Dental care: a must also for dogs!

The consequences of missing oral hygiene in quadrupeds are much more difficult than you would imagine. Chronic diseases of teeth and periodontium not only cause agonizing pain, tooth and bone loss, but also damage the heart, kidneys and liver in the longer term. In addition, tumors in the oral cavity are discovered much later, since with the lack of dental care and the control of the oral cavity is omitted. The "my PET" editorial team interviewed the specialist in veterinary dentistry, Mag. Matthias Schweda of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, on the topics "Keeping healthy dog ​​teeth" and "Tumors in the oral cavity".

Which problems do you often face as a dog dentist?

Mag. Schweda: Calcification, gingivitis and periodontitis are certainly the most common problems. Unfortunately, it is a sad fact that 80 percent of all dogs over four years suffer from periodontal disease; it is an inflammation of the entire periodontium that is accompanied by massive bone inflammation. Since gingivitis is the first degree of periodontitis, it is very important to treat this condition immediately. Because in healthy animals, the gingiva (gums) closes the remaining periodontium. If the gums retract, the inflammation can continue to penetrate the periodontium - up to the alveolar bone. The gingivitis in the initial stage can possibly be stopped with a small amount of treatment, after which a complete cure is unfortunately no longer possible in the advanced stage. Since the formation of calculus can often be held responsible for the gingivitis, the removal of the calculus is expedient.

How is the treatment of gingivitis done?

Mag. Schweda: The first treatment step is the oral hygiene. In doing so, the oral cavity is rinsed with solutions containing chlorhexidine and the teeth are freed of tartar using ultrasonic scalers and cleaned. Subsequently, the tooth surface is polished, so that in the future, the attachment of plaque (plaque) is difficult. After a thorough probing of each individual tooth, existing tooth pockets are cleaned, shortened and, if present, surgically removed for inflammatory growth of gum tissue. As a result, the physiological form is restored, so that the self-cleaning of the teeth can work again. If the pockets are too deep - in dogs they should not be deeper than 3mm - can protect only expensive surgical techniques from tooth loss. After the completed restoration of the denture, a chlorhexidine paste adhering to the tooth surface is applied. However, if even large parts of the bone are affected by the inflammation, an antibiotic treatment must be done. In mild cases, sage tea can help aiding. After about a week, the mouth is healed and from then on it is important that the dog owner regularly brushes his four-legged friend's teeth.

How can you brush your dog's teeth?

Mag. Schweda: For dog teeth care, you should use especially soft toothbrushes - available from pet shops and veterinarians - so that the gums are not irritated or even injured. Because the teeth of the dog have larger distances to each other than those of humans, which is why the gums in the dog inevitably has more contact with the toothbrush. As dogs swallow toothpaste, do not use any human toothpaste. There are special dog tooth pastes, but you can also just use water and whiting (not for cats!).

Can you also recommend toothbrush finger cots for dogs?

Mag. Schweda: I do not recommend fingerpads for brushing your teeth, because their use poses a danger to the pet owner. One can never rule out that when a tooth or a sore spot on the mouth mucosa touches a sudden pain occurs and bite the animal reflexively.

And what is your opinion on commercially available dental care Kau Stix?

Mag. Schweda: I stand for these products, e.g. Dentastix, absolutely positive; they actually have a tooth-cleaning effect. The principle is as follows: The structure of the Kau-Stix keeps out the first bite without breaking up, the dog pulls the tooth out again and thereby the cleaning takes place. Only with repeated biting breaks the Stangerl and flavors are released. Dentastix also contain substances that bind the calcium contained in the saliva and thus slow down the formation of calculus. In this way plaque remains soft for a longer time and can be easily removed during chewing and of course with the toothbrush, whereas tartar can only be removed by the veterinarian.

How often should you brush your dog's teeth?

Mag. Schweda: Since the self-cleaning function of the dog's teeth is greater than in humans, it is enough to brush the dog's teeth every other day and chew a Zahnpflege-Kau-Stix on the days in between.

Is there a connection between bad dental care and tumors in the mouth?

