Some Facts About Canine Hygiene
Did you know that over 80% of dogs show signs of dental disease by the age of three? Poor dental hygiene can lead to bad breath, tooth loss, and even more serious issues like heart, liver, and kidney disease. Regular professional teeth cleaning is key to keeping your dog healthy.
Plaque can start forming within 24–48 hours, and if left untreated, it hardens into tartar, which is much harder to remove. Dogs with untreated periodontal disease are up to six times more likely to develop heart disease. Plus, treating advanced dental disease can cost between £300–£1,000 or more (usually, this cost will not be covered by your pet insurance) - making prevention not just healthier, but much more affordable too.
Maintaining your dog’s dental health isn’t just about fresh breath—it’s essential for their overall well-being!
If left untreated, a dog can suffer catastrophic decay of the tooth and gum leading to life-changing conditions
The Signs That Point to Oral Diseases
Dogs take on over 80% of all bacteria via the muzzle, many of those bacteria can cause serious problems in the mouth. The first sign of which, is often bad breath.
Like ours, dogs teeth need to be brushed regularly to keep the teeth clean and the gums healthy to prevent tarter and inflammation of the gums from developing. Unbrushed teeth can become infected and may loosen or fall out. This can be painful and make it difficult for your dog to eat. If untreated, the bacteria in dental disease can also affect your dogs whole body, especially the kidneys, heart, lungs and liver.
Taking care of your dogs teeth is the only prevention. We recommend that you introduce teeth cleaning as part of your grooming routine from the first puppy grooming sessions. This ensures they’re happy and relaxed about having their teeth and gums cleaned throughout their life.
Our Ultrasonic Teeth Cleaning Service
We are proud to offer ultrasonic teeth cleaning for dogs and puppies! It is safe, motionless and gentle without the need of anaesthesia.
We use an Emmi Pet ultrasonic toothbrush and a specially formulated ultrasound toothpaste to reach deep below the gum line to kill germs and bacteria whilst cleaning the teeth and gums to prevent the build up of plaque and tartar.
This specialist toothpaste reacts with the bristles to create ‘micro bubbles’ and these effectively eliminate plaque, food and bacteria particles from the dog’s mouth. This is all done with absolutely no noise, no movement and no brushing resulting in healthy oral hygiene and happy dogs!
Our Process for Cleaning Your Dog's Teeth
Step 1: Trial Session
We will book in a Trial Session to ensure that ultrasonic teeth cleaning is suitable for your pet. This lasts for 20 minutes and will include;
- A dental health consultation with photographs taken of your dog's teeth and gums
- We will begin the desensitisation process to the Emmi-Pet 2.0 toothbrush and specialist toothpaste.
- We will learn how tolerable your pet is to having their teeth cleaned by cleaning one tooth.
We will discuss all of this with you at the end of the trial
(If we find that ultrasonic teeth cleaning is not suitable for your pet due to their behaviour or the condition of their teeth, we will always discuss some solutions with you)
Step 2: The Deep Clean
We schedule an appointment for a full deep clean of your dog's teeth and gums.
This can be done right away following on from a successful trial session, or can be scheduled for another time within the next 4 weeks.
We aim to clean the full set of teeth using ultrasound leaving your dog with a healthy mouth. This session takes between 30 to 50 minutes.
Step 3: Regular Maintenance
We will then schedule regular maintenance sessions.
This is to ensure we do not undo all the good work we have done to get your pet's teeth and gums into a healthy state. Much like we humans brush our teeth regularly, so too should your dog have regular cleaning sessions to prevent a further build-up of plaque and tartar.
These shorter sessions (around 20 minutes) should be scheduled every 6 to 8 weeks, ideally alongside their regular grooming appointment.