Cleaning your dog's dirty teeth.

I've had dental health on the mind lately.  Partially because I just went to see the dentist for the first time in two years, but also because I've noticed recently that some of Leopold's back teeth are starting to build up a thick coat of tartar.  There's also some redness along the gumline around the teeth.  These are signs of dental disease!  Oh no!
Another sign of dental disease, also called periodontal disease, can be really bad-smelling breath; and yup, Leopold's breath is kind of funky right now (I just took a sniff. Eww).

Just like humans, dogs can get dental disease.  From my experiences, its pretty common that they do.  The majority of older dogs that I see at the clinic have some degree of dental disease, and some of the oldest dogs I work with have breath that could wilt a redwood because of the severity of their dental disease.  Aside from malodorous breath, dental disease can cause serious, negative health effects not only in your dogs mouth, but in its entire body.  I'm not going to go into details, but many of the same dental issues that can affect humans can also affect dogs.


So the question is... how do you clean your dog's dirty teeth?
Here's my answer:

One of Leopold's favorite games is "brushing teeth".  Here he is waiting
patiently for me to put toothpaste on the brush and start the game.

1.  Brush your dog's teeth.
It seems to me that brushing a dog's teeth still hasn't quite caught on in the dog owner community.  It's starting to, but it still seems that the majority of dog owners (at least the ones I know) do not brush their dogs teeth.  Help get this trend going!  Brushing your dog's teeth will prevent or delay the need for a professional dental cleaning, prevents the need for tooth extraction, helps with bad breath issues, and can be a fun activity for your dog!  My dogs actually really like to have their teeth brushed.  They like the attention and they like the flavor of their dog tooth paste (so the toothpaste is like a treat for them!).  For some tips on brushing your dog's teeth, check out a post I wrote a while back.
Brushing your dog's teeth will help clean them because dog toothpastes are specially formulated to help break down plaque buildup via enzymatic activity.  I should note that you should never use human toothpaste on a dog because its harmful if swallowed, and a dog is guaranteed to swallow it.

I try to brush my dog's teeth as often as I can remember, but sometimes it only gets done twice a month.  Sad face.  I've been trying harder, lately, to remember to brush their teeth every day--especially since I've noticed Leopold's dental disease.  I leave their toothbrush and toothpaste sitting near my computer on my desk; that way I see it and it reminds me to brush their teeth.  Some people like to brush their dogs' teeth right after they brush their own as a way to remember.


2.  Give your dog bones to chew on.

Leopold chewing on an antler.

I provide my dogs with real bones, synthetic bones (Nylabones), and antlers to chew on.  (Though I only leave the Nylabones on the floor for them to access at all times.  I keep real bones and antlers up away until I can be in the same room with them to supervise.  Here's a post explaining why I do this.)
Leopold doesn't seem to like to chew on bones without some encouragement.  I've tried dipping a bone in chicken broth to entice him, which worked well enough.  He really enjoys antlers, however, so I usually go that route with him.
Halo, on the other hand, chews on her Nylabone daily, and loves to chew any bone she can get her paws on.  As a result, her teeth look pretty good!
The reason is that chewing on bones scrapes plaque and food residue off the teeth.  If there's no plaque and food bits, there's nothing for bad bacteria to live on; bad bacteria are the cause of dental disease, so if the bacteria have nothing to live on, dental disease won't happen!

To help fight off Leopold's current dental disease, I plan on making sure he spends a little time chewing on an antler every day.  I've done this for two days so far and already some of the tartar has chipped off and some of the redness has gone away.  woo-hoo!

3.  Take your dog in for a dental cleaning.
I've not had to do this yet for my dogs, so I can't relate any personal experience.  My goal is to never have to bring my dogs in for a dental cleaning.  From my understanding, dog dental cleanings can be done by most veterinarians, though specialized veterinarians, dog dentists if you will, do exists.  Usually the procedure involves some sort of sedative or anesthesia.  I've heard of some professionals who are skilled at cleaning dog teeth without sedatives or anesthesia, but I imagine it depends a great deal on the dog.


