February is Pet Dental Health Month! Dental health is a very important part of your pet’s well being. A lot of other underlying health issues can be brought back to your pet’s dental health. Their teeth can get covered in a substance called tartar and this can start to form other issues, like gingivitis or infections. There are a few things you can do to help with your pet’s dental health.
Brush their teeth! It comes as second nature to us, but what about your pet? You can brush their teeth as often as you brush your own, but doing it at least two times a week will cut down their tartar significantly. Make sure you use a pet tooth paste when brushing their teeth, and nothing made for humans.
Give your pet dental treats. Dental treats are designed to help break the tartar off of your pet’s teeth as they chew. Many also freshen breath along the way. At the clinic we offer Science Diet T/D, Veggiedent Fresh, and OraVet. To learn more about how these work, visit our Dental Health page.
Lastly, have your pet come in for a dental consultation. Dr. Alexander and Dr. Webber can assess your pet’s needs and let you know if your pet is in need of a dental. Pet dentals are very common procedures that many pets need as they grow older. It allows us to scale the tartar off, polish, seal, and x-ray your pet’s teeth to see if there are any underlying issues we need to address.
In the video below, we go into a little more detail about how to brush your pet’s teeth with pet toothpaste and a pet toothbrush.
In this second video, Dr. Alexander preforms a dental consultation on a 5 year old canine who regularly eats dental chews and has weekly teeth brushing.
After watching the video, here is a closer look at the teeth that Dr. Alexander reviewed.
