Pets Need Dental Care, Too

Does your dog's breath knock you down?  Does your cat eat with its head tilted? These may be signs of tooth and mouth problems.  Yes, even the family pooch can get tartar buildup and gingivitis.  In fact, many diseases in old age can be traced back to mouth and gum infections.  When your pet visits us, we examine the teeth and gums for many problems.  Some of these can be detected at home, too.  Lift your pets lips so you can see the teeth on the side of its mouth.  Are the teeth white? Or is there a tan to brown mineral deposit on them? This brown substance is tartar. It often starts at the gumline and works its way down the tooth.  Some animals have so much tartar that you can't see the white tooth anymore!  Now, check the gums, especially where the gum meets the tooth, is there a dark red line? Is there bleeding or a green to grey scum?  These may be signs of painful gingivitis.  

What can be done?  We restore health to the mouth of your pet by a procedure called a Dental Prophy.  It is similar to a root-planing in human dentistry.  Your pet is sedated enough to allow us to work in the mouth without stress or pain.  We use a special ultra-sonic tartar remover called a cavitron to scrape off the tartar and plaque.  We use hand instruments to get between teeth, then we polish the teeth to make them smooth and shiny.  The last step to the procedure is an application of a long-acting antiseptic to the gums and an antibiotic injection. Nearly all pets go home the same day,  with big clean smiles!  

Case of the Month: 

The Dog with the "Frito" Smell

Well, we have had many unusual symptoms explained to us over the phone (so don't be shy!).  This one was no exception, as the exasperated owner told us how she couldn't stop her dog from "smelling like Fritos."  We felt an exam was in order, to find out what was going on. When a dog has an unusual smell, there are a few things on the top of the list that a doctor thinks about.  The first is anal gland problems (scent glands that reside under the tail and can get plugged), the second is skin problems (such as allergic sebhorrea or infection), the third is ear problems and lastly dental disease (bad breath can make the whole dog stink!)

 The cute little terrier was happy and wiggly on the exam table. Dr. White found that in her case, the mouth was clean, the skin was perfect, with a beautiful coat, the anal glands were small, the right ear was fine, but AHA!, the left ear was very mildly red.  Looking deeper into the ear with the otoscope, Dr.White found only a little bit of waxy discharge, but a lot of irrititaion. Dog ear canals are very deep and can hide a lot down inside.  The best way to know all that is going on is to exam them with the magnifying otoscope. A sample ot the discharge wa taken with the end of a q-tip and prepared and stained to examine it under the microscope.  There was the culprit! The sample was full of yeast. No, not the kind that makes bread rise, but the kind that can cause a yeast infection.  Yeast infections are common in dog ears and can even happen at the same time as a bacterial infection.  Yeasts cause a sickly-sweet "garbagey" smell to occur, though in this dog's case, it really did smell like Fritos!

Now having a definite diagnosis, Dr White knew exactly which  medicine would put an end to the yeast and now the frito smell is coming from the chip bag and not from the dog!

We are here to help you with all of your pet health care needs.  If we can be of service, please give us a call at 731-661-0888