At Home Pet Dental Care Tips from our Virginia Beach Veterinarian
Being vigilant about your pet's dental care is important not only for the longevity of your pet's teeth, but his overall health as well. Proper oral care prevents gum infections, plaque build-up, tooth loss, heart, lung, and kidney disease -- not to mention bad breath!
Our Virginia Beach veterinarian staff has put together these tips to ensure your pet's teeth remain problem-free.
At Home Care
Although it's important for you to bring your pet into our veterinary clinic for a oral examination and professional teeth cleaning, it's also critical for you to maintain a proper teeth cleaning schedule for your pet at home. Our animal hospital technicians will be happy to demonstrate the proper pet at home cleaning method, but you should also follow these recommendations:
- Do not use a human toothbrush. The bristles are too hard for a pet and can cause gum damage. Brush your pet's teeth once per daily, if possible.
- Make cleaning your pet's teeth a daily routine. At the same time and same place each day have your pet sit, then rub around his/her outside of the mouth. Give praise and a treat. Repeat this daily until your pet is coming to that spot and waiting for his/her special treat at that time each day. Then start rubbing on the teeth and gums. Each day do a little more. Then start using a soft cloth or gauze pad to wipe the teeth, Then start putting some pet toothpaste on the gauze pad. Finally you can graduate up to using a pet tooth brush with tooth paste. This step by step training technique increases the likelihood that you will be able to do an effective job of cleaning the teeth. Certain diets (such as Hill's Healthy Advantage) also help clean the pet's teeth as they chew their food.
- Don't replace at home oral care completely for a full professional veterinarian cleaning.
- Do provide treats designed to clean pet's teeth in between brushing.
Virginia Beach Pet Dental Care
The veterinarians at our animal clinic are focused on keeping your pet's mouth clean and healthy by performing routine oral examinations, regular cleaning, and providing fluoride treatments and medications to prevent future teeth, gum, and overall health problems. Diagnostic tools, such as X-rays, will be used to identify any tooth-related problems. If an infected tooth is discovered, our vet will schedule surgery for its extraction. With proper professional and at home care attention, you can dramatically improve the health of your pet's teeth and general health.
What tricks and tips do you follow to get your pet to co-operate with at home cleanings?