Dental Care at Home

	Dental care at home
	How to check your pets mouth

    

Dental Problems

	Calculus formation on teeth
	Pockets
	Bone Fractures
	Root Canal Infections
	Crooked or Misdirected Teeth

Dental Care at Home

In order to keep your pet's teeth healthy, there are a few things you can do at home. The best care that can be provided is daily brushing. It is best to start at a very early age, when your pet is just 6-8 weeks of age, as his personality is developing. Use a tasty pet toothpaste and gently apply it to his baby teeth with your finger or a soft brush. You can make it fun for him by not attempting to open his mouth, but simply put your finger or the brush inside his lips against his teeth, and allow him to lick the tasty toothpaste off of your finger or brush. If you perform this little task for a minute or so every day, you can begin to move your finger or the brush back and forth across the cheek side of his teeth only. It is not important to brush the 'inside' or tongue side of his teeth, since very little tartar normally forms there. Smaller dogs generally form tartar more quickly and need home care more than larger dogs.

For pet owners who prefer not to take the time nor effort to brush their pet's teeth daily, a product called Oravet can be used by simply applying it to the cheek side of the teeth on a weekly basis. Although not as effective as daily brushing, it is helpful in preventing tartar formation.

If your pet has an accumulation of tartar on his teeth, it is important to have a professional cleaning done to remove all of the tartar and treat any teeth that may be adversely affected by it. Sometimes, as in humans, professional cleaning needs to be performed periodically, in addition to daily home care, to keep your pet's mouth as healthy as possible.

How to check your pets mouth

Your pet will likely allow you to lift his lip to look at his teeth. Healthy teeth look like those in the accompanying photo. They should be white, shiny, and without discoloration. Gums should be pink and not red nor appear inflamed where they contact teeth. Try to check all his teeth by moving your fingers around his lips and lifting them gently without attempting to open his mouth. The large upper and lower teeth near the back of the mouth are especially important to check, since those are teeth that are responsible for chewing his food.

This photo (LDB-Need photo here) shows tartar forming on teeth with inflammation of the gum. This type of condition often precedes periodontitis, which is inflammation of the bone, gum, and other structures surrounding the teeth, eventually resulting in tooth mobility and finally tooth loss. Whenever teeth appear like the teeth in the accompanying photograph, they need professional cleaning to treat this condition, followed by regular professional treatments, and/or home care with daily brushing or weekly application of a chemical called Oravet to help keep tartar from forming in the future.

Bone Fractures

Bone fractures can result from injury or from an infected tooth. An infected tooth usually affects the bone around it, weakening it, and making it very susceptible to injury. A jaw fracture is shown in the x-ray in the photograph.

Root Canal Infections

Root canal infections are infections of the interior of a tooth. The infection ?leaks? out at the base of the tooth into the surrounding bone, where it forms an abscess, which then spreads to the rest of the body as well. Infections around the root of two molars are depicted in the accompanying x-ray photo. Root canal therapy or extraction are the two choices given to treat this type of infection.

Crooked or Misdirected Teeth

Generally called malocclusions, teeth not in the normal dental positions can crowd other teeth, pushing them out of place, sometimes infringing upon soft tissues, causing pain or discomfort. In the accompanying photo, the deciduous (baby) tooth (white arrow) failed to fall out, crowding the adult tooth (green arrow) just in front of it. In addition, a lower tooth is pushing itself into the roof of the mouth, resulting in a painful bite. These type of conditions can be treated by using appliances and/or by extractions of the affected teeth.

This photograph illustrates an upper canine (fang) tooth that has erupted, pointing forward in the mouth. Other names for this condition are lance tooth and rostrally-deviated canine tooth. This condition can be easily corrected orthodontically with a power chain, such as the one shown here.