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How To Brush Your Dog's Teeth Hi, I'm Dr. Mike, and this is Mandy, and Lola.
Today we'd like to demonstrate the proper technique for brushing your pet's teeth. A
lot of times, on a routine patient exam, clients will ask, do I really need to brush my pet's
teeth? My answer is simple. Yes you do. Gingivitis and tartar can advance to another stage called
periodontal disease, or even form dental abscesses. This is important because these infections
can actually spread systemically to other major organs, including the heart valves,
the liver, and even the kidneys. So it becomes very important that we learn to keep a routine
management or monitor your pet's mouth, and I want to teach you how to
do that. First of all, I want you to get into the habit
of looking into your pets mouth. I want you to know what is normal. So we can look at
their teeth, we can smell their breath, and we can even open their mouth if they're going
to let you. This is good to get in the habit of, because once you know what normal is,
then if something changes, a broken tooth, reddening of the gums, which is called gingivitis,
or even a growth, or some other change, or even simply that their breath changes. These
are things that if you notice, you want to bring it to the attention of your veterinarian.
There are a couple of things we need for brushing their teeth. Of course, we need toothpaste.
We want to use a pet approved toothpaste. Don't use human toothpaste. They come in a
variety of flavors, from malt flavors, to mint, to poultry. And you want to find which
one your pet likes, because if they like the flavor of it, it's going to make it an enjoyable
experience for them. The easier it is for you, your going to like doing it, and then
we can do it on a routine basis. So that's very important.
The second thing is, we're going to want to get a toothbrush designed for pets. Again,
the size of your pet will make a difference. There are toothbrushes that are large for
big dogs. This one is nice because it has two sizes on it. There's some that are small,
for medium or small sized dogs. And so, when we get a toothbrush, we're going to put a
little bit of toothpaste on it, and we're going to see how Lola likes it. Since she's
small, we're going to go ahead and use the smaller end of the toothbrush here. Some specialists
now believe that the better way, or more efficient, is to go in a straight path. So let's go ahead
and get started. So we're going to try it with Lola here.
Now, again, we'll get back in here, and you just need to do the outside of the teeth,
and it works pretty quick, getting it on here. The tongue will take care of what's on the
inside, so don't need to worry about that, which makes it a lot easier to clean the teeth.
Second, ninety percent of tarter is actually on the outside of the teeth, so that's what
we want to focus with. Lola loves this flavor. This is poultry; she loves it. So that's how
we brush our teeth. It's very simple, it's very fast. The key is doing it on a routine
maintenance. I recommend doing it daily, and most specialists do. If you are only doing
it once a week or once a month, it's not going to do anything. Daily is the key.
I also wanted to let you know that there are a couple of other things that we can do for
cleaning the teeth. First and foremost, brush teeth daily. You must remain committed. Dental
diets; there are special diets that can be mixed with your pet's current food to maintain
good dental health. Gels can be applied weekly to prevent bacteria from sticking to the teeth.
There are drinking water additives that might help fight plaque. And also chew toys, but
ask your veterinarian for approval before using. I hope this information has been helpful.
Thank you for watching.