Brush your dog’s teeth?
By: John Bispala
How many of you brush your dog’s teeth every day? I have yet to meet somebody who does! Some I’ve asked say they did it for a while, and I’m sure there are lots of dog lovers out there among us who just don’t do that.
But why not? We’ve been admonished for years that our own teeth and gums will be healthier if we brush and floss daily. What’s so different about our dog’s teeth? They suffer gum disease and carry bacteria in the plaque that collects on their teeth, too. The bacteria produce toxins that can be fatal to our pet, causing bad breath and challenging the animal’s resistance to illness. The poor mutt is able to keep the inside surfaces of its teeth fairly clean by tongue action, but cannot do much without human help to clean the outer surfaces and keep bacteria from forming between its teeth and lips.
I should have known better! For 11 years I didn’t brush my dog’s teeth, and now I have a medicine bottle with well over a dozen teeth that had to be removed, and at great expense. That never seemed to be a problem when I was a boy. My dogs would get run over before their teeth went bad, but pets live longer today with better health care and leash laws, etc. Brushing their teeth in the 1940s and ‘50s was absolutely unheard of, but those days are gone, or should be. Ask your pet hospital for advice and guidance.