Pet Dental Health

What is plaque imageJust like humans, dogs and cats are born without teeth, they develop milk teeth, these start to fall out at around 16 weeks to make space for permanent adult teeth. Your puppy will develop a full set of 42 adult teeth at around 6 – 8 months old.

As humans, we all know how important it is to clean our teeth, but what about our pets?

Planning

Whilst daily brushing from Day 1 is ideal, we appreciate not all pets will cooperate no matter how hard we try. 

Start with a children's sized tooth brush and always use pet friendly paste. NEVER EVER use human tooth paste (some contain Xylitol which can be toxic to pets!)

How to brush your pets' teeth image

If your pet will just not cooperate, don’t despair,

There our various options available including;

  • Dental Chews - Just take care to watch your pets waist line - some of them contain a lot of calories! 
  • Water additives, teeth wipes, chew toys and specialist diets - If your pet simply won’t allow tooth brushing speak to our team for advice on what's best for your pet.

What is periodontal disease image

What is periodontal disease?

Dental disease occurs in both dogs and cats. Periodontal disease occurs when the tissues that surround teeth become infected and inflamed. Plaque build-up on the teeth causes inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) if not removed. Over time, infection and inflammation spread deeper into the tooth sockets, destroying the bone around the tooth roots – meaning teeth may need to be extracted (if they haven’t already fallen out!).

Did you know

That 9/10 adult dogs and 7/10 adult cats suffer from periodontitis? That means it is very likely that your pet will suffer with some degree of dental disease during their lifetime.

If your pets breath is waking you up

in the morning, take that as your wake up call that dental disease could be lurking and it’s time to seek veterinary attention for your pet.  Contact one of our practices using the details at the bottom of this page and we will be happy to help and advise.

Blog produced by Young Veterinary Partnership with support and images from Animalcare and Nutravet.