[music playing] Kelly: For you and me, it's part of our daily routine, but our pets need their teeth brushed too.

We've taken the show on the road for this episode of The Paw Report.

We're talking about pet dental health, and we're joined by Dr. Mallory Kanwal, a veterinarian pursuing specialization in dentistry at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Stay with us.

[music playing] Katelyn: Fetchers Pet Supply on the north side of the Charleston square.

Serving the EIU community since 1991.

Fetchers welcomes all pets on a leash.

Is open seven days a week and offers made in the USA food.

Pets supplies for dogs, cats, reptiles, and fish.

Fetchers Pets Supply in Charleston.

Rameen: The Paw Report on WEIU is supported by Rural King, America's farm and home store, livestock feed, farm equipment, pet supplies and more.

You can find your store and more information regarding Rural King at ruralking.com.

Rob: Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter of the Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating Center features the Mohawk Smartstrand Silk Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center, authorized Mohawk color center in Charleston.

Kelly: Welcome back, everyone.

We've packed up all of our gear and we've headed north to Champaign-Urbana.

We are at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital speaking today with Dr. Mallory Kanwal.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Mallory: Happy to be here.

Kelly: A first time guest, so we always put first timers on the spot and have them tell us and our viewers a little bit about themselves.

Welcome.

Mallory: Thank you.

I am Mallory Kanwal.

I have been in Illinois for three years now, finishing my residency, imminently, in dentistry and oral surgery.

I thought I was going to end up being a equine vet when I started vet school, but then found a great mentor and just kept going in terms of animals and their teeth and their mouths and ended up here.

That's just a weird roundabout way into how I really focused on the mouth.

Kelly: That's neat.

You found your path and you found specialization in dentistry, and that's what we're talking about today on The Paw Report, is taking care of your pet's teeth, because that's important.

Let's talk about pet's teeth and dog's teeth.

They actually go through two sets of teeth, is that correct?

In their lifetime?

Mallory: That is correct.

Puppies and kittens, they start to erupt their baby teeth or their deciduous teeth when they're about three weeks old.

Then by the time they're six months, they already have their full set of adult teeth.

We wiggled our teeth when we were little kids, and so they go through the same thing.

Owners might find puppy or kitten teeth when they're in that age of three to six months of when they're losing the adult teeth.

Kelly: Should pet owners give it a little tug or give it a little help when they feel that wiggle or should they let it just happen naturally?

Mallory: I would just let it happen naturally.

I think that part of the reason puppies are so chewy with their mouths at that age is, just like little babies that are teething, it might be a little uncomfortable.

Providing them with chewing outlets that are appropriate for them and safe for their teeth is a great way to encourage a healthy chewing behavior while letting them deal with that eruption.

Kelly: Pets and humans, it may sound on like a silly question, but we do use our teeth, us being humans and pets, differently.

Dogs use their teeth differently for different reasons.

Let's talk about how they use their mouth.

Mallory: Puppies, I mean, everyone who's ever met a puppy, you know just like a baby, everything goes in the mouth.

They have to explore the world with their mouth.

That is their number one way of figuring things out at first.

Kittens are similar, but they're a little smarter than most puppies.

Really, as far as chewing goes, they have their chewing teeth in the back, their molars.

If you ever see a dog with a stick or a bone, they rotate their head.

They're using those big shearing teeth that they have in the back, that are the powerhouses essentially.

Then they have the little incisors in the front.

That's good for picking things up, chewing if they have something stuck in their hair.

Then their canine teeth, the big ones in the front, the fang-like teeth, those are good for picking things up, grabbing, the pre-hension motion of chewing.

They have a lot more of a variety of their teeth structures than we do, as humans.

We still have the same types of teeth, but they actually use theirs for more variety, being animals.

They evolved from their wolf ancestors, and tigers have the same teeth as cats, just much bigger.

Kelly: Right.

Much, much, much bigger.

