Pet Dental Health Month

 It is February 2020 and that means every body has look into their pets mouths and smell their breaths!  Go ahead I dare you! It’s Dental awareness month and I hope all vet clinics are offering some kind of discount for anesthetic dental cleanings.  It always makes me giggle inside when I show clients their beloved pets bad diseased teeth and they gringe in shock, guilt and embarrassment. First of all, what’s up with the embarrassment it’s not like the puppy came with manual instructions.  Not all clinics even go into dental health when they take their new pets to the vet, although they Should. Before I entered the veterinary field I did not take notice to my dogs or cats teeth but common sense should tell us that if a living creature ( especially when domesticated) never cleans/brushes its teeth then those teeth are going to get gross!  

     Side Note: small breed dogs are way more prone to dental disease than big dogs and here’s why.  Their little jaws do not have the bone proportion big breed dogs have. So a small chihuahuas top and bottom jaw bones are far more crowded and will collect bacteria, which turns into calculus, and will eventually eat away their gingival and bone tissue! YIKES!!!

     Quick Tip:Are small dogs more prone to dental problems?

By Katie B. Kangas, DVM, CVA, CVCP – April 30, 20191007

Periodontal disease in small dogs:

Current veterinary studies report that 90% of dogs have periodontal (dental) disease by just one year of age. This high rate of disease in young dogs is believed to be influenced by the growing popularity of small and toy breeds, which are particularly susceptible to dental disease. While we don’t yet fully understand why small breeds are so much more likely to develop dental problems, several issues are thought to be involved in the process:

Tooth crowding (decreased space between teeth)

Rotation of teeth (rotated positioning of teeth)

Decreased oral activity (less recreational chewing as compared to larger dogs)

Shorter tooth roots (larger dogs have longer roots).

Another very important issue affecting dogs smaller than ten pounds (at adult size) is early degeneration of jaw bone density. In other words, very small dogs may have some loss of jaw bone density by just one year of age. When this problem is combined with shorter tooth roots, as is typical in smaller dogs, extractions are often necessary much earlier in life.

     Yes small dogs do need more attention to their oral health but big dogs are not without their issues as well.  I see big dogs breaking a tooth far more than I see small dogs doing that. Good rule of thumb for big dog owners if you can’t imprint your thumb nail into what their chewing on then the potential for a broken tooth is probable.  

     For our furry felines they have a much higher percentage of having (FORL) Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesions.

Quick Tip: From Coronel Feline Health Center.

Tooth resorption within each of a c at’s teeth is a a chamber (root canal) that contains tissue made up of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves. This tissue, which communicates with the rest of the animal’s body, is surrounded by a bony substance called dentin, which accounts for the bulk of the tooth’s structure. In a condition known as a tooth resorption-formerly referred to as feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion (FORL) or cervical line lesions-the dentin in a single tooth (or several simultaneously) erodes and eventually becomes irreparably destroyed. Over time, all areas of an affected tooth, from root to crown, may become involved. Tooth resorption is a common condition, affecting an estimated 20 percent to 60 percent of all cats and close to three quarters of those five years of age and older. The cause, says Jennifer Rawlinson, DVM, chief of dentistry and oral surgery section at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary medicine, is unknown. “There are a few theories” she says, “but no one is sure about what really stimulates this condition. Some researchers, for example, theorized thaqt an excess of vitamin D in commercial cat food might be to blame, but other researchers don’t necessarily agrees. So, for now we don’t have an answer.”

     So needless to say whether you are a cat lover, dog owner or both your beloved pets teeth are vital to its health and longevity of life.  Within the pulp chamber of the tooth lives blood vessels, lymphatic vessels which travels to the rest of the body and organs. When I tell my clients that the bacteria in diseased infected teeth are traveling to all the organs on a daily basis I don’t do it to shame them but to open their eyes to the harmful Effects.  

    Most of our patients who are in desperate need of dentals are on the older side, some with medical conditions like heart murmurs or diabetes.  Clients are always afraid of anesthesia risk and yes anesthesia is not taken lightly and does have an element of risk but when anesthesia is treated and done right the risk is very minimal.  Blood work for all patients with conditions or over the age of 7years is super important if not vital. It tells us how we want to treat anesthesia and what kind we want to use, it also tells us how we want to run our fluid rate.  With good medical practice, Doctors, and nurses anesthetic prophy’s are safe and beneficial for our fur babies. To end on a positive note, I encourage all pet owners to brush their pets teeth! There are specific brushes of varies types and enzymatic tooth paste to help with the process. Remember human tooth paste is toxic so get one made for pets and you can never start to young it will acclimate them to the ritual!

Thanks For Reading 

Heidi Parker