Forwarded message - for info, please visit
http://www.paphaven.org/archives/200901.pdf
Note: This article is from The Way Home -
An outreach e-communication from Papillon Haven Rescue
5726 Sagebrush Trail • Arlington TX 76017 • www.paphaven.org •
Issue 32 – January 2009

Canine Peridontal disease & dental home care

“perio” means around, “dontal” means tooth –
“Periodontal disease is disease around the outside of the tooth”

The tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth ...
In this picture (right) we see the crown of the tooth (the part
we see when looking in the mouth), the root of the tooth (the
part we do not see), and the attachment of the tooth to the
bone. The tooth sits in a “socket” and is held there by periodontal
ligaments.

The tooth receives nutrients from blood vessels inside the pulp
chamber of the tooth. Periodontal disease takes place inside
the socket in which the tooth is seated.

Out of all the members of one’s family, the chances are it will
not be difficult to guess who has the worst dental hygiene: your
pets. They do not brush their teeth, nor do they floss, and this
goes on for years. If you are ever curious as to what happens if
teeth go for years without brushing (or you want to show your
children what will become of their teeth should they fail to
brush regularly), you have only to look at your pet’s teeth and
smell your pet’s breath.

A full 85 percent of pets have periodontal disease by age 3 years.

This should not be surprising since there is very little difference
physically between the dog or cat’s tooth and the human tooth.
We all have a set of baby teeth that come in and fall out to make
way for adult teeth. We all have nerves and blood vessels in
our teeth surrounded by dentin surrounded in turn by a very hard
coat of enamel. The enamel is bathed in saliva and quickly is
covered by plaque (bacteria mixed with saliva). If we do not
regularly disinfect our mouths and brush away the plaque,
the plaque will mineralize into tartar (also called “calculus” –
gritty material which the dental hygienist scrapes away). Tartar,
being solid and gritty, blocks oxygen from bathing the outer
tooth and thus changes the nature of the bacteria that can
live around the tooth. The bacteria that can withstand the oxygen-
poor environment (“anaerobic” bacteria) are more harmful to
the bone and tissues of the gum. The periodontal ligament
becomes damaged, the bone around the tooth is literally eaten
away, and the gums become sensitive. Eventually the tooth is lost
and, if the bone damage is severe enough, the jaw can actually break.
Worse still, the bacteria of the mouth can seed other areas in
the body leading to infection in the heart, liver, kidney or
virtually anywhere the bloodstream carries them.

Gingivitis is reversible. Bone loss, once it starts, is not
reversible.

It is a good idea to become comfortable opening your pet’s
mouth and looking inside. Lift the lip and look at the teeth,
especially the back teeth. Open the mouth and look at the inside
of the teeth and at the tongue. If you have pets of different ages,
compare what you see inside.

Look in your pet’s mouth and identify the line of gingival
attachment; approximately 70 percent of the tooth should be
under the gum line.

Professional cleaning
It should not be surprising that dental health requires periodic
professional cleaning regardless of whether the mouth in
question belongs to a person, a dog, a cat, a horse, or some
other animal. Home care of the tooth is never perfect and
periodically tartar must be properly removed and the tooth
surface properly polished and disinfected. The professional
cleaning performed at the veterinarian’s office is similar to
what a person receives at their dentist’s office:

• Gross tartar is removed with special instruments.
• More delicate tartar deposits are removed from the gum
line with other special instruments.
• Periodontal sockets are probed and measured to assess
periodontal disease.
• The roots are “planed,” (meaning tartar is scraped from
below the gum line) until the roots are smooth again.
• The enamel is polished to remove any unevenness left by
tartar removal.
• The mouth is disinfected and possibly treated with a
fluoride sealer or plaque repellent.
• Professional notes are taken on a special dental chart,
noting abnormalities on each of the dog’s 42 teeth.

It is important to note that “non-anesthetic” teeth cleaning is
not comparable to the above service. It is not possible to perform
the “six step” cleaning in a pet without general anesthesia.
Cosmetic cleanings do not address periodontal disease where it
occurs: under the gum line.

Home care products
Toothpaste & brush – Just as with your own teeth, nothing beats
brushing. The fibers of the toothbrush are able to reach between
teeth and under gums to pick out tiny deposits of food. A
toothbrush acts as a tiny scrub brush for the closest possible
cleaning.

Notice the shape of the canine and feline brushes and how they
conform to a pet's mouth. You can use a human toothbrush but
you will probably find it difficult to manipulate in the pet's
mouth. Never use a human toothpaste for a pet as these contain
sudsing agents (people like to see foam when they brush their
teeth) which are not meant to swallowed in quantity. Animal
toothpastes are expected to be swallowed, and come in special
flavors (chicken, seafood, and malt) in addition to the more
human-appreciated mint. Finger brushes are available and
are smaller

for puppies.
Studies have shown that brushing three times a week was
adequate to maintain healthy teeth and gums but daily
brushing was needed to control existing gingivitis.

Do’s ans don’ts of brushing your dog’s teeth
• Don’t use a human toothpaste on your pet.
• Don’t perform dental home care during the first week after
a full hospital dentistry as your pet’s gums may be tender.
• Don’t consider dental home care as an alternative to full
dental cleaning if your pet has more advanced dental disease.
• Don’t attempt to clean the inner surface of your pet’s teeth.
Natural saliva cleans this surface on its own.
• Do use a toothbrush without any paste at first so that your
pet may get used to the object in the mouth before having to
contend with flavor.
• Do try to perform dental home care at least once daily.