Mallory: Much, much bigger, much sharper, but the same number of teeth.

Even though your cat and a tiger have much different needs and uses of their teeth, they are using the same teeth for technically the same functions.

Kelly: Well, today we're talking a lot about dental care, dental problems, how to take care of your pet's teeth.

Let's talk about what kind of dental problems erupt in your pet's mouth.

Do they get cavities just like we do?

Mallory: They can get cavities, it's very rare though.

Maybe about 5% of dogs will have cavities.

Cats technically could get a cavity, but it's only actually been noted in a cat from the 13th century.

We don't have to worry about cavities in cats, but they get different types of diseases.

Unfortunately, our dogs and cats are not brushing their teeth in their spare time.

Kelly: Well, humans sometimes don't do theirs.

Mallory: Yes, yes, yes.

That would be very convenient for all of us, as pet owners and as veterinarians, but they're not brushing their teeth when you're not watching.

From that, they are more prone to gingivitis.

When we think about gingivitis, if you and I did an experiment and we stopped brushing our teeth, we would both have gingivitis in a week.

We know that, that's why our dentist is so good about telling us to brush our teeth twice a day and go to the dentist.

The gingivitis can then lead to more periodontal disease, where that inflammation of the gums can lead to other issues of the tissues around the tooth, so the bone and the connecting ligament between the tooth and the bone.

What can happen is the gingivitis, if it's not treated, can progress.

We can have bone loss around the teeth and then they can be come loose or diseased otherwise.

Kelly: What are some signs?

As pet owners, we're pretty observant, so what can we be looking for if we notice or think that there may be something going on that we need to have checked out.

Mallory: Seeing some redness of the gums around the teeth is usually about the first indicator, something that your veterinarian would notice on an exam.

But pet owners know their pet's best, so if you notice that they're not chewing on things they used to enjoy chewing on, maybe they're swallowing their food instead of chewing it these days, or even bad breath.

Once we have bad breath, then we know that there could be something going on, because what we're smelling is a buildup of these compounds that the bacteria is emitting.

We like puppy breath but we don't like dog breath, and that's because they haven't been brushing their teeth and now we're noticing it with that change in the bacteria and the inflammation in their mouth.

Kelly: Getting into your pet's mouth, we're going to get into detail about toothbrushing a little bit later in the conversation, but just when you notice redness in your pet's mouth, sometimes it can be hard to get in there and lift their gums without them licking and moving their heads to do an inspection.

Mallory: I would say that if your pet tolerates it, you could, at the end of the day, when everyone's relaxing, just try to get a quick lift of the lip, don't even have to open the mouth, and then give them a treat afterwards.

Or if your pet doesn't enjoy it, it seems painful, that's where I would also just defer to seeing your veterinarian and asking them.

Kelly: Treats always do the trick, don't they?

Mallory: Yes.

Kelly: Let's talk about periodontal disease, exactly what it is and does it affect different breeds or different types of dogs differently?

Mallory: Yes.

Periodontal disease is not equal throughout dog breeds.

Dogs that we are most concerned about being extra susceptible are our little dog friends, so our chihuahuas, dachshunds, Pomeranians.

What we've done is, with humans creating these dog breeds, we've bred dogs to be much smaller, but their teeth have not changed proportionally.

What it happens is they have big teeth in little mouth and then they have crowding.

Their teeth are closer together than they would be in a big dog, like a German shepherd or a Labrador.

That can predispose them to more periodontal disease because they have more places for food and bacteria to get stuck and lead to that inflammation that is periodontal disease.

Kelly: What happens if you have a pet that has that, maybe you don't know it and you don't treat it?

That's probably a bad buildup of bacteria in your pet's mouth.

Mallory: Yes.

Periodontal disease is progressive.

We know that if we don't treat it, it's just going to continue to get worse.

