Dental Care

It is never too early to start thinking about dental care with your puppy. Getting into routines such as teeth brushing early is the best way to prevent problems in the future. Routinely looking into your dog’s mouth will also allow you to see problems as they arise such as retained teeth or cracked teeth. Good oral hygiene not only greatly improves a dog’s quality of life, but may also promote longevity.

Your puppy is going to start to lose his/her baby teeth at about 4 months old and he/she should have a whole new set of adult teeth at 6 months old.

BUT

The health of your puppy’s baby teeth has an impact on your puppy’s adult teeth. So start to care for your puppy’s teeth now!

Daily teeth-brushing is the BEST way to remove plaque and slow the progress of tooth decay. There are adult diets, toys and water additives that can be helpful as well, but nothing beats the brush! We would be more than happy to help you make brushing your puppy’s teeth a positive experience for you both – we can give you tips and help you get started if you are interested!

Also, be very careful with choosing appropriate chew-toys as injured baby teeth can affect the adult teeth. Once the adult teeth come in, they will look really bright and shiny, but they do not yet have a fully developed root. So, they are still quite fragile. Avoid aggressive chewing, rough pulling and tug-of-war games to protect your puppy’s baby and newly erupted adult teeth!

If you see a “double” set of teeth showing up between 4-6 months of age, let us know right away. If the baby teeth do not fall out before the adult teeth come in, this can cause crowding and pushing of the adult teeth into an abnormal position and this should be addressed as soon as possible.