4.  Feed your dog a healthy diet.  
Just like humans, a crappy doggy diet is bad news for doggy teeth and dental care.  I haven't done a post on doggy diet yet, but I'm planning on it because there's more to say than I want to say right now in this post about teeth.  So stay tuned.


 
5.  Pay attention to the state of your dog's teeth!
If possible, don't leave it up to your veterinarian to examine your dog's mouth.  The first step to keeping your dog's teeth clean is knowing when they're not!  I look at my dogs' teeth at least once a week, sometimes more often.  I've noticed Leopold's molars building up more and more plaque, but recently I noticed redness.  I noticed because I've been looking.
At this point, my dogs are very used to me lifting up their lips to look at their teeth.  I usually do it as part of normal doggy attention time.  I give them some pets, then look at their teeth real quick, then give them more pets.  In other words, its a positive experience, so they safely let me do it.





I'm optimistic that with diligent bone chewing time and teeth brushing, I'll be able to reverse the dental disease that has started to occur in Leopold's mouth.  Of course, if it doesn't work after all, I'll be looking to visit a dog dentist in the near future, as I want to help my dogs live as healthy and happy a life as I know they deserve.

I hope this post helps you if you're in the same situation.
If nothing else, I hope this post helps put "dog dental health" on your radar! :-)

Nylabones: for dogs who love to chew.

What’s the deal with Nylabones?


Nylabones have been around for a long time and have sort of been a doggy staple around my house; I remember my childhood dog, Max, having one, and it was one of the first things I bought when I got Leopold and then Halo. If you’re a dog person, its very possible you're already familiar with Nylabones. But if you're not, then this is the perfect post for you!

Nylabone is a brand name that originally sold only synthetic bones. Though they now have lots of products, their original bone is made of a hard plastic that is supposed to be appealing for dogs to chew. The idea is that as the dog chews the bone, little burs are formed which then scrape the dog’s teeth, helping to keep teeth clean and healthy! For most dogs, the bone is hard enough that they can’t chew off more than tiny pieces at a time; the tiny pieces are safe for a dog to swallow and are safe to pass through the digestive system.
I like to keep at least one Nylabone around for my dogs. My dogs love to chew on them (especially Halo!). Not only do Nylabones do a good job of keeping my dogs’ teeth clean, it’s a good activity to keep them busy and happy. Nylabones are good for powerful chewers and last a long time (Leopold and Halo have been working on their most recent bones for a good month now and most of the bone is still intact!).

Think your dog would like a Nylabone?
You should be able to pick one (or more!) up at your local pet store, or you can get them here from amazon.com: Nylabone Dura Chew Giant Original Flavored Bone Dog Chew Toy

Halo and Leo's Nylabone after a month of chewing.

A word of caution.

There is a softer version from Nylabone that are advertised for puppies. These bones are not safe for adult dogs or even older puppies. If your dog or puppy is chewing off chunks of their Nylabone, take it away immediately! (That goes for regular Nylabones, also—I know there are some super powerful chewers out there that could possibly take off large chunks from regular Nylabones, too).
I learned the hard way that puppy Nylabones can make a dog very ill if consumed:
Halo was still young when we brought her home—I considered her a “puppy”. So naturally I bought a puppy Nylabone. I gave her the bone and let her chew on it a while; she was thrilled with her chew toy. When I went to check on Halo (I like to keep an eye on my dogs when they’re chewing things), I discovered that Halo was annihilating her new bone. There were chunks and bits of Nylabone all over the floor. It seemed that Halo was eating some of the pieces, too, so I took the bone away. I instead gave it to Leopold, who loves to chew things, but tends to spit the pieces out instead of ingesting them. I assumed he’d do the same with this chew toy. I was wrong. Apparently the synthetic bone tasted too much like food and Leopold instead consumed the pieces he was chewing off. I didn’t realize this until Leopold had consumed at least half of the bone. He became very ill and spent the next two days vomiting up pieces of Nylabone. Halo was also ill, though less so because she consumed less pieces. It was awful and I felt horrible for letting this happen to my dogs!
So learn from my mistake and be very careful when letting your puppy chew on a puppy version of Nylabone.

Happy chewing!

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