Taking Care of Your Pet's Teeth

What's the single most important thing you can do to increase the odds that your pet will have a long and healthy life?  Take care of your pet's teeth!  Tooth and gum disease can seriously affect a dog or cat's health, even shorten your pet's life.  It's clear that there are good reasons to care for your pets teeth:

Tooth and gum disease smells bad.  Even the most loveable pet is hard to be near when her breath stands your hair on end.  And besides smelling nasty, that bad breath means that your pet's teeth are in serious trouble, because the smell comes from decaying bacteria that rot the teeth.

Tooth and gum disease is painful.  If your pet has red, swollen gums or discolored teeth, it hurts to chew food.  And each time your pet chews, dangerous germs are forced into the bloodstream.

Tooth and gum disease leads to liver, kidney, and heart disease.  When germs from bad teeth get into the bloodstream, they quickly infect the body's major organs, making them much more susceptible to injury and disease.  This can lead to premature chronic disease and even death.

To keep your pet's teeth (and whole body!) healthy, here's what you can do. First look at your pet's teeth.

Don't try to brush yellow or brown teeth or red, swollen gums.  If your pet's teeth already look like this, you need to have them cleaned in the hospital.  A professional cleaning (just like the one you receive in your dentist's office) will remove tartar and germs from the teeth and gums.  Cleaning allows the gums to heal - and that's the time for you to step in with home care.  Call 847-891-8944 to schedule a dental exam with one of our Doctors and a dental cleaning.

Keep white, shiny teeth healthy by brushing weekly.  If you don't know how, schedule a brief consultation with one of our Veterinary Nurses.  We'll work with you to get the job done!

Use the right tool for the job.  Don't use one of your worn-out toothbrushes on your pet.  You need a brush designed for a pet's mouth, not a person's mouth.  We can supply you with a brush and a non-foaming toothpaste designed for your pet.  It will make brushing much easier.