frenchie1936
10-01-2007, 02:30 PM
one of my males had a severe case of this disease, so of course i went to my favorite dog health site www.ivis.org (http://www.ivis.org) , to see what was causing it and if there was anything i could do or if it had progressed to the point where i needed to take him to the vet. this is the laymans version of what i read as the actual article is very technical.
it states that periodontal disease is most common in older dogs, and smaller dogs. here are the reasons. in older dogs their teeth tend to be worn down more so than with pups, obviously. the importance of this lies in the fact that the act of chewing for a dog is like the action of a tooth brush. the abrasive particles of food actually help to clean teeth. and in small dogs the problem lies with what people are feeding their dogs. smaller dogs tend to be fed a diet of mostly soft canned food. canned food lacks the abrasive element of bagged food and therefore a lack of cleaning takes place. this is why it is important for us to not feed a diet of mostly soft food to ANY size or breed of dog.
treatment: the underlying cause of periodontal disease is the build up of plaque and calculus. calculus is mineralized plaque and can only typically be removed by a professional. plaque tends to gravitate towards spots where calculus has built up. to relieve the SYMPTOMS of periodontal disease, a very thorough cleaning is necessary. with proper and regular cleanings that can be done by the average dog owner, most people won't encounter this problem. the removal of plaque will help the swelling go down on the gums and make it easier for your dog to eat. but without removing the calculus build up, you aren't doing much good by just cleaning the teeth.
now, healthy teeth are necessary for a variety of reasons. for show dogs, bad teeth will count as a fault. for those of us that find other uses for our dogs teeth, ahhem..., the importance of healthy teeth speaks for itself. i can't hunt hogs for example if my dogs teeth are no good. periodontal disease weakens the gums and makes it more likely that a dog will lose teeth in the event of something like hog hunting. and a dog with no teeth isn't useful to me for hunting.
and like i said previously, this disease can lead to a plethora of problems. for instance if your dogs gums are so far gone, he or she may stop eating altogether or very infrequently. i don't think i need to discuss how that can be a bad thing. and bleeding is also very common. now i have never personally heard of a dog bleeding to death from this disease, but it still is not good to have your dogs gums bleeding. providing the best health care we can for our animals is not just something we should feel obligated to do. it is a responsibility and the very least we could do for the animals that have given so much while asking for so little. God bless!:)
it states that periodontal disease is most common in older dogs, and smaller dogs. here are the reasons. in older dogs their teeth tend to be worn down more so than with pups, obviously. the importance of this lies in the fact that the act of chewing for a dog is like the action of a tooth brush. the abrasive particles of food actually help to clean teeth. and in small dogs the problem lies with what people are feeding their dogs. smaller dogs tend to be fed a diet of mostly soft canned food. canned food lacks the abrasive element of bagged food and therefore a lack of cleaning takes place. this is why it is important for us to not feed a diet of mostly soft food to ANY size or breed of dog.
treatment: the underlying cause of periodontal disease is the build up of plaque and calculus. calculus is mineralized plaque and can only typically be removed by a professional. plaque tends to gravitate towards spots where calculus has built up. to relieve the SYMPTOMS of periodontal disease, a very thorough cleaning is necessary. with proper and regular cleanings that can be done by the average dog owner, most people won't encounter this problem. the removal of plaque will help the swelling go down on the gums and make it easier for your dog to eat. but without removing the calculus build up, you aren't doing much good by just cleaning the teeth.
now, healthy teeth are necessary for a variety of reasons. for show dogs, bad teeth will count as a fault. for those of us that find other uses for our dogs teeth, ahhem..., the importance of healthy teeth speaks for itself. i can't hunt hogs for example if my dogs teeth are no good. periodontal disease weakens the gums and makes it more likely that a dog will lose teeth in the event of something like hog hunting. and a dog with no teeth isn't useful to me for hunting.
and like i said previously, this disease can lead to a plethora of problems. for instance if your dogs gums are so far gone, he or she may stop eating altogether or very infrequently. i don't think i need to discuss how that can be a bad thing. and bleeding is also very common. now i have never personally heard of a dog bleeding to death from this disease, but it still is not good to have your dogs gums bleeding. providing the best health care we can for our animals is not just something we should feel obligated to do. it is a responsibility and the very least we could do for the animals that have given so much while asking for so little. God bless!:)