https://deepwoodveterinaryclinic.com/dogs-and-cats/dental-care/
Dental disease can affect dogs and cats at any stage of life but is most common as our pets enter middle age.
Dental disease includes:
- Gingivitis-Inflammation of the gums. This can be seen by increasing pinkness/ redness of your pet’s gumline
- Tartar – This refers to accumulation of plaque on teeth and gumline
- Pyorrhoea- This refers to pus in the mouth usually between teeth and gumline and is the most serious form of dental disease.
Dental disease can spread to other organs such as kidney, liver and lung causing damage in those organs.
Causes of dental disease:
- feeding of soft foods and canned food. These diets accumulate between the teeth and gumline
- genetics. Some breeds end up with overcrowding of teeth, retained baby teeth and underbites leading to debris caught between teeth and increasing risk of dental disease
Symptoms of dental disease:
- bad breath
- pain around the mouth, dislikes being touched around the mouth
- bleeding/ pus from gums
Management of dental disease:
- As a form of prophylaxis, pets need their teeth to be scaled once a year. This requires general anaesthesia so that their mouth can be examined well and the teeth can be scaled underneath the gumline.
- They require their teeth to be brushed daily.
- Diets that are abrasive such as kibbles are benefical in keeping their teeth clean.
- In early stages of dental disease such as Grade 1-2, dental scaling and polishing may be sufficient to keep their teeth clean. However in Grade 3-4 dental disease, often decayed teeth need to be extracted to remove the source of pain.
Before dental scaling & polishing
After dental scaling & polishing