Why does your pet need dental care you ask?

All pets teeth/oral health is assessed by our veterinarians yearly during their annual visits. Your pet’s oral health can affect their health in other ways as well. If your pet has oral health issues such as severe tartar and gum disease, this can actually affect their kidney, liver, and heart health as well. A healthy mouth can prevent several problems from occurring later on such as the following. 
Preventing tooth loss. When the structures supporting a dog’s teeth become damaged or infected the teeth loosen and fall out. Good dental care will ensure the teeth supporting structures stay healthy and keep teeth in place. 
Preventing bad breath. If a whiff of your dog’s or cat’s breath makes you want to run, it's time for some good dental care. When your pet has a healthy mouth, bad breath will be a thing of the past. 

Preventing oral pain. Dental disease, especially severe dental disease, can be quite painful. Keeping your pet’s teeth and gums healthy will help prevent oral pain. 

Preventing organ damage. Bacteria grows and thrives in tartar on your pet’s teeth. This causes the bad breath. However this bacteria can enter your pet’s bloodstream and spread to the heart, kidneys, and liver. This spread of bacteria can damage organs and make dogs quite sick. Good oral health to include routine dental cleanings help prevent this bacteria spread and subsequent organ damage. 

Preventing worsening dental disease. By age 3, over 80 percent of dogs have some form of dental disease. Since so many dogs have dental disease by age 3 it can be difficult to prevent it from developing in the first place. However, good dental care can prevent dental disease from becoming severe and causing problems throughout the body.

Ask our veterinarians about your pet’s oral health at their next annual visit!