Dental care for dogs

How many of you are keen to brush your pet dog's teeth? Unless you have a helper or so much free time, you will not even think about brushing your dog's teeth.

Did you know that dogs have 28 temporary teeth and 42 permanent teeth? Temporary or "milk" teeth begin to appear when a puppy is about four weeks of age, and are lost gradually between 14 and 30 weeks of age.

During this time, puppies tend to eat slightly less than the usual amount and chew more hard things like furniture and shoes. Hard rubber toys made especially for dogs are a good investment to help keep the damage to your household equipment to a minimum during this time.

Dental problems in dogs commonly include signs of loss of appetite, red, swollen and bleeding gums, saliva running from the mouth, blood in the saliva, yellow-brown tartar at the gum line, broken teeth and bad breath.

Dogs sometimes suffer from broken teeth, often a result of biting on sticks or rocks. A cracked or broken tooth can be painful if the nerve tissue is exposed; if it becomes infected, there is the danger of the infection spreading through the blood stream.

Immediate veterinary attention is recommended. To ensure the dog's dental health, you must take care of their teeth and gums. Else, they may develop problems. Dental problems may also result from injury, malnutrition or general diseases that infect the mouth as well as other parts of the body.

Occasionally, a puppy or kitten will retain some milk teeth after the permanent teeth have appeared. This may damage the soft tissues of the mouth and may even speed up erosion of permanent teeth. A veterinarian should be consulted to determine whether removal is necessary.

However, the most common dental problems dogs experience is build-up of plaque. Food, bacteria and saliva may gather and hold fast to the tooth surface, forming a soft plaque.

If plaque build-up continues, chalk-like materials form a hardened layer on the tooth surface. This is seen more frequently in older pets who are fed large quantities of soft foods.

If left unchecked, plaque build-up can eventually cause swelling of both the gums (gingivitis) and the covering lining of the tooth hole (periodontitis). Without proper treatment, the teeth may become infected and fall out.

The infection resulting from these conditions may spread to other parts of the body such as the kidneys or valves of the heart. Dental problems can be minimised or even prevented through regular cleaning and scaling under anaesthesia, done by a veterinarian.

Unfortunately, signs of dental problems are often slight and may go undetected for months, or even years. Regular dental examinations by a veterinarian are recommended.

Your dog's yearly physical examination is a good opportunity for dental check-ups. If possible, familiarise a young puppy or kitten to having its teeth cleaned on a regular basis at home.

Gently rub the pet's teeth with a soft cloth or a child's soft toothbrush dipped in a solution of baking soda and water. Do not use toothpaste made for humans, because pets swallow rather than spit out the preparation; this can cause stomach upsets.

Janani Amarasekara