Your pet’s bad breath isn’t just whiffy; it can also be one of the first major signs of dental problems in pets.
And just like in humans, dental health affects your pet’s overall health. Pet dental disease contributes to lower life expectancy in our pets. By the age of 2 years, 80% of pets have dental disease, and a staggering 95% by the age of 4 years.
What should I do for pet dental care?
The first step in proper dental care for pets in Hampton Park and the surrounding areas is to make sure you’re bringing them in for their twice-yearly pet wellness check. With regular visits, we can work together to ensure your little companion isn’t already experiencing pet dental disease through proper dental exams and professional pet dentistry, including pet teeth cleaning and extractions.
So what is pet dental disease?
What do we mean by dental disease? It starts with plaque, that soft, furry sensation we brush off our teeth every morning. Plaque is a film of millions of bacteria that is much more resistant to antibiotics than regular bacteria. The plaque hardens on the tooth to form ‘cement-like’ tartar.
The Tooth-Aching Consequences…
Eventually, this bacterial infection invades your pet’s gum tooth seal, causing local infection around the tooth and jaw bone. The end result? Your pet now has loose, rotten teeth. Worse still, when left untreated, the infection can spread locally to cause infections behind the eyeballs and risk sight loss, jaw bone infections leading to fractures, and an increased risk of oral cancers due to constant infection.
That’s not all; the infection from the mouth spreads to the rest of your pet’s body, causing heart, lung, kidney, and liver infections and even, in the worst cases, brain infections.
You know how distressing a toothache is. Your jaw is pounding with pain, and you might feel those electric shock jolts when nerve pain hits. It is not different with our pets!
Let’s dispel a myth. We hear it all the time: My companion has pet dental disease… but my pet is still eating, so it must be OK! No, it is not! Our pets feel pain just like we do. It’s just that, as humans, we do not recognize the true extent of an animal’s pain.
Dental disease is a silent killer of pets. That’s right. There are no clear signs until teeth start to fall out.
Preventing pet dental disease is the only way! This starts with removing plaque, plaque, and more plaque, and that’s where home care comes into play.
How can you help care for your pet’s teeth?
There’s a simple answer to how to help prevent plaque on your pet’s teeth - homecare.
Starting at one year of age, we suggest bringing your companion in for a pet dental exam every six months. This allows us to look for any signs of pet dental disease and to talk with owners about how to care for their pets’ teeth. Toothpaste made for humans often contains ingredients that are dangerous for animals, so discuss proper pet home dental care with one of our veterinarians. You can also help promote good oral health for your pet by coming to Hampton Park for…
Professional Pet Dentistry
Whether you bring your Narre Warren South rabbit in for their first pet dental exam or stop in for your senior cat’s regularly scheduled pet dental cleaning, our veterinary team is happy to help them feel comfortable and at home. Our skilled veterinary team offers a range of pet dental care solutions, including thorough pet dental cleanings under anaesthesia to remove plaque and tartar buildup, pet dental X-rays to diagnose underlying issues not visible to the naked eye, and pet tooth extractions when necessary to resolve pain and prevent infection.
If your pet shows signs of dental disease during their check-up, we recommend bringing them back for a full pet teeth cleaning and pet dental X-rays. Hampton Park Veterinary Hospital offers safe and effective pet dental care in Lynbrook and beyond.
Caring For Life
Centrally located, Hampton Park Veterinary Hospital provides pet dental care in Hampton Park, Lynbrook, Narre Warren South, and the surrounding areas, including Narre Warren North, Lyndhurst, Berwick, Hallam, Doveton, Dandenong South, Cranbourne, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne West, Cranbourne South, and Endeavour Hills.
We can help together
