Dental Health

move mouse over image to see teeth after cleaning

Dental disease in pets.

Between 6 and 7 out of 10 dogs and cats over the age of 3 will have periodontal disease. Periodontal disease occurs when plaque and infection causes inflammation to the gums, ligaments and bone surrounding the teeth.

The consequence of untreated periodontal disease is

• tooth loss
• pain which may be manifest as a reluctance to play or just general lack of enthusiasm for life
• septicemia (blood borne infection) which in turn can lead to heart failure through endocarditis, liver abscess's and kidney failure.

How can you tell if your companion has periodontal disease?

Smelly breath is often indicative of periodontal disease, although it can occur for other reasons.

Do the teeth look discoloured, often those easiest to see at the front, the incisors and canines will be in better health than the molars, so if those at the front are white and those further back yellow, or worse green then you have problems.

Also inspect the gums, red indicates inflammation.

Dogs and cats will rarely exhibit signs of pain, but any difficulty chewing or favouring one side should be investigated.

What can be done?

If possible brush your companion's teeth every day. Use a fish or poultry flavoured paste which does not contain fluoride. Even with this intense treatment cats and dogs will still need a scale and polish periodically, just as most people do. If periodontal disease is already present brushing will not improve the situation until the mouth has been thoroughly cleaned and polished by the vet, it might also be too painful for your pet to allow this.

If you are not able to brush your pets teeth other things you can do to help are:-

• feed only dried food and the mechanical action of chewing will help to decrease plaque. Hills Science Plan produce a specific diet, t/d, in which the fibres are aligned to act like dental floss and remove plaque. Other diets which make claims to improve oral health are directed at tartar, which occurs later in the disease and is the mineralised deposit which plaque becomes, therefore t/d acts at the earlier and more desirable stage.
• provide chew sticks such as CET which have enzymes to help reduce plaque.
• chew toys can help, it is thought that the Kong toys are best at "wiping" the plaque off.
• consider logic oral gel or hexarinse mouth washes.
• plaque off is a nutritional supplement which if sprinkled on food will help.

The photographs below help give an indication of the size of the teeth of dogs, cats and rabbits. If dental problems go untreated teeth will eventually need extracting, the teeth may look small above the gum but their roots are very long and extracting teeth is a difficult and delicate process.

canine molar - the root is at least 3 times the length of tooth above the gum	feline teeth - again look at the size of the roots
rabbit teeth on the left and a canine tooth on the left the majority of the white area on the rabbit teeth would be below the gum line.