Annie's Shenanigans

When humans go to the dentist they are told to "open wide", allowing the doctor to probe and examine everything thoroughly. As pets, however, we do not have such great compliance. I don't know about you but I'm not going to refrain from chomping down on a hand causing me discomfort, intentional or not. And I admit I am not a regular when it comes to brushing and flossing. We need a good exam with below gum scaling. 

For humans, you know that slimy feeling on your teeth in the morning before you brush? Imagine that slime continuing to grow on a daily basis for months or even years!

Max is a great example of why it is so important to have your pet's teeth professionally cleaned. Max has had several cleanings in the past, and his owners are very compliant when it comes to wellness care. From the outside, Max's teeth have a moderate buildup of tartar, but appear otherwise healthy. No one expected any complications.

Max came in to get his teeth cleaned, polished, and probed last week. His very rear molars had very deep pockets in the gum tissue tunneling down along the root of the tooth. A radiograph of the tooth was taken and revealed signs of infection around the root of the tooth. You can note the tooth on the far left with a "halo" of darker gray around the root. This is called peri apical lucency.

The offending tooth was removed and now Max will not suffer the pain of having an abscessed tooth. We would never have known this was beginning of an abscess if we had not brought max in for a dental. 

Please see our video walking you through the dental procedure at Westbury Animal Hospital. 

http://www.westburyvets.com/services/dentistry

I attempted to pose for a demo video being filmed for clients on how to brush their dog’s teeth…so maybe I was not the best candidate for the demo seeing as how all I wanted to do was chew on the toothbrush, but I am getting better! And my teeth are still pearly white!

Dog’s need to have their teeth brushed daily too! Can you imagine going your whole life and not brushing your teeth? The amount of gross things that build up and the diseased gums and tooth roots that follow poor dental hygiene is preposterous!  Some dogs build up dental calculus faster than others depending on their breed, genetics, and diet.

Some key facts to remember with dental hygiene in animals:

1. Only use pet toothpaste not human toothpaste. You don’t want your pet getting fluoride toxicity from swallowing the toothpaste. They don’t know how to spit!
2. Brushing daily or even once a week will extend the amount of time between routine dental cleanings with their veterinarian.
3. Start teaching your pets while they are young to tolerate a tooth brush
4. Old dogs can learn how to brush too!
5. Stating that your pet chews on rawhides does not preclude a thorough brushing. If you chewed on sticks, you would still get dental tartar accumulation. Allowing pets to chew on hard chew toys or bones causes fractured teeth. No bones should be given to dogs if you cannot push a nail through with just your hand.
6. Cat’s get dental disease as well. While brushing is encouraged, it may be more difficult. Routine dental cleanings are probably more important for this reason.