What we can do to treat this is we can have them see the veterinarian for things like having an anesthetic dental cleaning for doing an evaluation with them awake to see what they need in order to really best treat their mouth overall, because what can happen is, if that progresses, they might lose teeth from them becoming so mobile and diseased.

It's better to have them seen so that they could be treated.

Kelly: One of the things that you can do on the front end to potentially avoid problems is toothbrushing.

People probably are saying, "What?

We have to brush our pet's teeth?"

but you really do.

It's probably best that you start at a young age with your pet.

Let's dive into toothbrushing.

Do you buy them a toothbrush, just like you would you and I?

Mallory: Yes.

You can buy them a toothbrush at the store, typically a children's toothbrush so it's a little bit smaller for their little mouths, but just a regular toothbrush at the store with a pet-safe toothpaste.

Toothbrush you can buy just like yourself, but you don't want to use your toothpaste on your pet.

You could use pet toothpaste from the pet store, or you could use a treat instead when you're starting with toothbrushing to make it happy for them, like using peanut butter, tuna juice, spray cheese on the bristles so that then it's a fun game to learn how to a toothbrush.

Kelly: Now, I mean, just like we do, I mean, you want to focus on getting everything, correct?

I mean, the flat surfaces, the pointy surfaces, behind.

That can be a challenge.

Mallory: Yes.

Kelly: Especially for cats.

Mallory: Yes, that would be overwhelming.

The good news is, is that since dogs and cats don't get cavities the way that we do, because they have pointy teeth instead of all of the flat surfaces like us, we really only have to focus on the outsides.

It's really just the outsides and then the fronts.

You don't have to worry about the insides, you don't have to get the flat surfaces.

The goal is to have about two or three brush strokes per tooth, if you're able to, of the side and the front teeth.

Kelly: I tell you, I've brushed my pet's teeth.

One of the techniques that I use is the little brush that fits over your finger.

It's not like a brush like you and I would have, but it almost is like it's a rubber fitting and then it has the bristles on the end, and that way you can get in.

But I think the key, again, that you stress, is start them early so that they get used to something like that.

Kelly: Speaking of that, how often should you brush?

I mean, we brush twice a day, sometimes more.

How often should you put that on the routine for your pet?

Mallory: The good news is we don't have to do it twice a day.

Doing it every day or every other day is ideal.

That is what has been proven to significantly reduce their gingivitis, the plaque buildup, the tartar buildup.

Every other day, about four times a week, that is when you're going to see a real benefit to your pet's oral health.

Kelly: Something else we see a lot of, let's just say that you've tried the toothbrushing and it's just not working, there are other alternatives.

Some of those are the treat supplements, people probably have seen them out there, where you can get, we won't name specific products, but you can get things out there to help in the cleaning process.

Is that something that you recommend, and should they go along the route of the veterinary oral health approved supplements or treats?

Mallory: Yes, there are lots of great options out there.

Sometimes it can be overwhelming at a pet store or online, how many options there are.

If you're looking for a dental diet, dental treats, there's sprays, gels rinses, the Veterinary Oral Health Council, or the VOHC is a third-party group that essentially looks at all of these products and judges their research, is this actually proven to improve a dog and cat's oral health by eating it or the spray or the rinse.

It makes it much easier, as pet owners, to look for the VOHC seal that would be on the product in the store because then you don't have to wonder, is this marketing, is this actually going to help my pet?

We know that veteran areas have said, "Yes, this is going to help," which makes it much easier to know which products are proven to not only be safe, but also to truly help.

Kelly: Yeah, safe for the digestive nature of it.

Are those treats, are they bristly or are they coarse?

I mean, what exactly are they?

Is the product like a toothpaste built into the treat itself?

Mallory: It depends on the product.

A lot of them work in a couple different ways to maximize their benefit.

Some are very fibrous and so the goal is to have a toothbrush-like action to help physically remove some plaque off their teeth, others have chemical additives that we have in our toothpaste that can decrease minerals in their saliva, that can bind the calcium to prevent tarter buildup, and some of them are organic materials that have been proven to decrease inflammation and to decrease plaque.

