February is Dental Month
February marks National Dental Month for humans and animals alike. It’s this time of year that you are bombarded with toothpaste commercials, whiting claims, and oral health and its finest. We are going to do the same.
Humans have 32 adult teeth, cats have 30 adult teeth and dogs have a whopping 42 adult teeth in their mouths. Sadly, by the age of 2 years over 75% of pets have some form of dental disease. If left to progress, dental disease can cause severe infection and abscesses, difficult eating due to a painful mouth, tooth loss, and bone loss to the jaw. The infection from the calculus (the hard built-up tartar on the teeth; usually with a greenish-gray color) is swallowed every time an animal eats, drinks, or chews. These bacteria can then be transferred into the blood stream to cause serious effects on the heart or swallowed into the stomach and intestines. Over 70% of a body’s immunity comes from the intestines, healthy intestines helps create healthy animals. When the body is constantly fighting off bacteria it can weaken the protective barrier of the intestines by causing inflammation and irritation therefore letting infections take root.
Regular brushing of your mouth results in a healthy, fresh smile; the same is true for our pets. The ideal is to brush their teeth daily but even brushing weekly is helpful. There are many toothpaste flavors and brush style to choose from that would work for you and your pet. There are also several daily treat varieties that would be helpful to break up tartar and prevent the bacteria from attaching to the surface of the tooth. To further the prevention effort, dog food companies make special diets formulated with oral health in mind. As you can see, there are many ways to help your pet at home to have a health mouth.
We can help, too. Our highly trained technicians can perform a complete dental cleaning on your pet including oral radiographs to evaluate tooth root health and bone stability. The additional benefit is restoration of their beautiful pearly white smile.
We know how difficult is to manage all the things you need to do in a day but please don’t forget the health of your pets mouth. Although they do make partials and dentures for pets we would rather they retain their own beautiful teeth. Please call us today to find out more about tooth brushing, innovative treats, special diets, or dental cleanings.