Inna Krasnovsky (New York) I brush both my dogs’ teeth every single morning and use a dental scaler weekly. They have excellent teeth for senior dogs (11 and 9).
Debi Davis (Nevada) Six years ago, you educated me on pulse antibiotics for severe perio problems on my papillon, and those loose teeth did indeed firm right up from the scar tissue, just as you said they would if I followed the brushing routine and the antibiotics. I get full mouth X-rays with every vet dental and the teeth are all doing great. I owe you big time, Lori! And those 17 teeth the first vet said my dog needed to lose? Still there, and now firm enough to chew without pain. You’re so right about small-dog dental problems.
Eileen Anderson I brush my dogs’ teeth. My 11-year-old is one of those dogs who gets a lot of plaque. She has partial facial paralysis and drools a lot. It gets on her legs and she grooms them frequently. Then she gets hair stuck between her teeth. I have been brushing daily since her last dental (two months ago) and I don’t see any plaque yet. And no gross hairs, thank goodness.
Denise Gregg (New York) I do NOT brush my dogs’ teeth. They are fed a hard kibble along with many biscuits. A couple times a week, they are given bones to chew on!
Amy Suggars (Ohio) Yes, I do brush KD’s teeth. She is almost three years old and her teeth are sparkling white. I am trying to keep them that way! Our ritual is that her teeth get brushed after I brush mine in the morning. She actually comes over and sits by the sink and patiently waits her turn!
Recommendations on dental home care in the dog
The vast majority of veterinarians and veterinary nurses in this study stated that they often or always recommended tooth brushing (Table ). This is in stark contrast to what the dog owners report. In fact, more than half of the dog owners stated that they had never received recommendations at the veterinary clinic to brush their dog’s teeth (Table ), although most Swedish dog owners visit veterinary clinics regularly, e.g. for routine vaccination. There may be several reasons for this discrepancy; for instance, dog owners may not remember receiving recommendations. In support of this hypothesis, a previous study showed that although almost all dog owners recalled receiving verbal information, 33% could not recall observing a practical demonstration of dog tooth brushing, and 8% did not remember receiving tooth brushing equipment, when interviewed at follow-ups after 13 months [33]. Another likely reason for the discrepancy between dog owners’ and professionals’ perceived recommendations of brushing may be that the veterinarians and veterinary nurses who answered the surveys may have been extra interested in veterinary dentistry and therefore more prone to participate.
Owners of smaller dogs and Companion and Toy Dogs (breed group 9) were more likely to report having received recommendations on tooth brushing at the veterinary clinic (S1 Figures). This likely reflects veterinary health practitioners’ aforementioned higher awareness of dental problems for smaller breeds [1, 7, 8]. Interestingly, women were more likely than men to answer that they had been recommended to brush (S1 Figures), which may indicate the need for more targeted efforts towards male dog owners.
Of those who recommended tooth brushing, seven out of 10 veterinarians and three out of four veterinary nurses recommended tooth brushing once a day. The remaining veterinarians and veterinary nurses recommended a different brushing frequency, e.g. every other day, once a week or “as often as possible”, or did not specify frequency at all (Table ). Although the results show that the awareness regarding the need for brushing daily is fairly high, there is still room for improvement.
The most common occasions when veterinarians and veterinary nurses discussed tooth brushing with dog owners were in conjunction with visits for dental problems, dental cleaning and booster vaccinations (Table ). This is in line with the results of a commercial survey among the UK’s vets and nurses from 2012 [25]. Additionally, several veterinarians and veterinary nurses commented in the free-text that they recommended tooth brushing “when a problem is seen”, “when needed” or “when dental calculus is seen”, which must be deemed too late in the course of the disease [6]. Some veterinarians and veterinary nurses commented in free text that they more often recommended tooth brushing to owners of small breeds, because they considered home care to be of more importance for these breeds, likely reflecting the aforementioned higher prevalence of periodontal disease in smaller breeds. Almost half of the veterinarians and veterinary nurses stated that they recommended tooth brushing at the puppy vaccination, whereas less than one-fifth of dog owners stated that they received information on this occasion (Tables and ). Although the populations are not matched, these results clearly illustrate a communication gap. The visit to the veterinary clinic for puppy vaccination presents an ideal opportunity to influence new dog owners to initiate proper prophylactic tooth brushing routines.
Interestingly, of those dog owners who reported that they had been recommended at the veterinary clinic to brush, as many as one in four had initiated but discontinued tooth brushing (Table ). Similar results have been reported previously [33]. This further highlights the need for improvement in the supportive systems provided to dog owners by the veterinary clinic, regarding dental home care.
Although veterinary nurses in Sweden often spend more time with dog owners (telephone, reception, examination room) than veterinarians, dog owners report that veterinary nurses seldom (only in 15% of cases) provided information concerning tooth brushing (S1 Tables). Much as in human dentistry, where dental hygienists provide much of the prophylactic information, veterinary nurses could play an important role in building effective routines for conveying information concerning dental home care. This model may also be a way forward within veterinary dentistry.