Did you know that we should brush the dog’s teeth because, just like we do, they form tartar ? Tartar is produced by the diet itself, the bacteria present in the mouth and the mineral salts contained in saliva. Little by little a kind of white paste is deposited on the tooth, it is what is known as bacterial plaque. If this plaque is not cleaned, tartar will form, that kind of stone that sticks to the tooth and is only removed by cleaning with ultrasound in the clinic.
What we do with daily brushing is to gradually remove the bacterial plaque in order to avoid the formation of tartar. The veterinarian Ana Anglada, from Anaga Veterinary Center, recommends following this hygiene protocol also with our dog. But how do you brush your dog’s teeth? Don’t panic, the vet gives us the keys.
One thing that has to be very clear is that we cannot pretend to clean the animal’s teeth overnight . The veterinarian recommends going little by little teaching the furry that nothing happens to use a brush and toothpaste. A note: the brush that we will use will be a special one for dogs, not a human one!
To begin, we will use a toothpaste that the dog likes . You will know that its flavor pleases him if, when you put a little bit on your finger and bring it to his mouth, he licks it. Then we will deposit a small amount of paste on the brush or on the thimble that we are going to use in cleaning and we will only let it suck it, we will not begin to brush yet. We can also play a bit with the thimble inside his mouth. With this gesture, what we want is for the animal to realize that the thimble does not hurt. When we notice that the dog accepts the thimble, it will be time to launch with the brushing.
Dogs tend to be more bothered by having their incisors cleaned so we will start with the teeth , which in fact are the ones that, according to the veterinarian, are usually seen most affected by tartar. We will lift the lip and rub. If there was no way he would accept the thimble or the brush, we could use the finger. If not even for those we could clean the teeth, we can ask our veterinarian what paste he recommends for this case, because there are some that by putting them in three points of the mouth and only with the lick of the dog they are able to clean.
Brushing your teeth is key to keeping your mouth clean, but sometimes it is necessary to do a professional cleaning in the clinic and that is when tartar forms, reddened gums or you have discomfort. During cleaning, the animal is anesthetized and ultrasound is used .
