Dental Care

Taking care of your dog’s teeth is something dog owners are becoming much more aware of nowadays as our dogs live longer and healthier lives. Dental disease is a serious concern as it can lead to long-term mouth problems and discomfort for your dog. Dental treatments are often not an easy solution as they can be invasive and often need your dog to be sedated so the best plan is prevention.

Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can help your dog with this: 

• Feed a dry diet, this encourages crunching into the biscuits which can help to clean debris and build up on the teeth. All of our diets at Gilbertson and Page Ltd are suitable dry diets with crunchy biscuits in a variety of sizes to suit different dogs mouths.
• Avoid giving treats that contain sugars or additives that might coat or leave a layer on the teeth. 
• Try dental treats, these need to be the right size and shape for your dog and always supervise to make sure your dog won’t choke through extra enthusiastic chewing.
• Brush your dogs teeth daily, there are many different types of toothbrushes for dogs to choose from that will suit all types of mouth shapes and sizes. Dog specific toothpaste is best for your dog and comes in chicken, liver and beef flavours to make the process easier. 

If you need help with working out how best to brush your dog’s teeth then plan an appointment with the veterinary nurse at your local practice for once life is back to normal. However, if your dog is in pain or has symptoms that you are concerned about then it may be best to make contact earlier.