Dental health care

Many dogs and cats have dental problems like dental plaque, calculus built up, infected gums and damaged teeth. This problems are often only seen once your pet denies eating hard foods, starts to drule, has a bad breath or shows pain in another way.

Teeth problems start with the formation of dental plaque. This is a soft biofilm that sticks to the teeth, it is produced during the day from a combination of food particles, saliva and bacteria in the mouth. If this dental plaque is not removed on time, for example by brushing the teeth, it can turn into a calcified calculus layer. This is a hard usually yellow/brown layer on the teeth, that you cannot remove with brushing alone. Below this hard layer there are still bacteria that cause inflammation of the gums. If the teeth are not clean over time this can cause teeth to become loose and fall out. Some of the ways of keeping your pets teethe clean are brushing the teeth, special diet and extra dental care products.

Teeth brushing:

• Massage: By massaging the lip of your pet over the teeth you already remove part of the tooth plaque.
• Gause:  You can wrap some medical gauze over your fingers and use this to brush the teeth. Your pet is already used to you touching its mouth, so you will probably be able to go underneath the lips and rub over the outside of the teeth.
• Toothbrush: If it is possible for you to do the above two steps, you can start using a toothbrush. This is the most effective way of removing dental plaque
• It is the best if your pets teeth are cleaned on a daily basis. Don’t use human toothpaste for this, your pet can become nauseous. Use special pet toothpaste, this usually has a nice taste, and that makes it fun! ( if you only use some water on the toothbrush or gause that is also fine)

Dental care products:

• Vet aquadent: This is a type of mouthwash, that you put in your pets drinking water. It kills bacteria in the mouth and therefore lessens toothplaque build up and gingivitis. It’s use is most succesfull when used alongside other dental products like special food and tooth brushing.
• Orozyme Buccofresh: This is a powder that you feed your pet through their food. It changes the saliva content which makes it less likely to form toothplaque.