Dental care for dogs (7 important tips for care)
- Veterinarian Mag.med.vet. Emin Jasarevic
- Updated: 2023-04-11
Want to know more about proper dog dental care? In this article, I'll tell you 7 valuable tips on how to properly care for your pet's teeth and how best to use them. Also, for this article we have chosen Advice from veterinarian Mag.med.vet. Emin Jasarevic obtained. Note: This article is written for the german country.
Dental care and the associated dental health is extremely important for your dog. Teeth do a lot of preliminary work for a successful digestion.
Basic requirements for healthy teeth
First of all, we will address the topic of "healthy teeth". These are not self-evident and require a certain care.
The basic prerequisite for healthy biters is the right dog food. Many products contain Cereals and Sugar. This sugar promotes the formation of certain bacteria in the mouth of the dog.
These bacteria and other ingredients in the feed can cause the Attack tooth enamel, destroy the natural protection and are thus an easy target for bacteria and caries.
At the same time, these teeth are more susceptible to tartar formation. This tartar is then an ideal nutrient medium for bacteria and this can cause gingivitis and other problems.
Do you access the Wrong food back, the health of the teeth and the general health of your favorite is limited.
In addition, many dogs do not take Sufficient liquid to itself. Due to the lack of liquid, the health of the mouth also suffers.
Therefore, make sure that there is always enough water available - even during long walks or excursions.
Visit the veterinarian's office once or twice a year to have your pet's teeth checked. Your pelt nose, just like you, needs a regular checkup for the mouth area.
Also, it is important that you give your darling again and again special chews and Prophylaxis products for your use.
These are in the form of toys, Treats or Chewables administered. Regular exposure to these items promotes dental health.
Why is dental care so important?
Dental care for your furry friend is indispensable. If the care is missing, it can bring many disadvantages.
Dental caries, inflammation and general health problems are some of the disadvantages that come with the lack of care. If the dental care suffers in the four-legged friend, can be the following risks may occur:
1. gum inflammation
Another name for the Gum inflammationis the term "gingivitis". It is a common disease in the furry noses.
About 8 out of 10 dogs suffer from such inflammation once in their life. The main cause of inflammation of the gums is the lack - or lack of - dental care.
The symptoms of gingivitis can be the following:
- Bad breath
- reddened interior of the mouth
- bloody saliva
- purulent deposits in saliva and oral cavity
- Loss of appetite
- Feed refusal
- Weight loss
- Tooth loss
- Fever spikes
- unilateral mastication
- pain.
2. caries
While caries often occurs in us humans, it is rather rare in dogs.
However, it is caused by a lack of dental care. Due to tooth decay, your pet's teeth can become loose and fall out.
The most common cause of tooth decay is poor diet. Many industrially manufactured products have a high Sugar content.
At Caries it is an infection of certain Acid forming bacteria, which proliferate on a high-sugar diet and form acid by breaking down sugar. This acid attacks the enamel and can thus destroy the tooth in this way.
The lack of dental care increases the incidence of tooth decay. To prevent tooth decay, you should improve the dental care of your pet and change the food if necessary.
3. plaque and tartar
Plaque and Tartar are harbingers of gingival inflammation and caries.
Your darling is not yet strongly limited with these symptoms, however plaque as well as tartar can already attack the health.
Due to the tartar, your furry nose is no longer able to chew the food properly.
Feed intake therefore becomes a challenge. The stomach and intestines also suffer.
Plaque and tartar make chewing difficult. Most meals enter the stomach unchewed.
If this is the case, the stomach works more than usual. As a result, more gastric acid is produced. This in turn weakens the stomach lining and attacks it.
4. caution for older dogs
The lack of dental care in dogs leads to dental problems. Special care should be taken with older fur bearers.
They no longer have a strong immune system and their organs lack strength.
If an older four-legged friend suffers from dental problems, it is much more likely that vital organs will be attacked.
7 tips for dental care
Proper dental care for your pet is composed of several points.
A healthy diet can prevent some problems, but it is not the only remedy for dental problems.
Through proper dental care, you will improve the quality of life of your hairy companion, increase its activity as well as its well-being.
So that you are well advised on this point, we have gone in search of the ideal dental care for the dog.
Here are our results:
- The right food
- Food and water supplements
- healthy treats
- Use of special chewing articles
- Dental care toy
- The teeth brushing
1. the right diet
The right diet is the be-all and end-all for dental care.
Give your four legged friend no industrially manufactured products, which have a poor quality.
As a rule, these products contain too much grain and too much sugar. This, in turn, weakens dental health.
Tip: Consider Barfen to apply. Barfing is a healthy diet for your pet. In addition to ready-made products, you can also prepare the meals yourself.
Barfen is a natural way of eating, where you give the ingredients in raw food. One advantage of barfing is the promotion of dental health.
2. nutritional supplements
Various supplements are increasingly used by dog owners. Here, the products are tailored to the dental care of the dog.
They are available for little money in pet stores or on the Internet. They are simply administered by adding the product to the food or water.
3. Treats
The Treats play an important role in mouth hygiene. Many treat products contain too much sugar.
For this reason, you should go for products that have the lowest possible sugar content and promote dental health.
