How to keep your pet's teeth healthy!

Even animals need to get their teeth cleaned every so often. About once a month, you should brush your pet’s teeth, just to remove any plaque buildup that could be harmful to their health. While this will suffice for standard cleaning, your pet will also probably need to get their teeth professionally cleaned by the vet.

For at home brushing, you are going to need a pet dental kit. Just a forewarning, most pets don’t like their owners poking around in their mouths with a toothbrush. Some pets, though, love getting their teeth cleaned. It probably helps that pet toothpaste tastes like treats.

To brush your pet’s teeth:

• Secure them in a comfortable position (you might have to wrap your cat in a towel)
• Gently open their mouths, and brush their teeth with a slow massaging motion
• Give them a generous reward afterwards

At your pet’s annual dental check up, the dentist will probably put them under anesthesia, to keep them still, and pain-free. At this vet appointment, you can expect to receive:

• A blood work-up
• Anesthesia
• A thorough oral exam
• Scale treatment – when tartar is removed from underneath the gum line
• A polishing – when the surfaces of the teeth are smoothed

If the vet finds something wrong during the oral exam, they might have to perform:

• A periodontitis procedure – when the vet applies an antibiotic gel into diseased gum spaces. It will harden initially, and then slowly dissolve over two weeks, taking any dangerous bacteria with it
• An extraction – when teeth are so loose or decayed that they have to be pulled out. Your vet will prescribe pain medication if this is the case.

Your pet will probably enjoy teeth cleanings about as much as you do. But, keeping their teeth healthy is equally important – pets need to have clean, strong teeth to eat and stay healthy