Ten steps to your dog’s dental health, from Dr. Markiewicz

February 14th, 2012

Did you know that regularly brushing your dog’s teeth and providing it with a healthy diet and plenty of chew toys can go a long way toward keeping a healthy mouth? Many dogs show signs of gum disease by the time they’re four years old because they aren’t provided with proper mouth care—and bad breath is often the first sign of a problem. Give your dog regular home checks by following the steps below.

1. The Breath Test
Sniff your dog’s breath. Normal dog breath isn’t particularly fresh-smelling. However, if his breath is especially offensive and is accompanied by a loss of appetite, vomiting or excessive drinking or urinating, it’s a good idea visit the vet.

2. Lip Service
Once a week, with your dog facing you, lift his lips and examine his gums and teeth. The gums should be pink, not white or red, and should show no signs of swelling. His teeth should be clean, without any brownish tartar.

3. Signs of Oral Disease
The following are signs that your dog may have a problem in his mouth or gastrointestinal system and should be checked by a veterinarian:
• Bad breath
• Excessive drooling
• Inflamed gums
• Tumors in the gums
• Cysts under the tongue
• Loose teeth

4. The Lowdown on Tooth Decay
Bacteria and plaque-forming foods can cause build-up on a dog’s teeth. This can harden into tartar, possibly causing gingivitis, receding gums and tooth loss. One solution? Regular teeth cleanings.

5. Canine Tooth-Brushing Kit
Get yourself a toothbrush made especially for canines or a clean piece of soft gauze to wrap around your finger. Ask your vet for a toothpaste made especially for canines or make a paste out of baking soda and water. Never use fluoride with dogs under six months of age—it can interfere with their enamel formation. And please do not use human toothpaste, which can irritate a dog’s stomach. Special mouthwash for dogs is also available—ask your vet.

6. Brightening the Pearly Whites
Taking these steps will make brushing a lot easier for the both of you:
• First get your dog used to the idea of having her teeth brushed. Massage her lips with your finger in a circular motion for 30 to 60 seconds once or twice a day for a few weeks. Then move on to her teeth and gums.
• When your pooch seems comfortable being touched this way, put a little bit of dog-formulated toothpaste or a paste of baking soda and water on her lips to get her used to the taste.
• Next, introduce a toothbrush designed especially for dogs—it should be smaller than a human toothbrush and have softer bristles. Toothbrushes that you can wear over your finger (or a clean piece of gauze) are also available and allow you to give a nice massage to your dog’s gums.
• Finally, apply the toothpaste to her teeth for a gentle brushing, as in step 7.
• A veterinary exam beforehand may be helpful to find out if your dog’s gums are inflamed. If your dog has mild gingivitis, brushing too hard can hurt her gums.

7. Brushing Technique
Yes, there is actually a technique! Place the brush or your gauze-wrapped finger at a 45-degree angle to the teeth and clean in small, circular motions. Work on one area of your dog’s mouth at a time, lifting her lip as necessary. The side of the tooth that touches the cheek usually has the most tartar, and giving a final downward stroke can help to remove it. If your dog resists having the inner surfaces of her teeth cleaned, don’t fight it—only a small amount of tartar accumulates there. Once you get the technique down, go for a brushing two or three times a week.

8. Know Your Mouth Disorders
Getting familiar with the possible mouth problems your dog may encounter will help you determine when it’s time to see a vet about treatment:
• Periodontal disease is a painful infection between the tooth and the gum that can result in tooth loss and spread infection to the rest of the body. Signs are loose teeth, bad breath, tooth pain, sneezing and nasal discharge.
• Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums caused mainly by accumulation of plaque, tartar and disease-producing bacteria above and below the gum line. Signs include bleeding, red, swollen gums and bad breath. It is reversible with regular teeth cleanings.
• Halitosis—or bad breath—can be the first sign of a mouth problem and is caused by bacteria growing from food particles caught between the teeth or by gum infection. Regular tooth-brushings are a great solution.
• Swollen gums develop when tartar builds up and food gets stuck between the teeth. Regularly brushing your dog’s teeth at home and getting annual cleanings at the vet can prevent tartar and gingivitis.
• Proliferating gum disease occurs when the gum grows over the teeth and must be treated to avoid gum infection. An inherited condition common to boxers and bull terriers, it can be treated with antibiotics.
• Mouth tumors appear as lumps in the gums. Some are malignant and must be surgically removed.
• Salivary cysts look like large, fluid-filled blisters under the tongue, but can also develop near the corners of the jaw. They require drainage, and the damaged saliva gland must be removed.
• Canine distemper teeth can occur if a dog had distemper as a puppy. Adult teeth can appear looking eroded and can often decay. As damage is permanent, decayed teeth should be removed by a vet.

9. Chew on This
Chew toys can satisfy your dog’s natural desire to chomp, while making his teeth strong. Gnawing on a chew toy can also help massage his gums and help keep his teeth clean by scraping away soft tartar. Ask your vet to recommend toxin-free rawhide, nylon and rubber chew toys.
P.S.: Gnawing also reduces your dog’s overall stress level, prevents boredom and gives him an appropriate outlet for his natural need to chew.

