Pets 101

The Importance of Oral Health for Our Pets

In our latest VetScoop podcast, our host, Dr. Natalie Marks, chats with Dr. Kwane Stewart about the importance of oral care for our pets.

Dr. Kwane Stewart on the reality of brushing daily:

“It’s just not that practical to brush them every day. Right. We know that, um, if you can do it consistently and really consistency is key. If you’re going to have any benefit in the brushing at all, you need to be consistent. But if you’re just going to abandon that ship, um, to your point, if you can focus on doing something, just something in that realm every day, you’re going to dramatically improve the health of your dog’s mouth. And let’s let’s remember that the number one disease we see is dental disease, right? So of all the dozens and hundreds of diseases, we come across as vets, dental disease really sits at the top and just gets neglected because it’s lurking under the lip.”

Dr. Natalie Marks on puppies needing to chew:

“Probably one of the most common requests that I get from pet parents is stop my puppy from chewing, like at all. And I always tell them, you know, puppies need to chew because the more they chew, they work those baby teeth out and they allow those adults to come in. They have to chew on some things, but we really have to give them appropriate things to chew on. So it’s not your shoes. It’s not those tennis balls, 18 hours a day. It’s not electrical cords or other things that they can’t get their hands on.”

Dr. Kwane Stewart on the importance of prevention:

“Because when we start thinking about the cost of dental disease, it’s a shock to a lot of people. I’ve had people walk out of my clinic when I hand them the estimate. I try and explain exactly what they’re getting and the importance of it. Because as I tell all my clients a bad mouth will shorten your pet’s life. It’s really that simple and in the process caused them unnecessary suffering. So we get on this early, it can save them, in some cases, a lifetime of pain and really help your pocket book as well. So it’s all about prevention.”