills t/d – this is a large biscuit that has special crystals that fit over the entire tooth and pull off developing tartar.
- Daily chews such as Oravet which has a chemical (gel) and mechanical (chewing) component in an easy chew.
- Daily mouth washes such as Hexarinse which flush away food and bacteria that lead to tartar development and gingivitis
- Supplements in water or food that again aim to slow the development of periodontal disease such as Aquadent or Plaqueoff.
Your veterinarian should complete a full oral examination at every annual wellness visit to evaluate your pets oral health status. They will then determine and discuss the need for dental cleaning which is performed under general anaesthesia.
Regular dental scale and polishing are recommended as well as dental radiographs to expose any dental disease under the gum line.
COMMON DENTAL DISEASES:
A healthy mouth has pink gums and white teeth that are not discoloured or covered in plaque.
Early signs of dental disease will include a mild buildup of plaque on the teeth and moderately inflamed gums/gingival.
Advanced periodontal disease will present with plaque below the gum and extremely swollen and inflamed and painful gums that bleed easily.
Any stage of dental diseases can lead to further health problems as the mouth is incredibly vascular and these vessels can carry bacterial and inflammatory cells to the brain, liver, kidney and heart and shorten your pets lifestyle.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A DENTAL PROCEDURE?
When your pet has been examined and determined to require a dental scale and polish he will be required to undergo a general anaesthetic to ensure he is comfortable and not frightened during the dental.
Your pet will be fasted the night before and dropped off for the day. He/she will have a full physical examination by the veterinarian and optional (but hightly advised) pre-anaesthetic bloods are performed to ensure safety during and after the anaesthetic. Your pet will be given a sedation and then be anaesthetised and intubated in preparation for their full dental examination and scale and clean.
A dental chart as shown below is charted in accordance with your pets dental health.
The teeth are scaled with an electronic scaler that allows removal of tartar from the tooth and sub-gingival space. The teeth are then polished to remove any grooves that may allow for further tartar production.
You will then be advised on maintenance of your pet health using a combination of mechanical and chemical methods and regular annual dental health checks.