According to the American Dental Society, by the age of three, dental illness has manifested itself in eighty percent of dogs and seventy percent of cats. If dental illness is not adequately detected or treated, it can lead to more serious health concerns such as heart disease, lung disease, and kidney disease. If dental disease is not effectively treated, it can also go unnoticed. It is essential to the health, well-being, and longevity of your pet’s life that you provide him or her with the dental care he or she needs from an early age.
Dental problems account for a significant portion of the total costs associated with veterinary care. The price of routine teeth cleanings for your pet can range anywhere from $70 to $350, depending on the severity of any dental problems that your pet may be experiencing. This is done to maintain the oral health of your cat. When your pet to get their teeth cleaned, your veterinarian will typically make that recommendation. Your pet can retain healthy teeth for a number of years without needing a professional cleaning as long as you brush their teeth regularly at home and take them to the veterinarian for checkups on a regular basis. If your pet requires an oral examination or teeth cleaning, pet insurance may be able to help cover the expenses of these preventative care procedures so that you do not have to pay out of pocket to maintain the oral health of your pet.
There are a number of things that can be done at home to keep your dog’s or cat’s oral health in good condition and reduce the number of trips to the veterinarian that are required for dental health-related issues. You may help protect your pet from dental disease, gum inflammation or infection, bad breath, and other dental difficulties by doing routine oral examinations on your pet and brushing their teeth at home.
Pet Dental Health At Home
When your pet is still young, get started. It is critical to begin teaching your new puppy or kitten how to properly care for their teeth as soon as possible after you bring them home. Teach them to sit so that you may properly clean and/or rinse their teeth in the same way that you would teach your puppy his first trick. It is vital to get your pet acclimated to letting you touch the inside of their mouth so that you may examine their teeth and brush their teeth when the time comes. Praise your pet for their wonderful behavior while you open and examine their mouth, and make sure that this experience is as pleasant as possible for your animal companion at all times.
It is in your best interest to begin cleaning your pet’s teeth at home and evaluating their mouth by beginning with a clean mouth for your pet. Your veterinarian will be able to tell you whether or not your pet has any preexisting dental issues that you should be aware of during the first examination and cleaning that they perform. This will allow you to begin with a fresh slate.
Cleaning Teeth At Home
- Make sure you have a toothbrush and toothpaste that is appropriate for you. The best kind of toothpaste for your pet is enzymatic toothpaste since it eliminates plaque and contains fluoride, which eliminates bacteria. When brushing your pet’s teeth, never use human toothpaste because it may contain bleaches, irritants, baking soda, and fluoride, all of which could cause stomach discomfort if consumed by your pet. Instead, use pet toothpaste made specifically for animals. There are many different kinds of enzymatic toothpaste, and many of them come in flavors like beef, chicken, lamb, or malt that can make the toothbrush a fun “treat” for your pet. In addition to investing in enzymatic toothpaste, make sure to pick up a unique toothbrush designed specifically for use on animals before beginning at-home dental care. Toothbrushes designed for humans, including those designed for children, are much too abrasive for our pet’s teeth. Local pet stores typically carry a variety of dental care products, including finger caps with ribs and toothbrushes with softer bristles.
- You should take it easy and slow while introducing the toothpaste and toothbrush to your pet. While you maintain control of the toothbrush, let your pet investigate it by sniffing it and maybe even gnawing on it a little bit. In order to get your pet used to having his mouth examined by you, you should first acclimate him to the procedure of having his teeth cleaned by rubbing his gums and moving his lips.
- To begin, use circular motions to clean along the gumline of the top teeth as you brush them. Although plaque builds up most easily on the top teeth, it is still necessary to brush all of your pet’s teeth, including the top and bottom ones. When you brush your pet’s teeth, you should use circular motions that go up and down and cover around three to four teeth at a time. Keep the process of cleaning your teeth brief and simple. Although it won’t always go smoothly, it’s crucial to maintain a steady approach and keep plugging away at it. Even if we don’t do a particularly good job of brushing our pet’s teeth, the enzymes in the toothpaste will still be beneficial to their oral health.
- To preserve your pet’s oral health in between brushing sessions, try treating your pet too roughly with food and biscuits. The plaque buildup on the teeth can be reduced with the consumption of hard foods and snacks. Be sure to check the mouth of your pet for signs of periodontal disease on a frequent basis, even in between visits to the veterinarian and brushing sessions at home. There are a number of warning symptoms, including teeth that have turned brown, chronic foul breath, gums that are inflamed or bleeding, and pus between the teeth and gums. You should talk to your vet if you see any of these symptoms in your dog or cat.
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