Stephanie Groves, DHI Media Staff Writer
Bacteria and plaque-forming foods can cause build-up on a pet’s teeth, which
can harden, resulting in tartar, gingivitis, receding gums and tooth loss. One
solution is regular dental cleanings.
A pet’s “bad breath” or chronic halitosis may be a sign of a
serious health risk, with the potential to damage not only Fido or Fluffy’s
teeth and gums, but also their internal organs.
In recognition of National Pet Dental Health Month,
veterinarians address the significance of proactive oral care for all pets all
year round but especially during the month of February. Delphos Animal
Hospital
“We want to emphasize that pet dental care is most effective
when done on a daily basis and that dental cleanings should be done all year
round, not just in February,” Jones said. “Many pet owners think that giving
their pets tartar-control food and treats alone is adequate. We find that doing
multiple things, including daily toothbrushing or wiping, providing hard rubber
chew toys and dental treats, or using water additives, when all done together
is most helpful. In the end, the pet owner needs to discover what is easiest to
do for their pet’s dental care, while being certain to do it daily. Anything
that provides mild abrasive action to the teeth will be helpful but it needs to
be done regularly; once weekly or once monthly will not be effective.”
She explained with dogs, daily toothbrushing is ideal using
fingerbrushes, dental wipes or a small toothbrush.
“With cats, it’s a little trickier since they have fewer,
smaller teeth and it’s harder to get brushes into their mouths,” Jones
explained. “Cat dental care is best accomplished using flavored dental wipes or
gauze. There are flavored toothpastes for dogs and cats as well. For some pets,
especially cats, using gauze dipped in chicken broth, tuna, or clam juice works
really well, as the flavoring provides a positive experience for the pet.” It all comes down to what works best for the pet owner and pet.
“Before a client leaves the veterinary hospital with their pet
after a professional dental cleaning, we educate them on the importance of and
techniques for providing pet dental care to prolong the benefits of the
cleaning,” Jones said.
Dr. Marisa Tong, associate veterinarian at Delphos Animal
Hospital
“Never use human toothpaste, as it can make pets sick,” Tong
said. “Even though the mint flavored/smelling pet toothpastes make a pet’s
breath smell better, poultry flavored is often preferred by the pet.”
The ASPCA and Dr. Jones recommend taking these steps to make
brushing easier for both the pet and pet owner:
• A veterinary exam before beginning any preventive pet dental
health program will be helpful as your veterinarian can make suggestions for a
dental cleaning or what will work best for your pet. If your pet already has
dental disease, brushing can be painful, setting the dental health program up
for failure.
• Most importantly, acclimate your dog or cat to toothbrushing
at an early age by massaging the pet’s lips with your fingers in a circular
motion for 30 to 60 seconds once or twice a day for a few weeks. Then move on
to the teeth and gums.
• When your pet seems comfortable with mouth handling, put a
little flavored pet toothpaste or a paste of baking soda and water on the lips
to get it accustomed to the taste.
• Next, introduce a toothbrush designed especially for pets — it
should be smaller than a human toothbrush and have soft bristles. Fingerbrushes
or pet dental wipes that you can apply over your finger are also available for
cats and smaller mouths.
• Finally, apply the toothpaste to the teeth using a gentle
abrasive action.
Tong said it is ideal to “flip the lip” and perform dental
assessments every six months and dental cleanings annually. “Dogs and cats that have annual cleanings live longer and carry
less bacteria in their mouths,” Tong explained. “It’s recommended to
anesthetize cats and dogs for ultrasonic dental cleanings. Some pets,
especially smaller pets and those on soft food diets may need ultrasonic
cleanings more often.”
During a dental cleaning, the patient is given an injectable
anesthetic then intubated (an endotracheal tube is placed inside the wind pipe
of an anesthetized patient). The endotracheal tube is then connected to a
breathing circuit used to administer oxygen and inhalant anesthetics.The
patient is monitored for heart rate and oxygen levels in the blood via
equipment and veterinary staff members throughout the procedure.
Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) Angela Unverferth added
ultrasonic scaling uses a rapidly vibrating metal probe and cooling water mist
to remove plaque and tartar on the surface of the pet’s teeth and below the
gumline.
“A routine cleaning takes about 30-45 minutes,” Unverferth said.
“I start with the backside of the teeth and work forward.”
After the cleaning, the patient’s teeth are polished and a
dental sealant can be applied to slow the expected recurrence of plaque.
“There are once-weekly dental sealant (Oravet) applications
available for pet owners to use at home as well,” Tong explained. “We also make
the best use of time when a pet is under anesthesia by doing toenail trims, ear
cleanings and anal gland expressions as courtesy services included with our dental
cleanings.” Tong said the patient is slowly awakened once the last phase of
the polishing begins so as not to keep it under anesthesia any longer than
necessary.
“Once the patient is off inhalation anesthetics, they begin
breathing room air and must start swallowing before we extubate (remove) the
endotracheal tube,” Tong detailed. “The patient will begin breathing more
deeply as they are becoming more awake.” The patient is then transferred into a recovery area where
he/she is further monitored by staff.
Jones also wants pet owners to be aware of the dangers of
allowing Fido or Fluffy to play with, gnaw on or ingest certain dangerous toys
or foodstuffs.
“Dogs sustain many tooth fractures from chewing on items sold as
toys. Nylon toys, pig’s ears, deer antlers and thick soup or knuckle bones can
readily cause damage to pet dental enamel, even though it is the hardest
surface in the body,” Jones explained. “Soup bones may get lodged around a
pet’s lower jaw behind the fangs. We’ve had to saw these bones off from around
the jaw with the pet under anesthesia.”
Also, after chewing on and breaking chew bones, pets can get pieces stuck between their teeth and/or lodged in the roof of their mouths. They also have a likelihood of becoming obstructions in the intestinal tract or causing gastrointestinal inflammation and/or constipation,” Jones said.
No comments:
Post a Comment