Beyond Bad Breath: Pet Dental Health Decoded

What Are The Benefits Of Professional Dental Cleanings For Pets? 

Dental health is the gateway to your pet's overall wellness – an often overlooked aspect of pet care that can literally add years to your furry friend's life. Dr. O'Hara demystifies why those "doggy kisses" shouldn't come with bad breath, and how that seemingly minor issue could signal serious health concerns.

Diving beyond cosmetics, this episode reveals the shocking connection between your pet's mouth and vital organs like the heart, kidneys, and liver. The progression from harmless plaque to life-threatening periodontal disease happens silently until your pet shows signs of pain or difficulty eating. By then, significant damage may already be underway.

Professional dental cleanings aren't just luxury services – they're essential preventative care. Dr. O'Hara walks through what happens during a veterinary dental cleaning, addressing common concerns about anesthesia with reassuring expertise. Particularly fascinating is the revelation that smaller dogs often need more frequent cleanings than their larger counterparts due to genetic factors affecting tooth crowding and saliva production.

For the proactive pet parent, the episode offers practical home care solutions that fit real-world scenarios. From specialized finger brushes to flavored toothpastes that make the experience more pleasant for your pet, these simple interventions can dramatically reduce the buildup that leads to serious issues. Whether you have a reluctant feline or an accommodating canine, you'll discover approaches that work for your unique situation.

Ready to transform your pet's health starting with their smile? Call Abingdon Animal Medical Center at 276-628-9655 or visit Myabingdonvet.com to schedule a dental evaluation. Your pet's wagging tail (and fresh breath) will thank you!

To learn more about Abingdon Animal Medical Center visit:
https://www.MyAbingdonVet.com
Abingdon Animal Medical Center
19586 Dennison Drive
Abingdon, VA 24211
276-628-9655

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara, where eastern
Tennessee and southwestVirginia's favorite pets get the
spotlight they deserve.
He's the heart behind AbingdonAnimal Medical Center, combining
small-town charm withstate-of-the-art veterinary care
.
Whether your furry friend purrs, barks or just steals your
socks, this is the place fortips, tails and a whole lot of

(00:28):
tail wagging.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Think your pet's bad breath is just a quirky trait?
Think again.
Dr O'Hara shares why dentalcleanings are more than cosmetic
they're life-saving.
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monty, producer slashco-host, back in the studio with
Dr O'Hara and his better half,jenny Guys.
Welcome to the show.
Thanks for being here.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Great to be here, thanks, skip.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
We're glad to have you and super interested in
dental cleaning for dogs.
What are the benefits?
I know a lot of folks don'teven consider that, but what are
the benefits of a professionaldental cleaning for pets?

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, dental cleaning is important mainly not you
were talking about cosmetic, butfor quality of life purposes.
Right, because dental diseasecauses pain, trouble eating and
things like that.
So cleaning helps slow down theprogression of gingivitis and,
um, periodontal disease.

(01:35):
Those are the big things thatit does, because what happens,
the whole process behind it, isyou get plaque.
The dog or cat gets plaque intheir mouth right and they don't
brush regularly, and thatplaque hardens and turns into
tartar mainly the term used onthe human side and the pet side
usually use the term calculus,which is like a mineral deposit
that gets lodged on the teethand it's that kind of brown hard

(01:58):
stuff you'll see on a dog'steeth that hasn't been cleaned
recently.
And then that calculus can leadto gingivitis, can lead to
periodontal disease, which leadsto pain, trouble eating and
decreased quality of life, andin severe cases it can cause
problems with other organs likethe kidney, the liver and the

(02:18):
heart too.
So it can be a big deal.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Wow, well, I was going to ask that question
because I know during a pastvisit to a vet.
The vet said that if you don'ttake care of this pretty quick,
it could lead to some seriousproblems with the heart, liver
and kidneys for sure, just likein humans actually.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Because your gums are a gateway.
Right Gums are a gateway, theybleed and that bleed and then
that bacteria can travel intoyour system.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
So what's involved in a professional dental cleaning
at the vet's office versusbrushing their teeth at home?
I know you know I don't try todo that, but Right.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Well, the first thing is obviously we put them under
anesthesia.
They take a quick little nap.
For us that's really important,because with the dental clinic
you have to put a tracheal tubein to protect their airway.
It's not like the dog is goingto sit there and just say, okay,
we have to.
There's not an understanding ofwhat they're doing when we go

(03:21):
to the dentist.
There's an understanding You'recleaning my teeth, this is what
you're doing.
I'm going to suck on the strawWith a dog.
Obviously there's not thatunderstanding.
So we got to protect them andbe able to do a thorough job.
So they take a little nap andthen it's just we use this
little scaler and we'll scaleoff all the dental calculus, all
that tartar that's hard in theheart, and we'll probe and

(03:43):
examine each teeth and sometimessome teeth need to be extracted
.
Why a tooth might need to beextracted is if it's very mobile
, that tooth is going to becausing pain on eating.
If it's mobile, if abscessedteeth with infection and pockets
in there, we'll take those outtoo.
And we'll take out teeth thatthe roots are really showing and

(04:04):
there's a lot of what we callhorizontal bone loss on the and
the attachment's very poor wherethe tooth meets the bone there.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wow, well are there.
You mentioned taking a littlenap.
Are there any risks withanesthesia for animals?

