Question:
I had been giving my dog raw meaty bones almost every day since I
adopted her 3 years ago. She had a teeth cleaning prier to my adopting
her and I have been giving her raw beef knuckle bones, chicken necks and
backs to keep her teeth clean and to avoid having to go through another
cleaning. As a result her teeth were always sparkling white with no
visible tarter. Her primary vet always says her teeth are healthy and
look great at every checkup. Last week my dog chipped and cracked a
tooth on a raw knuckle bone. So I brought he to a animal dentist. She
had to have a root canal on the tooth Saturday and they were going to do
a cleaning if she needed it since they had here under.
After the procedure the dentist came out and told me that they did
have to clean her teeth and that she had gingivitis and pretty bad
periodontal disease and that I am going to have to start brushing her
teeth. I was surprised by this since I was giving her the bones and her
teeth were so white and free of tarter. He told me, even if the teeth
look white there can be underlying gum disease.
Now a little background on my dentist. He is one of the pioneers in
animal dentistry. He does dental work on tigers, lions, bears, wolves
etc. at zoos around the country including the Denver Zoo, in addition to
companion animals. He was the director of the school of dentistry at
CSU's vet school and he lectures around the country. He is also a friend
of the family and does all of my dog's dental work for free. So I know
he is not just trying to sell me unnecessary dental work to make money.
He said he sees gum disease in tigers at the zoo, who eat raw meat and
big femur bones that have to have teeth pulled. He also studied wolves
in the wild and found that older wolves had gum disease.
What I found out this weekend is that even if you "give your dog a
bone" he can still have periodontal disease. And that you should make
sure their teeth are checked by someone qualified. Because the bacteria
from the periodontal disease can effect other organs and cause illness
or death. So don't just go by how the teeth look. See if they bleed when
you brush them and check if your dog has bad breath. Also bones can
break teeth!
Answer:
This is nothing new actually. I can show you ten studies that show
chewing on everything from rawhides to bones doesn't necessarily keep
your dogs teeth clean. The problem once again is our good
friend-marketing. These companies that make all these wheat compressed
bones and the like have made it a 'fact' that chewing on things such
as milk bones and the like are going to keep your dogs teeth shiny and
clean. Problem is they aren't.
You learned on important thing about teeth and gums, it's not
necessarily how they look, but what happens under the skin. Just like
humans who mostly brush their teeth incorrectly and develop
periodontal disease, your dogs teeth may look good at first site, but
its the stuff you can't see that is the real problem.