It's a combination of chemical and mechanical action to decrease that gingivitis.

Kelly: If you notice that your pet's teeth, if you're able to get in there and poke around, and you notice that the toothbrushing you've maybe just started a little bit later in your pet's life and you determine that you do need professional cleaning, is that an option?

How long should that be done?

What kind of process is that?

I'm assuming you bring them into the vet's office or a specialty clinic to have that done.

Mallory: Yes.

If you feel that your pet has inflammation of their gums and they're resistant to toothbrushing, then what I would recommend is going to talk with your veterinarian, because what they might recommend doing before starting toothbrushing is doing a dental cleaning with an exam and x-rays under anesthesia.

What your veterinarian will do is do a complete physical exam, listen to their heart and lungs, potentially do some blood work to make sure that their liver values and kidney values are all safe prior to doing that.

Then once they're under anesthesia, that's the only time that we're able to actually clean under the gum line in pets.

We go to the dentist twice a year and we're able to hold our mouths open, but that's just not the safest thing for our pets.

The safest thing is for them to be anesthetized at a very light plane of anesthesia so that we can safely use water, protect their airway, and really get a good, deep cleaning of all of their teeth.

Kelly: If that's not done, going back to the beginning of our interview, when there's that buildup of bacteria, it can get into a pet's bloodstream and really affect other organs in their bodies, is that that accurate?

Mallory: Yes, that is something that we are concerned about in pets that have compromised immune systems, if you have a diabetic pet.

Having healthy mouth is part of a healthy whole body system.

The other reason we don't want it to progress is just the pain and inflammation that can happen in their mouth.

We're not going to be able to reverse the bone loss around the teeth.

If they do have advanced disease, then they might have extractions teeth that are needed, which pets do very well with, but it would be most ideal to have a healthy mouth with all of their teeth, in a perfect world.

Kelly: Let's talk about bad breath.

I mean us humans, we have it, our pets have it.

Is it always associated with a tooth that needs to be extracted, or are there other causes, reasons for bad breath?

We can't just give them a mint, so maybe some things that we can do to cut down on that odor.

Mallory: Yeah.

Bad breath and pets is a very good sign that pet owners pick up on very commonly, especially when getting kisses, but what that can tell us is that the bacterial load in their mouths has become off kilter, the inflammation has led to bad bacteria to repopulate areas that are now inflamed and diseased.

If you notice bad breath in your older pet, it's less likely that they had some coffee or some onions and more likely that they may have some dental disease that would require treatment from that inflammation.

Kelly: Can a pet's diet, is it important that they have a healthy diet to have a healthy mouth?

Mallory: Having a healthy diet helps everything.

I think that the most important part about a diet, especially a dental diet, what those are doing is they're usually very large bites and the goal of that is to encourage chewing action, because the chewing action can help to mimic some of that toothbrushing action to physically remove that plaque.

When humans wake up and we brush our teeth first thing in the morning, because we have plaque starting 30 minutes after brushing, and so what happens if we're not brushing that off is that is what turns into that tarter, that mineralized calculus that we have to see the veterinarian to have removed.

Kelly: Are all pets considered equal when it comes to oral health?

I guess we're kind of stepping out of the realm of just dogs and cats, but pet owners these days have rodents and rabbits and other family members of the four-legged kind, and sometimes no legs, but are they all created equal?

I mean, do you have to keep oral health in mind when you have alternative pets?

Mallory: They are all created equal in terms of they all should be checked out by the veterinarian, but we tend to see different diseases in different animals.

We think of our small dogs as being very prone to periodontal disease, sometimes our larger breed dogs are more prone to fracturing their teeth, and then when we think about rabbits and Guinea pigs, what they might have is also periodontal disease, but also their teeth grow differently.

