TEETH CARE

 
Since I just blogged the other day about bad breath I thought I'd redo dental care!

 

TEETH CARE

A good nutritional diet will help keep your dog healthy. Another health issue dog owners should deal with on a regular basis is dental hygiene.

We can prevent common dental problems like bad breath, plaque and tartar from forming on our dog’s teeth. This also helps with gum disease: red, swollen and bleeding gums can lead to serious gum disease and infection.

 

                                                                      (TARTAR)

Many dog products and dry diets are available to help remove plaque, which is the bacteria and debris that forms on your dog’s teeth. Tartar is the hard yellowish substance that forms from plaque which hardens after time. Tartar needs a scaling to remove it from your dog’s teeth. In-house brushing with a dog's beef-flavoured tooth paste, or the use of oral rinses, will help reduce plaque, control tartar and prevent gingivitis - which is the inflammation of the gums.

Don’t use human tooth paste as it will upset your dog’s stomach.

 

Frequent checking of your dog’s mouth also will help you to prevent the formation of advanced tooth decay. Untreated gums will recede and teeth will become loose and fall out.

An annual check-up with your dog’s vet and the recommended tooth-scaling and polishing is another preventive measure. You can hand-scale at home if you buy a few dental tools.

Older dogs may paw at there mouths. If your dog is drooling more often, or has stopped eating or eats far less than normal, it may be a sign that they have sore teeth. Often dogs with infected teeth have very bad breath or sneeze regularly; this maybe an indication of an infection.

Attentive home care is your best prevention of dental problems.