Dental Disease

How do I know if my pet has dental disease?

Seven out of ten pets over 3 years old have some kind of tooth disorders.

Signs of dental disease include foul breath, difficulty eating, excessive dribbling perhaps also flecked with blood, head shaking and pawing at the mouth. In some cases you may be able to see yellowish brown tartar (sometimes called calculus) covering the teeth. This occurs in animals because, as carnivores, their saliva is alkaline. Hence they precipitate calcium salts from the saliva and DO NOT develop the acid based bacterial caries that people get. Animal's dental problems are periodontal based bacterial ones.

How does dental disease affect a pet's health?

Tartar below the gum line is the main cause of problems: Tartar is hardened plaque and plaque is made up of bacteria and debris. Thus the tartar contains bacteria which attack the surrounding gum tissue causing painful inflammation and infection (gingivitis). This infection can extend down to the tooth roots. Here pus may build up in the roots and form a painful abscess (peridontal abcess not the apical variety that people get). This inflammation also wears away the tissue from the gum, bones and teeth and eventually the teeth will loosen and fall out. Additionally, the bacteria produce poisons which can get into the blood stream and cause damage to the body's organs, such as the kidneys, heart and liver.

How is dental disease treated?

Treatment depends on the severity of the disease:
- In cases of advanced dental disease where your pet is in obvious pain, X-rays are taken of your pet's head to check for any deep abscesses.
- Any teeth that are loose are removed as they have been badly affected by dental disease.This is by far the best way to deal with the issues. Systemic disease is caused by bacteria and teeth are not necessary for health, or to eat, but when infected are a constant source of problems. We never remove healthy teeth! There are other alternatives such as peridontal planing, deep pocket surgery etc, and if you want use salvage techniques we are happy to do them. It can be costly and requires repeated visits, and if what nature has given your pet has failed then - if your intervention is to change outcomes - it must be rigorous and ongoing.
- Any tartar/calculus on the teeth is removed with the help of a dental scaling machine.
- Once loose teeth and tartar are removed, the remaining teeth are polished leaving the teeth with a smooth surface. This slows down build up of plaque in the future.
- It must be remembered however that plaque will inevitably reappear unless there are effective life style changes .

Home care can slow the rate of build up of tartar, but to keep your pet's teeth in good condition it is likely that they need regular scaling and polishing - every 12 to 24months. We can do a special price on this follow up treatment if required

Home care to control dental disease.

Replacing soft foods with dry or fibrous materials will slow the build up of plaque. Such foods require extra chewing which helps control oral infection because it stimulates production of saliva which has natural antibiotic properties. Special diets designed to help prevent plaque build up are available from your vet (Hills T/D or Oral Care) for the smaller animals and the 4x2 biscuits for the bigger animals.

Brushing your pet's teeth is an effective means of preventing dental disease. Some pets will vehemently resist having their teeth cleaned, but in some cases with persistence they will come to tolerate it. Ideally your pet should get used to having its teeth cleaned from an early age.
There are specially designed toothbrushes and also ones which fit over the end of your finger. Alternatively you can use a small ordinary toothbrush with soft bristles. Your vet can supply you with special pet toothpaste as human toothpaste tends to foam up in pets' mouths potentially causing problems, and they dislike the flavour. There are also some mouth washes and antibacterial gels available that can help reduce plaque deposits and prevent infection.

The use of raw meat can be effective by providing a natural flossing action, but the pieces must be large enough to prevent choking and achieve a dismembering action when pulled apart. The "give them chicken wings" technique works well for small carnivores like cats, but would not touch the sides of a big dog and it may well choke on them.
 
Dr Sarah Cooper 2001 modified Dr Bill Ryan 2008