Dental Wipes, Rinses, & Pads
Some animals, especially those with tender gums, will not
tolerate brushing but are more amenable to disinfecting wipes
or pads. These products will wipe off plaque deposits from the
surface of the tooth and, though they lack the ability to pick
food particles out of the gum socket, they are probably the next
best thing to brushing and, like brushing, these products are
best used daily.

OraVet – For more information visit:
http://www.oravet.us.merial.com/
This product addresses the convenience factor of pet dental
care. Doing anything in a pet’s mouth daily year after year is
a difficult habit for most people to establish. We have enough
trouble taking care of our own teeth. Oravet is a wax-like
substance applied once a week to the outer surface of the
teeth with a swab (though it can be used even daily for
pets with particularly bad gingivitis). Oravet prevents plaque
from attaching to the tooth and provides a helpful mode of
dental care on an easy to follow schedule.

Dental treats – For many people, doing anything inside their
pet’s mouth on a regular basis is simply never going to happen.
Fortunately, all is not lost: chewing on a proper dental chew
can reduce plaque by up to 69 percent. This may not be as
good as brushing but it certainly beats doing nothing. There
are many products available for both dogs and cats. How often
does the pet need to chew? One study using the Pedigree
Dentabone showed excellent results but dogs were provided
with a chew bone six days a week. Many dogs are not as
interested in chewing.

Not all chews are alike. Chewing provides abrasion against
the tooth removing plaque and tartar. Some chews and biscuits
include the ingredient: Hexametaphosphate which prevents
the mineralization of plaque into tartar. (In one study, two
such biscuits daily removed 46 percent of tartar in time.)

Greenies – This particularly popular chew treat has generated
some recent controversy and deserves some special mention.
The greenie is a green chew treat for dogs, found effective
in removing plaque and is generally found highly palatable
to dogs. Original greenies were made with wheat gluten which
dissolved slowly in the stomach. Some pets swallowed large
chunks of greenie, the greenie failed to dissolve in the
stomach and intestinal obstruction resulted. There were
actually some deaths reported. Since then, the greenie has
been reformulated using soy instead of wheat. The new greenie
is actually flexible and its manufacturer feels past problems
have been resolved. The new formulation came out mid-
2006 and is available in both canine and feline treats. Both
are approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council, a group
which awards its seal of approval to treats and diets showing
scientific evidence of plaque and tartar retardation. For a list
of products currently approved visit:
http://www.vohc.org/accepted_products.htm

Dental diets – There is a common misconception that simply
feeding a kibbled diet will protect the teeth from dental disease.
Consider what it would be like to attempt to replace brushing
your own teeth with eating crunchy foods and it is easily see
how ineffective this method would be. When it comes to pet
foods, much of the kibble is swallowed whole and not chewed
at all. Clearly, there must be more to a dental diet than simple
kibbling and in fact there is. Dental diets on the market today
use several techniques to help reduce plaque. The first is
that the kibbles are very large which means the pet must
chew them before swallowing them. These diets are high
in fiber which means the kibbles do not shatter when
chewed but instead the tooth sinks into the kibble allowing
plaque to be essentially scrubbed away. The large kibbles
may pose an acceptance problem for the pet leading the
owner to use them as treats or mixed with other kibbles.
The smaller the percentage of the diet these kibbles
represent, the less benefit will be reaped. It is important to
realize that these diets are helpful only in cleaning molars
and premolars (i.e. the chewing teeth) and do not help the
fangs or incisors.

Porphyromonas (Periodontal) Vaccineperiodontal vaccine
This vaccine represents the newest tool in the prevention
of periodontal disease. It was released by Pfizer in early
2007 for use in dogs only, after nearly half a million test
doses administered and studied. The targets here are the
anaerobic bacteria responsible for bone destruction in
advanced periodontal disease. There are hundreds of
bacteria involved in periodontal disease but three
species in particular are present in 3/4 of cases:
Porphyromonas salivosa, Porphyromonas denticanis, and
Porphyromonas gulae. These are bone-eating anaerobic
bacteria and vaccine against them helps to reduce bone
loss in more severe cases of periodontal disease. The
vaccine is NOT a replacement for other modes of home
care and certainly does not prevent periodontal disease.
It is given as an introductory series of two vaccines 3
weeks apart and annually thereafter. Ideally it is given
when the mouth is healthy (i.e. a few weeks after
cleaning or in younger patients). At this time it is not
considered a “core” vaccine by the American Animal
Hospital Assn. which means it is not felt to be a basic need
for every dog, though many veterinary dentists dispute this
and we may see in time that it becomes part of every
dog’s basic immunization protocol. At the time of this
writing, the duration of immunity from vaccination with
this product has not been determined.

What works best for your Papillon ... or mine?
As we all know, there are dozens of products on the market
to help with canine dental issues. But the BIGGEST part of
this discussion is “what works best with your dog?” I know
some dogs think it’s a great game to play with a toothbrush.
My dogs, on the other hand, would rather chew off my hand
than let me near them with a toothbrush! For me to look at
their teeth is practically a fight! So for us, we use Suzie’s
Tartar Control – http://suziestartarliquid.com/ – and it
works wonders! A little bit in their daily fresh water and VIOLA ...
teeth stay clean & bright! ‘That “fresh from the dentist” clean!’
Other members use Leba II; some use enzymatic toothpaste;
still others use the oldfashioned toothbrush and chicken-
flavored toothpaste! Use what works best for your dog to
get the maximum results!

Posted on SHARE Yahoo group - Jan. 8, 2009