Tooth Care Facts

The American Veterinary Dental Society recommends a full dental cleaning every six months for your pet, just the same as your dentist recommends for you. Still, imagine what that cleaning procedure would be like for you if you did not brush your teeth at all between dental visits. Dental home care is the single most important aspect of regular dental care. With proper home care, your pet may not need that six month dentistry, thus saving you the expense and your pet the extra anesthetic.

What kind of Home Care is available? A Tooth brush Kit, just as with your own teeth, nothing beats brushing. The fibers of the tooth brush are able to reach between teeth and under gums to pick out tiny deposits of food. A tooth brush acts as a tiny scrub brush for the closest possible cleaning. We recommend a Finger brush for small dogs We also recommend to use a tooth brush without any paste at first so that your pet may get used to the object in the mouth before having to contend with flavor. Special "starter" dental kits for puppies are available as well. These will help you accommodate your young pet to dental care right from the start.

What kind of tooth paste do I use? Do not use a human tooth paste on your pet! Tooth paste for people contains sudsing agents which are not expected to be swallowed. These will upset your pet's stomach as your pet is not able to rinse out his or her mouth, and because of a yorkies small size their could be risk involved. Pet tooth paste comes in a variety of flavors: mint (which people tend to prefer as a scent but animals do not prefer as a flavor), chicken, liver, and malt (generally preferred as a flavor by pets).

What about Dental Sprays? Some pets will not allow any one to actually touch their teeth. For these pets there is dental spray which can be sprayed into the mouth as an anti-plaque wash. As noted above, the spray can be applied to a tissue or cloth and rubbed on the teeth as well.

Do's and Don?ts of Dental Home Care:

1) Do not use a Human tooth paste on your pet

2) Do not attempt to clean the inner surface of your pets teeth, natural salva cleans this surface on its own.

3) Do try to perform dental home care at least once daily while getting you puppy used to the routine, then weekly.

4) Do not perform dental home care during the first week after a full dentistry in the hospital as your pet's gums will be tender.

5) Do not consider dental home care as an alternative to full dental cleaning if your pet has more advanced dental disease.