Matthew Raleigh, a veterinary dentist and oral surgeon with Capital Area Veterinary Oral Surgery on our Top Vets List, shares tips for caring for your pets’ teeth.
How can pet owners best care for their pets’ teeth?
Just like for humans, daily tooth brushing to remove plaque is the absolute best way to prevent periodontal disease. Many dental chew treats are also very effective at this. Sprays, gels, water additives, and powders are much less effective. Avoid chew toys that are harder than enamel. Our biggest providers of tooth fractures are antlers, real bones (femur/marrow, etc.), hard/stiff plastic bone brands, yak cheese chews, rocks, and cow hooves.
Why is pet dental health so important?
Tooth disease, as we all know, can be painful. Periodontal disease also affects overall inflammatory status — and even shortens lifespan. Vets’ treatment recommendations for dogs and cats are aimed at maintaining or improving overall health and quality of life, and dental care is no different.
How do you know when something is wrong or needs attention?
You almost always don’t. Dogs and cats almost never show any discernable symptoms of even severe dental disease. Veterinary patients are infamous for disguising their pain — they have very strong drives to play and to eat, and dental pain doesn’t stop them from eating. The truth is it’s not that different from humans: The only real way to know is through a professional dental evaluation and X-rays.
What do you wish more pet parents knew about dental care?
Periodontal disease is the No.1 most common medical diagnosis in pet dogs and cats, and it starts much earlier than previously believed. As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so trust your vet when they talk about preventing dental disease.
Feature image, Svetlana/stock.adobe.com
This story originally ran in our July issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
