Dental Health Care for Pets

el Ratón Pérez (the Colombian Tooth Fairy)
Needs Them Clean and Healthy

In the region of Colombia where I grew up, the local dentist knew only how to pull teeth. I have two children, and I don't want them to suffer the consequences of such a lack of proper childhood dental care, so I have shared with them the story of Ratón Pérez – the mouse tooth fairy of Colombia. The children need to care for their teeth very well because Ratón Pérez requires nice healthy baby teeth to replace his own, which wear off quickly. Inspired by this story, they have developed the habit of regular brushing and flossing.

Preventive dental care is important for dogs, too, as they also have teeth – a mouth full of them.

Dogs and cats are carnivores, and their mouths are particularly adapted to rip, cut and crush. Carnivores do not chew their food. A carnivore's teeth are sharp and pointy. The big fangs serve to hold the prey by the neck, and to sever the spine. The other teeth act like sharp scissors that cut when they come together. The back teeth are particularly strong in order to cut and crush. Carnivores do not have much side-to-side movement of the jaw.

Chewing is important to species that consume primarily vegetable matter, containing carbohydrates. The digestion of vegetable material requires grinding in order to reduce the food to small fragments with high surface area, allowing the carbohydrates to be exposed to digestive enzymes contained in the saliva. Teeth for grinding have a largely flat surface, with sharp edges, and when the top and bottom teeth come together they trap the food, which is then ground by means of side-to-side movement of the jaw.

Today, except for outdoor cats, most of our pets do not hunt. We feed them prepared food already in chunks that can be swallowed whole. Therefore our pets use their teeth mostly for grabbing the food, which is swallowed after a little crushing.

Like all mammals, cats and dogs have two set of teeth over the course of their lives. As with human children, dogs and cats have baby teeth, and at some point between four to eight months of age, the baby teeth fall out (Ratón Pérez collects these for his own pets), and they are replaced by permanent teeth. As in young humans, a dog's or cat's teeth are strong and healthy when they are young but once they reach maturity, signs of decay may appear.

Our pets reach maturity at about three years of age. At this time we can observe the accumulation of dental tartar. Dental tartar is a concrete-like matter, made of calcified minerals coming into the mouth with saliva. Bacteria adhere to the surface of the tooth, take on minerals, and fossilize. Crystallized calcium salts form bridges between the bacteria, creating a hard mineral layer. Layer upon layer creates a hard yellowish crust that gradually covers the outer surface of the tooth and pushes the gum upwards.

Tartar first appears when the animal is about three years of age, over the areas where salivary glands drain – namely the back crushing premolars (carnassials) and the big front fangs (canines). Gradually tartar appears on other teeth.

Accumulated tartar serves as a surface for easy adhesion of bacteria. Bacteria that require oxygen remain on the outer surface of the tooth and can be brushed off, but anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that live without oxygen) penetrate the fold or pocket that naturally exists between the tooth and the gum. Tartar blocks the natural cleansing of the gum, so an environment with little oxygenation is created in the gum. This is a perfect environment for those bad, anaerobic bacteria to thrive. These bacteria kill tissue and gradually eat into the attachments of the tooth. With time, the infected tooth root loosens and becomes painful.

All dogs and cats are susceptible to tartar accumulation. Some breeds of dog, such as German Shepherds, seem to accumulate little tartar. Small breeds are more likely to have a lot of tartar. Dogs with short noses and wide mouths appear less prone to tartar build up. Diet and age appear to be the most important factors in tartar accumulation and tooth decay.

As tartar accumulates, it occludes the pocket that is formed between the tooth and the gum. Tartar naturally breaks off and is removed by abrasion. In the wild, we presume carnivores remove tartar at every meal of tough meat, tendons and bones. A classical study from 1961 showed that feeding a group of beagles half a raw oxtail each week reduced tartar accumulation by 80% in comparison to a control group. Therefore, practices recommended by proponents of raw-food diets have a scientific grounding. Offering raw meat with bones in it forced the animals to actually use their teeth in the manner that creates abrasion and removes tartar. The great downside of raw feeding is gastrointestinal obstruction caused by the bones. This is a real problem, where bones obstruct the gastrointestinal tract and have to be removed with surgery. I have treated such cases and therefore strongly discourage the feeding of bones to dogs. Safe ways to obtain similar effects by natural means include feeding them large frozen chunks of meat. Large carrots may create the necessary abrasion for a small dog.

Food companies have developed specialized chews and diets containing calcium-binding chemicals. The chemical grabs the calcium, which is necessary for the formation of the tartar. Large-sized kibble forces the animal to crush creating the abrasion effect. Overall there is up to an 80% reduction of tartar when treated chews or kibble are used regularly.

However, there remains the final 20% of the tartar, which no natural or chemical substance can get at. In addition, aging never stops. With aging, the circulation slows down, the immune system becomes weaker, detoxification mechanisms slow, and replacement of tissue becomes impaired. This all translates as tooth decay, among other things. Just as with humans, middle aged dogs and cats present dental problems despite home dental care.

Just as with humans, dogs and cats need to have regular dental exams – usually as part of a general examination. I find that most animals require dental cleaning of tartar at least every three years. In aging animals, the viability of some teeth becomes questionable. Dental x-ray can help to determine whether a tooth needs to be extracted.


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