Dental care for you and your best friend

August is Dental Month for both humans and animals. With that in mind, Lowvelder will bring you the latest tips and facts on dental health for you and your four-legged friends.

Man’s best friend

According to a local veterinarian, it is a known fact that more than 70 per cent of animals seen at a veterinary practice have dental disease. So the first thing you should realise is that your pet is not the only one with this problem.

Dental disease is not something that take place overnight – in fact, it takes months.

The slow process starts when bacteria grow on the teeth and form a protective layer called biofilm.

This protects the bacteria from the animal’s natural immune system and manual attempts to kill bacteria, like brushing the teeth. Bacteria then start populating and spread over the entire tooth, causing tar, or plaque build up.

This is followed by infection of the gum, gingivitis. Bacteria start migrating down the tooth to the root. This process is most often irreversible if allowed to get to this point, and one will most probably need to extract the tooth. If still left untreated, it can cause a tooth-root abscess.

This process is very painful and could lead to abnormalities of the jaw bone, resulting in fractures.

We need to remember that pets don’t show pain like we do – so just think of what we go through when we have caries, now try to imagine what your animal feels like.

What would your response be if your dentist told you that you had caries but that he was going to wait another six months and then remove the tooth when it rots?

Dental disease can never be stopped, the only thing that we as owners need to accomplish for our pets, is to try to slow down the process.