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Not really for me in that the pet parents, they worry
about that.
That's the first thing theyalways bring up.
But you know, we do it all thetime.
We do it very safely.
We can monitor the heart rate,what their heart's doing, their
oxygen, the whole time.
So I basically know how they'redoing right and I always tell
people it's usually the olderdogs that get get more dental

(04:44):
problems.
But anesthesia is more tailoredto older dogs.
Um, it really is, because,besides, like the spay and
neuter when they're young, mostdogs that go under anesthesia
are older.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
So and cats, so it's kind of designed for them.
Yes, same thing with cats.
As far as the cats.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
We kind of call it a scale, a clean, a polish, and
then everything is kind of checkto see if it's it's good, stay
and you know, and can give thema brand new mouth well and how
often should pet owners gettheir dogs or animals teeth
cleaned?
That's a great question becauseit varies per animal.

(05:26):
Teeth in some ways, I think,are highly genetic.
Some dogs like bigger dogs.
They can have almost perfectteeth their whole life, but a
lot of times smaller dogs.
They have more cramming, theydon't produce as much saliva,
they don't chew on things asmuch and they need dentals much
more often.
It could be every year, itcould be every couple of years.

(05:48):
I usually try and assess withevery yearly exam I do and
appointment of where I thinkthat patient is at Nice.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
Are there for folks like me that don't know what
we're doing?
Are there some early signs ofdental disease that we need to
watch for?
If you've not been to the vetin six months or something and
you're not due for your annual,what should we look for?

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Well, I would definitely.
If you ever see trouble eatingespecially hard things or
dropping food, kibbles and stufflike that, that might be a sign
.
And, honestly, if you just liftup your dog's gum line, if
you're starting to see thatbrown calculus on there, it's
probably a sign that you mightwant to go to the vet there and
have it checked out.

(06:29):
Might need to get all thatcleaned up.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, what can?
If we do see that, what can wedo at home, between cleanings,
to maintain positive dentalhealth?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Okay.
So one, if you're seeing plaquecan be removed.
Okay, Plaque is what can beremoved.
That's when you brush yourteeth.
It's just that film, you cansee it.
That's what brushing teeth is.
So when you, if you could brushyour dog's teeth every day or
two with a little finger brush,where that, especially where the
gum meets the tooth, you canreally help prevent that

(07:01):
calculus or tartar from forming.
As soon as the tartar orcalculus is formed, you got to
use a little specialized crystal, you know little machine, to
kind of get that off there.
So but I would say brushingBrushing is important but not
all dogs, I understand, aregoing to let you brush their
teeth.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
So it kind of is what it is, or cats, not all dogs, I
understand, we're gonna let youbrush their teeth so or cats,
like online on Amazon.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, anyway, you can do some dogs don't like the
brush.
You can use a finger brush.
You can even use just your yourfinger, if they'll let you do
that, and just get in there andkind of wipe that black off
before that plaque sets intotartar now that the finger brush
you said is available online.

Speaker 4 (07:43):
You can find them online on Amazon.
Or if you just even use asearch engine to search canine
or feline finger toothbrushes, alot of options come up, so you
can find them anywhere.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
And they make their own flavor toothpastes too.
You know, that makes chicken.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Well, now your friend there that's Bowie.
Is that what you said?
His name is Bowie.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Have you brushed Bowie's teeth lately?
No, we haven't.
He's got really good teethstill, though, huh, bowie, you
want to see him real nice andwhite and good.
Yeah, only two years old, butno.
I should probably, you know, domore of what I say.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
but she's good, you're only two years old, but
no, I should probably do more ofwhat I say, but she's, I think,
in his back pocket.
He thinks I'll just take him inand give him a cleaning when he
needs one.
Yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
You can do that.
That's the cool thing aboutbeing a vet, dr O'Hara.
Jenny, thank you so much foryour insights and to help us
keep the tails wagging and theteeth sparkling of our beloved
pets, and we'll catch you nexttime on Tail Talk.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Thank you so much for having us.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
And thanks, Skip.
And just like we were saying,dental health is important for
quality of life with dogs andcats.
It really is.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
You heard it here on Tail Talk.
All right, guys, see you later.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Thanks for joining us on Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara.
If your four-legged familymember needs a checkup, a
stylish groom or just a cozyplace to stay, give us a call or
text at 276-628-9655 or visitmyabingdonvetcom to book your
appointment.
Abingdon Animal Medical Centera small town feel with
state-of-the-art care and plentyof belly rubs.