Do your pets always have smelly breath or yucky tartar build up? Or have they just had a teeth clean and they are now sparkly clean? Read this blog post on how to keep on top of your pet's dental hygiene!
Do your pets always have smelly breath or yucky tartar build up? Or have they just had a teeth clean and they are now sparkly clean? Below are some dental hygiene tips!
Dental hygiene is important to start when your pets are young so you can positively get them used to it and they will then hopefully tolerate or like it into adulthood to help keep dental issues arising.
Unfortunately, if your pets has a lot of build up and quite extensive dental disease, this can only be fixed with veterinary treatment of a scale and polish under anaesthetic. Although, to try and avoid this happening there are a few different strategies that may work for some and not others.
- Teeth Brushing: you read that right! Brushing your pets teeth is the best way to keep on top of your pets dental hygiene. Make sure you are using pet toothpaste and a soft brush. Brushing every day, although anything is better than nothing!
- Dental chews: most people will be using these, even if just as treats! They work by not cracking straight away so that your pets teeth have to sink into them, pushing on the surface of the tooth and therefore "cleaning" it. Just be careful with these treats as they can be quite fatty!
- Dental toys: there are a few types of toys that encourage chewing and are slightly abrasive to help rub against your pets teeth.
- Water and food additives: these work by binding with the nasties in the mouth away from the teeth and creating a barrier to protect the teeth from having the bacteria attach and tartar form.
- Dental diets: these diets work in a similar way to the treats in that they don't break straight away so the tooth must press into the food. It also has nutrients within the food that binds with the calcium in the saliva to stop the tartar depositing on the teeth.
If you need help with your dental hygiene routine for your pets, don't hesitate to call the store or pop in and have a chat!