July 27, 17

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If you’ve ever been to a vet practice, you must have heard  something along the lines of “Your pet’s teeth need cleaning” or  “You need to brush your pet’s teeth”. My question to you is, “Do you follow your vet’s recommendation?”.

Ok, so my pet’s teeth are bad. I get that. Then what? Where do I go from there? Well it will be either one of these:

  1. Revisit your vet and have them clean.
  2. Go for cheaper option by seeking for non-anesthetic dental.
  3. Do nothing.

Which one are you? Some of you might have even crossed this thought “Ok this vet is trying to rip me off”. Hard decision to make.

Let me start off with why dental brushing/cleaning is necessary. Dental plaque forms within 8 hours. With or without food. The plaque becomes tartar eventually. Once the plaque forms, it will NOT be removed by brushing teeth without more aggressive type of dental care. This is why your dentist recommends 3 times of dental brushing every day. 8X3=24hrs.Well I think you got it.

Now realistically, can you brush your pet’s teeth three times a day? If you can, that is just awesome! But most of you won’t be able to or not willing to. So you need your pet’s teeth cleaned regularly by somebody somehow.

Over time, your pet’s teeth will accumulate plaque and tartar. The tartar will become visible to you. But only if you actually check their teeth, which you normally don’t. Even without the visible tartar, the plaque may still be there. Their breath in most pets is a tell-tale sign.

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The bottom line is if you see any yellow, brown, black materials stuck to your pet’s teeth, your pet absolutely needs dental cleaning. If you look at your teeth in the mirror, most of you (I hope you are one of these) don’t see any tartar but your dentist still barks at you saying you need dental scaling, right? Then what would your dentist say if you have those yellow, brown or black tartar like your pet on your teeth?

The tartar and plaque not only rotten the pet’s mouth but also cause multiple organ issues. The bacteria travel to heart, kidneys and other organs and imagine what they would do to the body.

If you have recently visited your vet and heard your pet’s dental would cost you more than a grand, that means your pet’s teeth are in disastrous condition needing dental extractions. I’m sorry to hear that but it is what it is. The damage has been done. Unless you mean to let your pet suffer, proceed with the procedure and start daily dental hygiene afterward to minimize cost in the future and maintain your pet’s health.

Lastly, no vets would recommend non anesthetic dental. Why? Because it’s inhumane, torturous, ineffective, merely cosmetic and potentially dangerous procedure. If you like visiting your dentist and having to keep your mouth open while he/she pokes around your teeth and gum without giving any anesthetic and you think the same can be applied to your pet, I have only one thing to say. You’re gravely mistaken about your pet. No animals willingly keep their mouth open when a stranger messes with their mouth. Hence the stranger pries open the mouth and moves around the sharp scaler in their mouth. While they are at it, your pet WILL move. One little jerk can make the blade of the scaler wound the gum. That might introduce bacteria into the bloodstream or further the tooth/gum infection. I have seen too many patients that ended up having to receive dental procedure here after they had visited non-anesthetic dental places.

Oral cavity is the gateway of so many substances in pet’s daily life. Without proper care, it will go bad. Routine trip to your vet and dental cleaning is the minimum you can provide in order to ensure a healthy quality of life for your pet.