Claire and her daughter Lucy are in the waiting room with their dog Jack . Mum and daughter rescued the Jack Russell a week ago and they noticed he had very smelly breath. After an initial check up they’ve brought Jack back in this morning for some dental work.
We recommend that from a very young puppy you get your dog used to having its teeth brushed. We recommend you start even just with your finger, getting your dog used to having your finger in its mouth. There’s even small toothbrushes that are like a thimble that can fit on your finger. And then the next step would be to be using a soft toothbrush. So soft bristles that’s not going to damage your dog’s gums.
According to the PDSA 36% of owners never clean their dogs’ teeth and only 11% clean their dogs’ teeth daily.
The best toothpastes out there are called enzymatic toothpastes that actually work alongside the bacteria in the mouth to help stop plaque from forming. We do recommend that you brush your dog’s teeth preferably twice a day, as we say with people. But obviously anything that you can do to brush your dog’s teeth is better than nothing.
There are dental sticks out there and special biscuits that are formulated to help crack tartar off the teeth as they’re eating them. But if your dog has never had its teeth brushed and now it is quite elderly sometimes there is just too much tartar on there to get off with brushing or with biscuits. In that situation, it might be better to seek veterinary advice and they may wish to have your dog in for the morning like Jack, have her teeth cleaned under anaesthetic and then start some dental hygiene once they go home.
Jack’s a very good example of what might happen if you don’t clean your dog’s teeth. But as long as his owners look after his teeth now he’s back at home, then he shold never need any further dental work.