Does my pet have dental disease?

Some common signs that your pet may have dental disease include:
Bad breath
Yellow/brown tartar on teeth
Dribbling
Difficulty eating
Pawing or rubbing the mouth
Loose teeth or tooth loss
Bleeding gums
They often show no signs at all!

Dental Treatment
Tooth brushing – Just as with your own teeth, nothing beats daily brushing. Special pet toothpaste is available that does not contain fluoride or foaming agents, so it is safe to use with your pets.

The first step to help stop or slow down the progression of dental disease is to perform a scale and polish under general anaesthesia. With advanced dental disease, there may be teeth that need to be extracted. Problems usually start with the build-up of plaque on the teeth, which is a soft yellow deposit made up of bacteria, food particles and gum cells. Plaque eventually hardens to form tartar, which if not removed can lead to gingivitis – painful inflammation and infection of the gum.

What causes pet dental disease?
Bacteria can eventually works its way up into the support structures of the teeth, causing pain, infection and loosening of the teeth (Periodontitis). Bacteria can enter the blood stream at this stage making your pet very sick.


Preventative Dental Care
To help avoid your pet needing further anaesthetics and expensive dental work in the future, you can try the following ideas for dental health:

Special Diets – There are diets specially designed to encourage good dental health. Biscuits are shaped and formulated to help remove tartar build up on teeth. There are also dental and breath chews available that can help. Talk to one of our staff who can recommend a diet for your pet.

Large raw meaty bones – These are your pet’s natural toothbrush. Avoid any bones with sharp spikes such as chops and never feed cooked bones. Large fresh cannon bones are usually best but do not encourage chewing of the solid bone as damage to the large premolars (slab fractures) can result.

Dental checks – Regular dental checks with your Veterinarian and an annual scale and polish can keep on top of things, keeping away bacteria and tartar build up.