Cats and dogs use their teeth for more than just eating. These are tools with which both types of animals explore their world, often using their teeth and mouths to play with items and other pets. Our team at Westside Animal Hospital in Cincinnati, OH, is here to help to keep your pet’s teeth healthy for as long as possible. Routine dental care is the best way to do that.
Routine Pet Dental Care
There are different categories of routine pet dental care that can help keep your pet's teeth and gums clean and healthy. There is the type of dental care that you will need to see a pet dentist or a trained veterinarian for and then there is the type of routine care you can provide at home.
- In-vet dental care: Just as with human dentists, a pet dentist offers teeth cleaning as a line defense against dental issues like gingivitis. Teeth cleaning removes accumulated plaque and tartar, helping ensure that it won't go deep into your pet's gums or otherwise compromise their teeth.
- At-home dental care. First, for both cats and dogs, one of the easiest thing you can do to get on the path of good dental care is to put your pet on a dry food diet, ideally with a product formulated for dental health. While there is some debate on this, studies like these show that dry food wins in this regard. But again, this is just the beginning. Cats and dogs both have teeth that were meant to be used to tear, and giving them bones, dental chews, and toys that promote tearing will help them to naturally clean their own teeth. Pet owners can also manually brush their pet's teeth, once a day is preferred, but this may take time and training to get a cat or dog comfortable with the process. If you're unsure of how to begin, our animal hospital can offer tips.
When you bring your pet in for a dental visit, we will include an examination to see the full state of his teeth. In situations where gingivitis or plaque has escalated too far, or there's been a broken fractured tooth or tooth crowding, we may recommend extraction to help promote the rest of their healthy teeth. Tooth extraction can be scary, but it can result in a happier, healthier pet.
Get Pet Care from a Veterinarian at Our Animal Hospital
Dental pet care isn't something to be avoided. Give our Cincinnati, OH, team a call today and let's schedule your pet care visit. We at Westside Animal Hospital are here to help. Call us at (513) 574-5000 for more information about how we can help your pet get healthy teeth.
