FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL VETERINARY DENTAL AWARENESS MONTH
Why is February a special month for veterinary medicine?
February is National Pet Dental Month when veterinarians and their staff like to bring awareness to the importance of maintaining your pet’s oral health. By age 3, approximately 80% of dogs and cats have periodontal disease. Just as in humans, periodontal disease not only causes pain to the pet, it also has detrimental effects on the rest of the pet’s body. All that infection and inflammation in the mouth is harmful to the pet’s immune system, liver, kidneys and heart.
So, what can an owner do to maintain their pet’s oral health?
It’s very important that all pets be examined by a veterinarian at least yearly to evaluate your pet’s mouth as well as his/her overall health; because remember, pets age much faster than we do in 1 year. The best care for your pet is to start training them to accept brushing their teeth. Talk to your veterinarian about other recommended products to aide in reducing plaque buildup. Given all these things, your pet is still going to need a teeth cleaning on a regular basis to remove that buildup UNDER your pet’s gum line, because that is where the problem lies. Just like a visit to your dentist, we do a complete oral exam; probe, clean and polish around each tooth and most importantly (PHOTO 1), we take dental x-rays (PHOTO 2). With the addition of Dental x-rays we can provide a complete picture of your pet’s teeth as 2/3 of the teeth lie under the gum line and are NOT visible to the naked eye (PHOTO 2). Although there is a dramatic different in the before cleaning and after cleaning appearance of the teeth (PHOTO 3), the dental x-rays and complete oral exam provide vital information for your veterinarian so that he/she can provide your pet with the best possible dental care.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PET DENTAL CARE, PLEASE CALL DOUBLE CHURCHES ANIMAL CLINIC AT 706-322-3232! YOU CAN ALSO VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/Pet-Dental-Care.aspx