Your Bull Terrier's teeth are very important to his or her well being.
Because, unlike Humans, Dogs teeth are used for more then just eating
They also use their teeth in the same way we use our hands!
They use them to scratch themselves, to pick things up, to play.
Teeth are also very important to be kept healthy and in good shape because poorly kept teeth- can equal a poor immune system and even weaken the heart.
A broken or cracked tooth is not only painful, but creates an opening to allow nasty bacteria to enter directly into the blood stream!
Imagine having a deep wound that stays open and never heals- not even scab, now imagine it is inside of your mouth, everything you eat mucks up that wound and grows bacteria.
Pretty icky huh?
That is why proper tooth care is SO important to your dog!
Because dogs use there teeth so much as their hands almost, it is no surprise that a tooth getting broken or cracked is fairly common.
Bull Terriers can be even more prone to tooth breakage or cracking because they tend to have a less sensitive mouth then say a Labrador.
Because of this, they tend to bite down and chew harder making a breakage much more likely.
While tooth breakage is a serious risk, I have to say I am one of those people who does not
take away access to everything that could potentially break my dogs teeth.
Some owners do not allow there dogs to chew antlers, hooves, bones or anything similar due to fear of tooth breakage- and this is a personal choice to each owner.
I personally feel that a dogs instinct and need to chew out ways the negative possibilities of a breakage and I choose to risk it by allowing my dogs deer antler chews and raw bones.
Again, this is MY opinion and is not saying it is the right one, you may choose to avoid hard chews all together, and now days that is perfectly acceptable so long as you provide SOME sort of safe object for your dogs to chew as chewing has been proven to relieve stress for dogs and is a necessity for a dogs mental well being.
Here are some symptoms of a possible tooth crack or breakage, as often times you cannot see the actual damage, if you happen to notice your dog exhibiting ANY of these symptoms, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR VETERINARIAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
A tooth breakage or even crack NEEDS to be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible to prevent serious infections or complications from infections that have already set in. The bacteria found in mouths is extremely deadly when introduced into the blood stream and it does not take long for a dog to become septic and for the infection to be fatal.
Not to mention the sheer amount of agony the dog could be in from such a problem is immense!
If you are unsure, have your vet just take a look and evaluate, the longer you let the problem go, the more expensive it will become as there will be more likely chance of complications.
If you need help paying for the vet care, please contact your vet and talk about payment options.
Some things you can do to help keep teeth healthy and intact:
-Avoid large weight bearing bones (such as soup/marrow bones) these bones are meant to hold and withstand shock and lots of weight. A dogs jaw is just not physically capable of cracking one of these babies and in trying to do so, you can bet the tooth is going to give before the bone will.
-Keeping your dog on a healthy diet with minimal sugars or preservatives will help keep tooth decay at bay in the same way it does for humans.
-Having a regular tooth cleaning re gamine such as tooth brushing or water additive will help ensure your dogs gums and teeth are kept clean, especially if you feed a canned diet.
-making sure you never leave your dog unattended with bones and always monitoring there chewing habits is a good way of stopping your dog from chewing to hard on things such as deer antlers and making sure that if a break does occur, you are the first to know about it.
Talk to your vet about other ways you can help keep your dogs teeth and gums healthy!
Because, unlike Humans, Dogs teeth are used for more then just eating
They also use their teeth in the same way we use our hands!
They use them to scratch themselves, to pick things up, to play.
Teeth are also very important to be kept healthy and in good shape because poorly kept teeth- can equal a poor immune system and even weaken the heart.
A broken or cracked tooth is not only painful, but creates an opening to allow nasty bacteria to enter directly into the blood stream!
Imagine having a deep wound that stays open and never heals- not even scab, now imagine it is inside of your mouth, everything you eat mucks up that wound and grows bacteria.
Pretty icky huh?
That is why proper tooth care is SO important to your dog!
Because dogs use there teeth so much as their hands almost, it is no surprise that a tooth getting broken or cracked is fairly common.
Bull Terriers can be even more prone to tooth breakage or cracking because they tend to have a less sensitive mouth then say a Labrador.
Because of this, they tend to bite down and chew harder making a breakage much more likely.
While tooth breakage is a serious risk, I have to say I am one of those people who does not
take away access to everything that could potentially break my dogs teeth.
Some owners do not allow there dogs to chew antlers, hooves, bones or anything similar due to fear of tooth breakage- and this is a personal choice to each owner.
I personally feel that a dogs instinct and need to chew out ways the negative possibilities of a breakage and I choose to risk it by allowing my dogs deer antler chews and raw bones.
Again, this is MY opinion and is not saying it is the right one, you may choose to avoid hard chews all together, and now days that is perfectly acceptable so long as you provide SOME sort of safe object for your dogs to chew as chewing has been proven to relieve stress for dogs and is a necessity for a dogs mental well being.
Here are some symptoms of a possible tooth crack or breakage, as often times you cannot see the actual damage, if you happen to notice your dog exhibiting ANY of these symptoms, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR VETERINARIAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
- excessive drooling
- favoring one side of the face/or mouth while eating (avoiding to eat on either left or right side)
- whining or whimpering upon chewing
- refusing to eat all together or refuses to eat hard food
- whimpering while holding or picking up toys
- bleeding from the mouth
- painting,lip licking,obvious signs of distress or pain.
- Any swelling of the jaw or muzzle
- fowl smelling breath or saliva
A tooth breakage or even crack NEEDS to be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible to prevent serious infections or complications from infections that have already set in. The bacteria found in mouths is extremely deadly when introduced into the blood stream and it does not take long for a dog to become septic and for the infection to be fatal.
Not to mention the sheer amount of agony the dog could be in from such a problem is immense!
If you are unsure, have your vet just take a look and evaluate, the longer you let the problem go, the more expensive it will become as there will be more likely chance of complications.
If you need help paying for the vet care, please contact your vet and talk about payment options.
Some things you can do to help keep teeth healthy and intact:
-Avoid large weight bearing bones (such as soup/marrow bones) these bones are meant to hold and withstand shock and lots of weight. A dogs jaw is just not physically capable of cracking one of these babies and in trying to do so, you can bet the tooth is going to give before the bone will.
-Keeping your dog on a healthy diet with minimal sugars or preservatives will help keep tooth decay at bay in the same way it does for humans.
-Having a regular tooth cleaning re gamine such as tooth brushing or water additive will help ensure your dogs gums and teeth are kept clean, especially if you feed a canned diet.
-making sure you never leave your dog unattended with bones and always monitoring there chewing habits is a good way of stopping your dog from chewing to hard on things such as deer antlers and making sure that if a break does occur, you are the first to know about it.
Talk to your vet about other ways you can help keep your dogs teeth and gums healthy!