Dental Awareness Month – July and August 2023
It was Dental Awareness Month during July and here at Marshall and Pringle we decided to run educational and promotional dental health month through July and August, so we could reach as many of your pet’s smiles as possible!
Through the hard work of our head nurse Sarah, we managed to obtain a great supply of Prescription Dental biscuits to be given to those pets who had dental procedures performed during this time for free! A great thanks to Royal Canin, Proplan and Hills for their generosity.
What is dental disease?
Dental disease is a painful condition that occurs when bacteria, plaque, and tartar build up on the teeth and get trapped beneath the gumline. The bacteria can be absorbed into the bloodstream and wreak havoc on other major organs throughout the body.
Here are 10 facts you need to know so you can be an advocate for your pet’s oral (and overall) health:
1. Dental disease begins early in life.
By the age of three, most dogs and cats have some degree of dental disease, and the early signs of dental disease in pets include bad breath, yellow tartar buildup on the teeth, and red and swollen gums. Early detection of your pet’s dental disease is vital. If left untreated, it can progress to cause chronic pain and inflammation. To detect dental disease before it negatively affects your pet’s quality of life, we perform dental evaluations at least once a year as part of your pet’s regular preventive care exam during their annual vaccination.
2. Dental disease causes significant, chronic pain in pets.
When dental disease is discovered later, potentially after years of tartar, plaque, and bacteria buildup have caused infection, inflammation, and diseased teeth, your pet has already experienced significant, chronic, life-changing pain. Animals are experts at hiding signs of pain, so it may go unnoticed by you. Instead, you may see that your pet is increasingly irritable and lethargic and has a decreased appetite—changes you may attribute to your pet’s advancing age or other lifestyle factors. After a proper and thorough dental procedure, many pet owner’s report the emergence of “a whole new pet”—one who is happier and more active.
3. X-rays are essential for diagnosing dental disease.
Many teeth that appear normal to the naked eye can be found to have diseased roots and other lesions on dental radiographs.
4. Anaesthesia makes dental evaluation and treatment safer and less stressful for your pet.
Placing your pet under anaesthesia during the procedure allows us to make a more accurate diagnosis and decreases the chance of complications. Your pet will rest comfortably while we safely perform a thorough and proper oral health exam and dental procedure.
5. Anaesthesia is much safer than you may think.
Before anaesthesia, your pet will be carefully screened with bloodwork and examined to ensure they are free from underlying disease. During the dental procedure, an experienced nurse will be dedicated to continuously monitoring your pet, recording vital signs, and communicating the findings to the veterinarian.
6. Non-anaesthetic dentistry is stressful, unsafe, and ineffective.
These are becoming more and more popular and are seen advertised on social media. Imagine multiple strangers holding you down and speaking a language you don’t understand. They’re shining bright lights in your face and inserting sharp, scary instruments into your mouth that pinch and poke. Without anaesthesia, it’s impossible to obtain x-rays to see what lies beneath your pet’s gumline. It is also impossible to clean the teeth using those sharp instruments safely and effectively while the pet is awake.
7. Removing plaque from teeth beneath the gumline is vital.
In fact, it’s even more important than scaling the portion of the teeth we can see. Bacteria thrive under the gumline, causing infections deep in the tooth root and jaw that can spread throughout the body and affect other organs, such as the heart and kidneys.
8. Your veterinarian may create a personalised pain protocol to keep your pet comfortable.
Although your pet will be anaesthetized during a tooth extraction, local anaesthetic injections will decrease the amount of general anaesthetic needed and can last up to eight hours after the procedure, allowing your pet to rest in comfort. We tailor your pet’s prescription pain medication to match the procedure, so they will recover peacefully at home.
9. Homecare is an essential part of taking care of your pet’s oral health.
Brushing your cat or dog’s teeth every day will promote good oral health and prevent potentially expensive surgeries down the road. It’s easier than you think: There are flavoured pet toothpastes including beef, chicken, fish, and peanut butter. Never use human toothpaste, which can contain ingredients like xylitol that are toxic to animals. It is best to start these oral hygiene practices when your pet is young, so that dental disease has less chance of ever starting. Very quickly, brushing your pet’s teeth daily becomes a habit, just like brushing your own teeth.
The accumulation of plaque and tartar can also be reduced by feeding your pet a special dental diet—food that’s specifically designed to help preserve oral health.
10. Not all pet dental products are created equal If you aren’t able to brush your pet’s teeth as often as you’d like, consider using other dental products designed to help maintain your pet’s oral hygiene. Be sure to look for products approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC). Products that aren’t approved by the VOHC, or those that are too hard to bend, or break easily—like animal antlers and bones, synthetic bones, and others—can easily fracture your pet’s teeth.
We stock a variety of oral hygiene products to continue your pet’s dental healthcare at home. Just pop into the clinic and have a chat with our nursing team who will be happy to help discuss your options: toothpastes and brushing, water additives, dental chews, and prescription diets. They can help you decide what will work best for both you and your pet.
Here are some before and after pictures to demonstrate the difference having a thorough dental can make to a pet’s oral health.