Mag. Schweda: Tumors in the oral cavity in dogs are usually recognized only at a very late stage, namely according to WHO (World Health Organization) at stage three to five, which means that it is already a very large - often larger than 4cm - tumor which in most cases already formed metastasises (secondary tumors) in regional lymph nodes. In contrast, dog owners who regularly care for their four-legged friends notice tumors much earlier - at a time when the tumors are still small and often have not yet metastasized. And, of course, early-stage tumors are also better to treat. The regular brushing of the dog teeth has thus apart from the dental health still an added benefit, namely the regular control of the oral cavity. It should also not be forgotten that poor oral hygiene leads to chronic periodontitis and that chronic inflammation not only promotes the development of tumors - inflammatory cells can transform into tumor cells - but also promotes tumor growth. In a clean, well-maintained oral cavity without inflammation, a tumor may grow more slowly.

Are Tumors More Benign or Malignant in the Oral Cavity?

Mag. Schweda: In contrast to the cat, in which 90 percent of all tumors in the oral cavity are malignant, the benign tumors predominate in the dog. And above all the epulid tumors originating from the periodontium and the partial removal of the right lower jaw are generally known as gum proliferations. Epulids are very common among the boxers, here one can speak of a race disposition. Problems usually do not occur until the epulis becomes inflamed or becomes so large that the dog bites on it or has difficulty eating and closing the jaw. Epulids divide into three groups, one of which, unfortunately, is malignant and leads to massive bone invasion around the tumor. Together with the tumor, the tooth and the bone must be removed at this point in order to destroy the periodontium, from which the tumor originates. Common to all epulids, however, is that they do not metastasize and only do local damage.

What is the percentage of malignant tumors?

Mag. Schweda: About 30 percent of dog malignant tumors are malignant Read More Here. Especially malignant is the oral melanoma. Contrary to popular belief that every melanoma must be black, one-third of oral melanomas are not colored black, but have the color of normal mucosa. So you can not just tell by just looking at which tumor it is. And certainly not every tumor in the mouth is a reason to put the dog to sleep. Unfortunately, most melanomas have already metastasized at the time of their discovery, which requires extensive treatment. For that reason, I can only point out the importance of early diagnosis. So should also be looked at the annual vaccine examination, the oral cavity thoroughly and every veterinarian should make the dog owner on the consequences of missing dental care.

What attracts dog owners when the animal suffers from oral melanoma?

Mag. Schweda: Since the tumor hardly causes any pain to the dog, the owner will not notice for a long time. Only when the tumor is already so large that the dog bleeds out of the mouth or stinks terribly out of the mouth, that falls on the owner and has the consequence that this dog looks into the mouth. Some dog owners also realize that the dog is slower and tired, maybe "older" - this can also be an indication of a tumor happening.

How is oral melanoma treated?

Mag. Schweda: The most effective therapy is the surgical removal of the tumor, which unfortunately is not uncomplicated here in the head area. It is very important that prior to surgery, accurate diagnostic methods, such as computed tomography, depict tumor demarcation for operative planning. Particularly difficult are operations in the area of ​​the maxilla, as the operating area is limited by eye and nose. Sometimes an eye has to be removed as well. Things get a bit easier when the tumor and thus the operation takes place in the region of the lower jaw. Here, larger pieces of the jawbone can be removed, which is well tolerated by the affected animals and can lead to healing. In principle, one can say that the farther forward in the jaw the tumor is located, the greater are the chances of healing. However, if it is not possible to remove the entire tumor, one must cut away as much of the tumor as the situation allows to reduce the tumor burden on the organism. Thereafter, chemotherapy and radiation are used, with chemotherapy often acting on the metastases and irradiation on the primary tumor. New is the immunotherapy for melanoma, which is used after the operation. The melanoma vaccines may only be offered by certified oncology centers, such as the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, and must be ordered individually and individually for each patient. Four doses two weeks apart and a post-vaccination after half a year are needed. The price for four cans is around 1300 Euro. A combination of the melanoma vaccine with chemo and radiation is possible.

What is the quality of life of affected dogs after therapy?

Mag. Schweda: We aim for the four-legged friends to reach the life expectancy that they would have had without melanoma even now. But, of course, the joie de vivre must be preserved, for which palliative methods offer themselves. Because the surgery is very accurate and minimally invasive, the dogs have a short convalescence and the results are good.