Imagine not brushing your teeth for years on end! Not only would you have bad breath and feel uncomfortable all the time, but you would also develop terrible toothaches or even severe gum diseases. This is precisely what happens to some dogs when their owners are oblivious of the importance of good dental hygiene and do not send them for dental scaling. In case you are unaware, oral care is equally important for dogs as it is for us humans.
 |
| Very Bad Teeth |
 |
| Missing and decayed teeth |
By the time they are past 10 years old, the teeth in these dogs would have become rotten. At this point, some dog owners would fall into a dilemma, worrying that their dogs are too old to go under general anaesthesia to clean their teeth (dental scaling). However, did you know that dogs who have bad teeth left uncared for are at risk of death? Bad teeth will cause septicemia, which is blood poisoning. Septicemia will kill a dog, thus it is best to take your dogs to have their teeth cleaned.
 |
| Many rotten teeth extracted during dental |
Most dog owners may not know this: the ideal situation is to bring your dogs for dental scaling every 2 to 3 years. As they get older, the risk of going under general anaesthetic (GA) is higher and riskier. What we do for our senior rescues, we first send them for a heart ultrasound, to ensure their heart is reasonably good. Then we send them for dental, but not under GA. Their dental would be done under Local Anaesthetic (LA) and sedation. Compared to GA, sedation is safer and puts your dog at a lower risk. Although your dog's teeth may not be cleaned as thoroughly under sedation in comparison to GA, it sure beats having rotten teeth!
 |
| After Dental - pearly whites |
One vital mistake dog owners have to ensure not to make is to bring their dogs to the groomers to clean their teeth. Groomers are not professionally trained to clean your dog's teeth. Imagine how terrifying and painful it would be for your dog to stand still for such a long period of time, waiting for the groomer to complete their "teeth-cleaning process". It might be tempting to see the clean, shiny teeth that the groomer promised you and showed you samples of. Unfortunately, this is all superficial. Groomers are unable to clean your dog's gums, which in other words mean that your dog's dental hygiene problems would not be fixed. You wouldn't let your hairdresser clean your teeth, would you? Therefore, please do not allow groomers to clean your dog's teeth. Why not simply take the safe option and just bring your dog to the vet?
 |
| Rotten tooth that fell out while dog was eating |
Written by: Chu Yi
