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Since
next month is Dental Health Month for pets, this week's
article will focus on your pets' oral health.
Cats and
dogs need proper dental care throughout their lives in
order to enjoy the longest, healthiest lives possible.
Caring for oral health can make a big difference in your
pets' quality of life, especially as they get older. The
foundation for this lifetime with a healthy mouth begins
in infancy.
An oral
examination is part of a complete physical examination,
and should be performed at the first visit to the
veterinarian with a puppy or kitten. The doctor will
check to see that the baby has the proper number of
teeth and that they are properly positioned. As the pet
returns for recheck examinations and booster
vaccinations, the eruption of new teeth can be
monitored.
Special
attention needs to be paid to the mouths of small and
toy breed dogs, as they are more prone to having
retained deciduous teeth ("baby" teeth that
don't fall out as the permanent teeth come in).
Sometimes these teeth need to be extracted to allow the
adult teeth to develop with proper alignment and prevent
gum problems that may develop when food and other debris
wedges between teeth that are too close together.
In young
adulthood, the primary dental care that is needed is
periodic cleaning to prevent the development of gum
disease. Owners can help keep teeth clean by brushing
their pets' teeth regularly, feeding dry food and
providing proper chewing devices.
Most cats
and dogs will need their teeth cleaned professionally (a
"prophy," or prophylactic treatment) for the
first time somewhere between 2 and 5 years of age.
After
that, they may need a dental prophy every year or two.
Some pets will accumulate tartar more rapidly than the
average and need more frequent cleanings. If your pet
has "bad breath," it's probably a sign that it
needs an oral exam.
Having
your pets' teeth professionally cleaned when it is
recommended by the doctor is one of the most important
things you can do to care for its entire body, not just
its mouth. The normal mouth contains many bacteria that
will cause problems if they get into other areas of the
body.
If gum
inflammation or deeper periodontal disease is allowed to
develop, these bacteria get into the bloodstream and
travel to other parts of the body. The kidneys and heart
valves are two locations where secondary infections
often develop.
These
infections may not be obvious immediately, but they can
cause insidious damage and lead to premature kidney
failure or heart failure.
And
allowing periodontal disease to progress by not cleaning
teeth when they need it can cause serious problems down
the road inside the mouth.
Once bone
is lost around the roots of the teeth due to periodontal
disease, it will never be replaced. When enough bone is
lost that a tooth becomes unstable, the only treatment
to let that infected area heal is extraction of the
tooth.
With
modern veterinary dental care, tooth loss in older pets
does not have to happen, and shouldn't. It's
disappointing to have to extract loose teeth from a pet
and look back in the medical record to see that cleaning
had been recommended years earlier, but never was done.
Older
pets also need to have their mouth examined by a
veterinarian to look for other problems such as oral
tumors, broken teeth, or cavities. If these problems are
detected and treated early enough, your pet's quality of
life will be enhanced.
Your
pets' doctor realizes that proper dental care is one of
the foundations for overall good health. Please follow
the doctor's recommendations to maximize the quality of
life that you and your pet enjoy.
———
(Dr.
Greg McGrath
, a veterinarian at
Cedar Lake Pet Hospital
in
Biloxi, Miss.
, encourages questions for this column. Write to
South Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association
,
20005 Pineville Road
,
Long Beach MS
39560 and include a self-addressed stamped envelope.)
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