Many owners have questions and concerns surrounding dental disease and how to provide the best dental care for their beloved pets.
1. Will home dental care will prevent my pet needing veterinary dental treatment?
We recommend early, regular home dental hygiene maintenance for every dog and cat to help slow the development of dental disease. Depending on the pet’s temperament, this may include daily tooth brushing, prescription dental diets, or daily dental chews.
However, even humans brushing their teeth twice daily are recommended to have a professional dental check (and a clean, if required) every 6-12 months to prevent painful periodontal disease (which causes permanent damage). It’s the same for pets; they will also benefit from a dental procedure every 6 to 12 months.
- Dental plaque and tartar build up is a life long occurrence – imagine if we did not brush our teeth for 12months.
- Ongoing home dental care can reduce the frequent need for dental treatments
- Some pets have a weakness with their teeth and gums that leads to issues even with the best of home dental care.
- In some cases there may be a specific issues such as autoimmune gingivitis and stomatitis seen in some cats.
3. My pet is too old/unwell to undergo a dental procedure
Many owners are worried that a dental procedure will be too unsafe for their elderly pet. Rest assured that with the proper health screening (such as pre-anaesthetic blood tests), most older pets can still safely undergo an anaesthetic for dental work that will help to maintain their comfort and health.
- Any pre-existing health issues will always be taken in to consideration when planning for such procedures, and any risks will be discussed.
- It is important to remember that leaving dental disease untreated will eventually do more harm and the benefit can far outweigh any potential risk.
- There have been occasions where owners report how much happier their senior pets are once they have had their dental disease treated.
4. My pet is still eating, so they mustn’t be in pain
Unfortunately, many well-meaning owners have the wrong impression that their pet must not have dental pain if they are still eating!
Due to their natural survival instincts, most dogs and cats will continue eating through dental pain unless their disease becomes very severe (such as a tooth root abscess). If you’ve ever had tooth pain, you’ll know that it’s obviously preferable to treat pets before they reach this point.
It is also common for dental pain to affect a pet’s mood and energy levels, which could be simply put down to them “getting older”. On many occasions where pets have had painful teeth removed their owners have reported how much more playful they have been afterwards.
5. My pet wont be able to eat if they have teeth removed.
This is a common and understandable concern many pet owners have. It is important to remember that dental extractions are only performed when teeth are either
