Your Pet's Dental Health Starts at Home

February is National Pet Dental Health Month!

Imagine if you didn’t brush your teeth for days, weeks, months, or years.
What would your teeth look like?

Plaque is a natural, sticky film caused by normal bacteria in the mouth. It is soft and easily removed but if it is not, it hardens on the teeth as tarter, which causes irritation to the gums, leading to inflammation and eventually periodontal disease, where loss of support of the teeth below the gumline occurs. Once tarter has formed, it can only be removed with a professional tooth cleaning.

According to the AVMA, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some level of dental disease by age 3. Dr. Andrea wants pet owners to know that "dental disease can cause a lot of other organ-related side effects, contributing to heart disease, renal disease, and kidney disease. But it can also cause local pain for your pet, affecting their daily life."

Oral Health Begins at Home

The good news is, dental disease is usually preventable and treated with regular dental care, which includes at home and professional care.

​From the time you bring your new pet home, you can start to build healthy dental care habits. The gold standard is regular tooth brushing, and you can also supplement or substitute with other oral health products that are certified by the Veterinary Oral Health Council.

The gold standard: tooth brushing
Equipment needed: pet-safe tooth paste (never human toothpaste!) and a soft toothbrush. You can purchase a pet-specific toothbrush or use a human toothbrush. This will depend on your pet's size and your comfort during brushing. Pet brushes are often a little ofset so they are easier to move around. You can also use finger brushes for getting your pet used to having you in their mouth, and for smaller dogs, puppies, and cats.

Pet Tooth Brushing Tips:

• Don't use human toothpaste, buy a pet-specific product like Virbac's CET Enzymatic, or another similar product at your local pet store.
• Start slow as you build a habit with your pet. Many animals find it a little uncomfortable when their mouth and teeth are manipulated, so start with small steps, using a finger to lift their lip first, then to use your finger to touch the teeth, then use a toothbrush without any paste, then use your finger with just pet, and then work up to longer sessions of brushing with the brush. The most important thing is to strengthen and protect your relationship with your pet as you work on your healthy habits together.
• You do not need to clean the inner surface of your pet's teeth. Their saliva and tongue cleans this surface.
• Do try to do some kind of dental home care at least once daily.

Studies have shown that brushing your pet's teeth three times a week is generally enough to maintain healthy teeth and gums, but to really control existing gingivitis and mild dental disease symptoms, daily brushing is necessary.

You can find these products in-clinic. Talk to our staff to learn more!

Additions (or alternatives) to toothbrushing

Dental Chews and Treats
Dental chews usually have a chewy or light but crunchy texture that helps scrub away plaque up to the gumline. These are a great daily supplement for your pet's oral health in between brushings.

At Ark of the Dunes, our favorite type of dental chew for dogs is the ORAVET Dental Hygiene Chew, because it also contains delmopinol, which is a plaque-fighting ingredient that coats the teeth and creates a barrier that helps prevent bacterial attachment. Some patients have success maintaining a healthy smile with an Oravet chew about every 3 days. They're hypoallergenic and great for even our most sensitive patients.

Water Additives
By adding a capful of a dental water additive like C.E.T. Aquadent Dental Solution to your pet's water, you can take advantage of breath-freshening properties as well as plaque control even if your dog doesn't take to chewing very well. 

Dental Diets
Some pets may do well with a specific dental diet, either a prescription or non-prescription formula. Kibbles are formulated for dental care by being extra large so that the pet has to chew them, and they are made with lots of crunchy fiber that the teeth sink into, scraping off plaque. Some animals don't like the bigger kibbles as much, but they can be supplemented as treats. Keep in mind that the chewing teeth will get the most benefit from these diets, and the canine and incisor teeth won't receive much scraping action, so additional dental care is required.

Ask us about your pet's oral health at your next visit! 
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Useful links for more information:
American Veterinary Medical Association: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/pet-dental-care
VOHC: Veterinary Oral Health Council (vohc.org)