Dog Care 101: Dog Teeth Cleaning
If your dog hasn't received a dental exam, take him to the veterinarian first! It’s time for your dog teeth cleaning! Create a regular dental care routine at home. For example, you can brush your dog's teeth with special canine toothpaste. Never use human toothpaste or mouthwash. They can make your dog sick.
Start early! Grown dogs can learn to become comfortable with dog teeth cleaning, but make things easier for yourself by working with your dog as a puppy. And take your dog to the veterinarian if you see signs of dental problems:
- Bad breathe
- Change in eating or dog chewing habits
- Pawing at the face or mouth
- Depression
- Excessive drooling
- Misaligned or missing teeth
- Discolored, broken, missing or crooked teeth
- Red, swollen, painful or bleeding gums
- Yellowish-brown tartar crust along the gum line
- Bumps or growths within the mouth
aggressive dog chewing on hard objects can cause broken teeth. Make sure you are providing safe objects for your dog to gnaw on. And during your dog's annual check-ups, make sure your veterinarian takes a good look at his or her teeth to keep an eye out for any issue you may miss.
Imagine what your teeth would feel like if you didn’t brush for three years. There would be sensitive gums and a large amount of material and infection under your gum line. I know that I wouldn’t let a dentist clean carefully under my gum line if they hurt that much!
The reason for maintaining good oral health is that it prevents the bacteria and debris under the gums from causing life-threatening infections. You don’t accomplish this if you don’t clean adequately under the gum lines, and you can’t clean under the gum lines if it hurts.
This is the dilemma. If your dog teeth cleaning was done on the daily, you may get away with cleanings while your dog is awake (if he or she is extremely docile). Typically, awake dog dental care focuses on removing the visible tartar and does nothing about the more serious disease under the gums. If, however, like most of us, you do not brush daily, the only option that may give your dog the extra years of life is to have the dog teeth cleaning done while under sedation.
