Recommendations For Protecting Your Dog's Oral Health
Your dog is an important part of your family, which means you should look after their oral health with good cleaning and prevention check-ups. The following provides you some recommendations for caring for your dog's oral health for a happy life.
Provide Good Chewing Practices
Dogs love to chew items around the house, especially if they are a young puppy. And you can take advantage of this habit by providing them with food and other items that are going to improve and help their teeth and oral health. One of the first things and the most obvious items to help your dog's teeth is the right type of dog food. Provide them with hard dog food instead of soft canned food. The hard pieces in the dog food will act as a cleaning agent when they chew them, which will help remove sticky plaque that builds up over time. Soft dog food is more prone to sticking to your dog's teeth, which will combine with their saliva and can harden into tartar and be more difficult to remove, so it can then cause decay.
You can also provide your dog with toys that promote clean teeth. Chew toys that are rubbery with bumps over the surface and rawhide bones with similar hard coatings will create an ideal method of cleaning your dog's teeth on a regular basis.
Provide Regular Dental Cleaning
Although your dog will gladly chew their crunchy food and hard dog toys, doing so alone is not going to be enough to keep their teeth and gums in the best health. Provide additional oral health care with active tooth brushing with your dog each day. Be sure you use a dog tooth brush that is angled to help you clean their teeth and along their gums. Also be sure you only used dog-safe toothpaste and not human toothpaste, which can contain ingredients that are harmful to dogs.
It may be a struggle to get your older dog used to cleaning their teeth, but start off with a quick brush on a couple places inside their mouth, then work up to longer brushing each day. If you have a puppy, start off cleaning their teeth on a daily basis to get them accustomed to it and you will find they don't mind it, as it will become a habit. You can also boost their excitement for the brushing by giving them a treat when you are finished each time.
Hire Professional Vet Services
In addition to cleaning your dog's teeth daily, you should also arrange for your vet to check their teeth, gums, and inside of their mouth. They will check for any signs of gum disease, infections, or other health problems that can show up in their oral health and the color of their gums. Your dog's vet can also arrange for a tooth cleaning or other pet dental care services as needed to take care of their wellness.