Doggy Dental Care

Nothing causes bad breath like plaque on your best friends teeth.  Soft foods and a dog that does’t love to chew is a recipe for teeth needing a cleaning.  Are you reluctant in having your dog put under anesthesia for dental care?  If so, you may want to do more than just brushing.

You can take your dogs dental care in your own hands.  Many dog catalogs offer tooth ’scalers’.  The use of a scaler in addition to regular brushing will help immensely.

Like my article about using the dremel for nails, you must build up to it.  Always start out slow and work your way up.  Always start with brushing before moving to the scaler!  There are some terrific tasting doggy toothpastes out there.  Again, I recommend you START with brushing before ever trying to perform scaling.  This is because your dog needs to trust you with his teeth over time.

Your first few ‘brushings’ may actually be more about the dog chewing the paste off the brush.  Over time and days of continued attempts, your dog will eventually let you begin to work on his teeth because he will trust that you won’t hurt him.  Remember this, always be careful to not accidentally cause your dog discomfort!  If you make that mistake, it will be difficult to approach him again.

It is always best to ask your Vet for advice on how to scale your dogs teeth.  Professional scaling is always best but if you are a DIY type person, you can scale your dogs teeth all by yourself.  Lots of folks do it or they wouldn’t sell the scalers in almost every dog catalog!

Deep scaling (under the gum line) is ALWAYS best done by your Vet.

Take care and give your dog a treat for me!

Dave