They have continuous eruption and growth of their teeth that could lead to uneven teeth if they're not chewing on things properly and if they're not provided a coarse diet to help encourage them to have a healthy mouth.

Kelly: You have been looking at patients for several years now here at the Veterinary Hospital at the University of Illinois.

I should mention, we're in a brand new room.

I didn't mention that off the top of the, of the show, but we're in a brand new area of the veterinary medicine area at teaching hospital.

This is the ISU step-down room, is that correct?

We're filming here at the end of July or middle of July, and this place will be hopping here before long.

Mallory: Yes, our excellent ICU team is being able to expand in terms of having this beautiful new space to take care of animals in the amazing way that they do 24/7.

Kelly: Well, speaking of taking care of animals in an amazing way, that's been you in the dentistry area.

I'm sure you have clients that are memorable for you that you've treated since being here at the University of Illinois.

Let's talk about some of your memorable clients.

Mallory: One that is very easy to remember, especially in this building, is a pair of kittens that were found actually in a garbage can.

They were found by one of the technicians that works here, so those were some very smart kittens to end up where they did.

She adopted them, a brother and sister pair.

They were very young, very young when she found them.

She was very astute, she was on top of looking in their mouth at a very young age.

They were six months old and she was concerned, they had a little bit of extra gingivitis.

I took a peek in their mouths and they actually both had really significant malocclusions, where their teeth were hitting in the wrong way because they had had some abnormal growth of their upper and lower jaws.

Because she noticed that their gums were a little bit inflamed because they weren't chewing normally, she found that and really was the one who advocated for those cats.

They're frequent flyer patients of ours now, they're both doing great, Wednesday and Pugsley.

They're a really great pair that we get to see.

They're all fixed up, a couple teeth short now, but they weren't doing them any good and so there happy healthy kittens now.

Kelly: I'm going to put you on the spot as a veterinarian specializing in dentistry.

What's your message to pet owners out there, just being the biggest cheerleader for oral health?

What can you say to viewers out there to do and to remember.

Mallory: I think that the biggest thing to remember is you know your pets best, you know when they're doing something abnormally.

As veterinarians, we want to be on your team to say, "Thank you for bringing this change to our attention.

Let's look into this further," because it is tricky need to look in the mouth.

I think that with all this new knowledge that we're getting about the importance of dental health, that for pet owners to advocate for their patients and their pet family to have exams that include looking in their mouth and to have a cleaning when it's indicated and treatment when it's indicated is really the best thing that they can do.

If they get to toothbrushing every day, that's even better.

I know that some pets won't tolerate that, but you'd be surprised how many people, they build that into their routine.

You brush your teeth and you brush your pet's teeth, and it's the best thing that we can do to reduce any pain or inflammation in their mouth.

Kelly: Start them early, start them young when you get them, that way it'll make the process even easier.

Mallory: Yes.

Kelly: Well, Dr. Kanwal, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today on The Paw Report, talking all things pet oral health.

You'll be leaving the University of Illinois a few days after we record this show, so the best of luck in your new adventure in Ohio.

Mallory: Thank you.

Kelly: Thank you for joining us.

We appreciate you, the viewers, joining us for this episode on the road at the University of Illinois, the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Until next time, I'm your host, Kelly Goodwin.

We'll see you then.

Rob: Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter of the Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating Center features the Mohawk Smartstrand Silk Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center, authorized Mohawk color center in Charleston.

Rameen: The Paw Report on WEIU is supported by Rural King, America's farm and home store, livestock feed, farm equipment, pet supplies and more.

You can find your store and more information regarding Rural King at ruralking.com.

Katelyn: Fetchers Pet Supply on the north side of the Charleston square.

Serving the EIU community since 1991.

Fetchers welcomes all pets on a leash.

Is open seven days a week and offers made in the USA food.

Pets supplies for dogs, cats, reptiles, and fish.

Fetchers Pets Supply in Charleston.

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