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Pre-Surgical Information
Spaying or neutering your pet is a big step! There is a lot to consider
when we are planning your pet’s surgery. Here is some information to help
you make wise decisions.
Click here . . .
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Special LibraryOur Special Library
is a collection of informative articles on a variety of health topics.
Click here . . .
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Discharge InstructionsClick here for
information on how to care for your pet at home.
Click here . . .
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 Does
my dog (or cat) need to have his teeth cleaned?
If the question is will your dog or cat die immediately
if his teeth are not cleaned, the answer is no. If
the question is will your dog or cat be healthier and
happier if his teeth are cleaned, the answer is yes.
In modern society, oral hygiene is pretty much expected
for civilized people.
Not only has scie nce
proven that there are huge health benefits to having
clean teeth, it is generally accepted that not brushing
in not cool. To prove the point, we have redneck
jokes about lying through your tooth, a whole
mega-billion dollar industry based on fighting bad
breath, and yeah, baby, Austin Powers. And this is
a good thing. Periodontal disease has a number of
serious complications. Arguably, better oral
hygiene is responsible for a large part of the increase
in human lifespan we have seen in the last century.
While it does not take rocket science to determine that
the dog in the image to the left has big oral health
problems, at what stage of dental disease should we
start treating your dog or cat? How bad is bad
enough? In the past, we have been more tolerant of
bad teeth in our pets. Many veterinarians will
wait until there is massive tartar build-up, along with
severe periodontal disease, bone loss, and tooth damage,
before they would recommend cleaning.
Would your dentist say, "well, Bob, you are developing
periodontal disease which will make your breath smell
like a 
sewer, damage your gums, and eat away the bone that
supports your teeth till they get loose and wobbly.
But why don't we wait till next year when things have
gotten a little worse to start treatment?"
Or would your dentist ever say, "well, Jane, your severe
periodontal disease is showering your body with
bacteria and toxins 24/7 causing kidney and heart
disease, but after all, you are pretty old and it may
not be worth treating you, if you know what I mean."
I don't think your dentist would say that!
Infected teeth, or periodontal disease, start out as
mild plaque build-up with mild inflammation of the gums,
but no deeper involvement and no loss of the supporting
bone. There may not even be much visible tartar
build-up at this stage, and the teeth may appear quite
white and normal. However, there will be a red line at
the margin where the gum meets the tooth. This red
is the same red we see when a cut or scratch gets
infected, and is called inflammation. The red
tissues may bleed easily when touched. There may
be a bad odor, and translucent plaque may be visible.
This is called Stage I Periodontal disease. (For
an in-depth overview of the stages of periodontal
disease,
click here.)
As periodontal disease advances, the infection works
it's way down deeper along the tooth roots. Stage
II Periodontal Disease involves loss of up to 25% of the
boney support of a tooth. This is where we start
to find deep pockets in the gums around teeth when
probed with a dental probe. There is often visible
brownish tartar, and the odor is stronger. The
teeth are not yet loose.
There are more stages of periodontal disease, but I'm
going to stop here. Why? Because for our
purposes, only the first two matter. This is
because only Stage I Periodontal Disease is truly
reversible. That means that once your pet reaches
Stage II, damage has taken place that can never be
repaired. If you wait until the disease has advanced to
Stage II or beyond, there will be permanent gum damage
and permanent bone loss. Once teeth become loose
they do not ever "tighten up" again. And once
pockets have formed, they serve as "plaque traps,"
making it very difficult to keep clean teeth from
getting re-infected.
Our goal is to treat Stage I Periodontal disease before
irreversible damage happens. A professional
cleaning, followed by some preventative measures, can go
a long ways to helping your pet have a healthy and happy
mouth. So don't be surprised when we
 recommend
dental work for your pet even if you can't see terrible
disease. At Sunnyside Veterinary Clinic, our goal
is to maximize your pet's health and well-being.
Early intervention, combined with proper preventative
measures, can greatly improve the quality of your pet's
life.
I hope you have enjoyed this article on cleaning teeth.
Click here for an in-depth
review of dental disease, and
click here for an article on how to brush your
pet's teeth.
It is very important to focus on
the "root" of the problems. That's a
little dental humor. But seriously, a good dental
cleaning starts under the gums. It doesn't matter
how clean and shiny the crowns of the teeth are if there
is still disease and infection left under the gums.
There will still be infected teeth leaking toxins and
bacteria in the system 24/7. |
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