You are welcome to make the treats yourself. Here is a great recipe:
Treat sticks
Ingredients:
- 200 g ground oatmeal
- 150 g granular cream cheese
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 150 °C
- Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix together
- Shape treats as desired
- Line baking tray with baking paper
- Bake treats in the oven for 25 minutes
Vegetable treat
Ingredients:
- 1 carrot
- 300 g potatoes
- ½ zucchini
- 100 g polenta
- 1 tablespoon low fat curd
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Preparation:
- Peel and coarsely chop the carrot
- Potatoes also peel and cut into small pieces
- Grate zucchini
- Preheat oven to 150 °C
- Boil carrot and potatoes until soft
- Mix all ingredients together
- Shape treats as needed
- Line baking tray with baking paper
- Bake treats for 50 - 60 minutes
You can find more recipes in our article "How to bake dog cookies yourself.”
4. special chewing articles
Various Chewables are a great help and an important component, as far as dental care is concerned. The market is full of such items.
This is the reason why more and more dog owners lose track of their choices. We have compiled the best options for you here.
If your pet has a strong and healthy set of teeth and is middle-aged, the following items may be helpful for dental care:
- Ox Ears
- Bullwhip
- Salmon chewing bone
- natural dental care chips
- Peppermint snacks
- Beef tendons
- Beef bones
- Beef lung snacks
- Cattle hooves
- Chewing roots
- Wild Antlers
5. toys for dental care
You can allow your faithful companion to cleverly combine dental care with play activities.
There are more and more products that allow to promote the health of the biters with the help of toys. Please pay attention to the following:
Dental care toys are especially suitable for adult dogs. Do not use them for puppies or older dogs, otherwise the teeth can be damaged.
You need special toys. A visit to the pet store will clarify your most important questions.
6. brushing teeth
On the subject of "Brushing teeth", the opinions of dog owners differ.
While some are against brushing teeth, others advocate this method as the optimal solution.
We also think you should resort to brushing your teeth to improve mouth hygiene.
The claim that quadrupeds used to take care of their teeth on their own before they were domesticated is true. However, you can not compare this with today.
7. the feeding behavior has changed
Due to dog keeping, their natural lifestyle is lost. The feeding behavior suffers as a result.
While the dog used to eat mainly raw food, industrially produced feed products provide too much nutritional value. high sugar content or other ingredients for a lack of dental care..
Therefore, it is recommended to occasionally resort to brushing teeth.
You should make it a fun experience for your pet. Stress and pressure are out of place and are more detrimental than beneficial.
This is how brushing teeth works
Here we give you a quick step-by-step guide on how to make brushing your charge's teeth easier:
1. selection of a command
Through the command your furry identifies brushing teeth with the current situation. The command can be any word.
But at best, make sure that the word you choose is not too long and also only applies to the situation of brushing your teeth.
2. touching the mouth area
A permanent touch to the mouth area will help you get your pet used to the procedure.
Start very simply by touching the muzzle. Open the mouth occasionally and tell him the selected command.
Everything should be casual and without pressure. You can use the second step for some time. It is better to take too much time than too little.
After your dog gets used to being touched, you can bring the toothbrush into play. Touch his muzzle with the toothbrush and try to push it casually into his mouth.
3. accustoming the toothpaste
Once you have successfully applied the previous steps and your dog has become accustomed to them, you can move on to the third step.
In this step, you get your pet used to the toothpaste. As a rule, dog toothpaste already have a pleasant taste for quadrupeds.
Start by touching the muzzle a little with the toothpaste so that your little one gets a taste of this product.
4. combination toothbrush and toothpaste
After you have used steps 2 and 3 for a long time, you can repeat these steps - but this time in combination. This means that you use the toothpaste in combination with the toothbrush.
Additional tip: Make your own toothpaste
Making your own dog toothpaste is not as difficult as you think. You need few ingredients and likewise you must invest little time.
Below you will find instructions for making your own dog toothpaste:
Ingredients:
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp beef-flavored broth powder (e.g. beef broth)
- 1 tsp coconut oil (helps against tartar)
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped peppermint
- ½ tsp seaweed
Preparation:
- Put all ingredients in a bowl
- Mix ingredients
- Put toothpaste in a container and always keep it cold
Frequently Asked Questions
Your dog can get diseases in his mouth, just like humans, if his dental hygiene is neglected. These include tooth decay or gingivitis, which can cause pain.
To maintain your dog's dental health, it is recommended to brush his teeth once a day. You should also provide him with enough chew toys, so he can help clean his teeth himself.
You will need a dog toothbrush and special toothpaste. Get your dog used to brushing his teeth slowly, without pressure and from an early age. You can find detailed step-by-step instructions in our article.
Bad breath in your dog is a sign of too much plaque on the teeth or of tooth decay and gingivitis. In any case, you should take care of oral hygiene if your dog has bad breath.
Like human babies, puppies first develop milk teeth before they grow permanent teeth. The change of teeth takes place around the 16th week of life.
Veterinarian’s Recommendation
You can do a few things to ensure adequate dental care.
Lack of dental care is counterproductive for the health of your pet. For this reason, daily dental care should be a top priority.
The most important points here are the use of the ideal feed and the Brushing teeth.
Find out if the current dog food is beneficial or more detrimental to your dog's dental health and make a change if needed.
Slowly get your charge used to brushing their teeth. No matter what option you apply for dental care.
Stress and pressure are counterproductive and should be avoided. Heed our tips and promote the dental health of your pelt nose.
I am a veterinarian and writer on animal health topics. Animals are my passion, and it is my personal goal to create medically accurate articles and videos to educate pet owners as much as possible.
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