10. Diet for Healthy Teeth
Ask your vet about a specially formulated dry food that can slow down the formation of plaque and tartar. Also, avoid feeding your dog table scraps, instead giving him treats that are specially formulated to keep canine teeth healthy.

- From Dr. Anthony Markiewicz

From Dr. Markiewicz: Common Dental Myths

February 7th, 2012

1: Bleaching Weakens Teeth

We’d all like our pearly whites to be whiter, and sometimes regular brushing and flossing just doesn’t cut it. Luckily there’s a host of whitening products available over the counter or through the dentist — from gels to pastes to strips — to help fool Mother Nature and make our teeth look better.

But some people worry that using bleaching products on their teeth can be harmful or that they can weaken the teeth. Is there any basis behind this fear? Not really. Bleaching products are generally harmless if used according to the directions. That’s because teeth bleaching only affects the color of the teeth, not their health or strength. Bleaching works by removing some of the teeth’s pigmentation, and if you bleach them too much and remove too much of the natural pigmentation, your teeth might begin to appear translucent. Some people could mistake this translucency for weakening of the enamel or damage to the teeth, but that’s not the case — it’s just a color change.


Side effects of too much bleaching include temporary tooth sensitivity and irritated gums, but there’s no need to fear that using bleaching products will weaken your teeth.


2: Brushing’s Bad for Bleeding Gums


On the surface this myth might make sense — if your gums are bleeding it seems logical that you would leave them alone until they heal. But when it comes to your gums, the opposite is true. When your gums bleed, it’s a sign that plaque and food particles are accumulating along your gum line and the gums have become irritated and inflamed. You need to brush to remove the gunk if you want the bleeding to stop. Your gums might also bleed if you’re flossing harshly or flossing for the first time, or the first time in a while, and your gums aren’t used to it.


The key is to brush and floss regularly and gently. We recommend holding your toothbrush so that the bristles are at a 45-degree angle to your teeth, with the bristles pointing toward your gums. This is the most effective way to remove gum line plaque by brushing. When you floss, don’t force the floss between the teeth — instead, gently slide the floss back and forth, following the curve of the tooth, until it slips between your teeth. It may take some time, but eventually the bleeding and soreness will go away. If it doesn’t, it may be a sign of a more serious problem and you should see us at Anthony Markiewicz, DDS.


3: Bad Breath Means You’re a Bad Brusher


Actually, bad breath can be caused by several factors, only one of which is poor dental hygiene. The foods you eat are a major culprit — a stomach full of garlic and onions is bound to give your breath a foul odor, no matter how much you brush and floss. And what about sicknesses like pneumonia? Nobody wants to kiss you when you’ve got that, and it’s not just because they want to avoid getting sick — certain illnesses can give you bad breath as well. So don’t be too quick to judge when that close-talking colleague offends with his foul smelling breath — it may not be their fault!


And how about your own oral odors? As long as you follow our recommendation of brushing and flossing at least twice a day, and you visit us at Anthony Markiewicz, DDS at least twice each year for regular checkups, you can be pretty sure your bad breath is not a dental hygiene issue.


4: The More Sugar you Eat, the Worse for your Teeth


You’re just about to take a big bite of something decadently sweet, perhaps some sticky taffy or a double chocolate candy bar, when you hear a nagging voice in your head saying, “If you eat that, your teeth will fall out!” Sound familiar? Many of us can recall being told that if we eat too many sugary foods they will destroy our teeth. But did you know that the amount of sugar you eat is not the deciding factor in tooth decay?


The bacteria in your mouth feed on carbohydrates, like sugar, and produce an acid that eats away at the enamel of your teeth. The longer the sugar is in your mouth, the longer the bacteria can feed and produce acid, and the longer the acid can work on the enamel. In other words, it’s not about the amount of sugar you eat, it’s about how long the sugar is in contact with your teeth. Obviously, we don’t encourage significant sugar consumption!


This means that eating three candy bars, then immediately brushing your teeth, is less harmful to your dental health than eating one candy bar without brushing. Slowly dissolving candies, like lollipops, are also a bad idea, as is sipping on sugary drinks all day, since both situations allow sugar to hang around your teeth for a long time.


So the moral of this story is this: if you enjoy sweets, do so moderately and brush afterward!


5: An Aspirin Directly on a Tooth Will Relieve Pain


This one’s an old at-home remedy, and it’s completely false — you should never put aspirin directly on or near an aching tooth.


The only safe and effective way to take an aspirin tablet is to swallow it. When you swallow aspirin, it gets absorbed into your body through your digestive tract. It then enters your bloodstream and travels throughout your body. Aspirin works by stopping the production of prostaglandins, molecules that send pain messages from the injured part of your body to your brain. When the aspirin reaches your aching tooth, it inhibits prostaglandin production there, reducing the pain you feel..


Need another reason to put this ineffective rumor to rest? Placing aspirin directly on the aching tooth or your gums can cause an acidic chemical burn to your gums and lips. So if the pain of a toothache isn’t bad enough, you’ll have to deal with more pain when the aspirin leaves a sore in your mouth.