A survey revealed that at least 63 per cent of dog owners admitted to kissing their dogs. He’s “man’s best friend” and to most of us he’s considered another member of the family, so it is no surprise that at least 63% of us openly admit to puckering up and regularly kissing our dogs.

Will Smith

This could be the first sign of serious dental problems… 

These open displays of affection can also lead to the detection of serious dental health problems, which exists in over 80% of household and working dogs over the age of three years.

According to the WALTHAM® Centre for Pet Nutrition, the initial signs of poor dental hygiene in your pet will include redness, swelling in the gums, a build up of tartar around the teeth and the most easily detected sign that not all is good, is persistent bad breath.

So, for the thousands of people out there kissing and cuddling their dogs on a daily basis detecting poor breath in your dog should be easy.

Dental disease, including gum and periodontal problems in pets, is a silent enemy that can lead to major health implications but also extremely expensive medical bills.

However, the good news is that there are easy steps that can be introduced into your dog’s daily activities and diet that can assist with preventing the onset and reducing the severity of the problem.

“A healthy mouth is important for the overall health and well being of your dog," Melbourne based Veterinarian Dr Fiona Patterson.

“Ignoring your dog’s dental hygiene can lead to eventual tooth decay and tooth loss. This is not good news for your dog, whose favourite habit can be chewing on dry food, chew toys or even your best pair of shoes.”

One of the major concerns with dental disease is that it can go undetected for several years, as it is relatively painless in the initial stages of the disease. Nevertheless, as in humans there are signs that you can look for on a weekly or monthly basis to work towards looking after the health of your dog’s mouth.

The catalyst to the majority of dog’s dental problems begins with gum disease, which is a disease that, as in humans, affects the tissues around the roots of your dog’s teeth.

As with our own mouths, tartar can build up in your dog’s teeth without regular chewing or brushing. The tartar then develops into calculus, which is a visible hard, yellow looking mineral build up, which can cause the gum to recede. As the disease progresses your pet’s teeth will begin to loosen, with the end result being tooth loss.

Whilst people are able to take steps to protect their teeth and gums by daily teeth brushing, flossing and mouth washes, a dog’s method of cleaning their teeth is the process of chewing hard foods which helps create an abrasive action in the mouth.

A healthy dogs mouth will consist of clean looking teeth and pale, pink firm gums.  A regular glance or even an initial glance into your pet’s mouth as well as a breath check can be a simple indicator as to whether or not all is well.

“What is recommended is to provide your dog with the tools to enable your pet to take care of their dental hygiene within their own daily diets,” says Dr Patterson.

“Bones are out. Whilst dogs love bones, they can be responsible for fracturing teeth, tearing gums and causing irreparable damaged to your dogs mouth.

“Ultimately we would recommend that everyone brushes their dogs teeth, although we understand that not all dog owners are comfortable or even have time to do this”

WALTHAM® recommends providing your pet with chewing toys and specially designed hard kibble, which consists of a specific size, and texture that will increase the abrasive action as your pet chews. The dental kibble will help work away the tartar at meal time and is probably the most convenient and reachable method possible.

Every year Australians spend over five billion dollars on maintaining their own teeth and gums, along with regular visits to the dentist, yet dental visits for pets for most families are a very rare occurrence.

Long term protection and preventive measures for your family dog can also save your family from hefty vet bills.  An example of this is that a standard tooth extraction for your pet can vary anywhere between $600 and $900 depending on anesthesia requirements and the placement of the tooth, and this is only for one tooth.

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Anonymous   | | 14-03-2008 01:51:03 Come on people dogs sniff other dogs behinds, they lick their own BALLS and the list goes on, get a life. LMFHO Reply | Quote 1   1

Kay   | | 14-03-2008 02:08:58 To whoever posted that do you know that the human mouth is one of the most disgusting things there is yet i am sure you have no issues about somone sticking their tongue in your mouth ( and no i don't kiss my dog like that ewww) to support my statement i have included a quote from a medical website. human mouths containing around 100 MILLION bacterial cells per mililiter of saliva. Oh, and those bacteria? There are up to 190 different types of 'em. In addition to the bacteria, there are viruses - Hep B, Hep C, herpes simplex. This sounds pretty bad, but according to our micro teacher today, one of the bugs found in the human mouth is Bacteroides. Bacteroides are enteric (gut) bacteria, like E. coli, that help the human intestinal tract break down food. You are more familiar with them that you think you are. Poop is 30-50% Bacteroides. When I think of Bacteroides, I think of poop. So before you judge people who might give their pooch a friendly smooch on the snout think over the ... Reply | Quote 0   0

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