Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Impact of Diet on Oral Health

Dental tarter is a common problem in most domestic cats and dogs resulting from a build-up of dental plaque; which is primarily made of food particles and bacteria. Studies have reported that existence of dental tarter is in 86% of cats between the ages of 1-4 years and in all cats 5 years and older.

A number of options are available to the pet owner to control and maintain the long term oral Smart Toys For Birds of their pets. Oral hygiene practice on a regular basis is most effective approach. However, pets need to be conditioned to such procedures on a long term basis. As a result, most owners look to diet or chew treats as a simpler, more convenient, however less effective, way of achieving this goal.

Numerous studies have shown that feeding a regular dry diet alone, Dog Pet Shop compared to a canned diet will reduce the rate of plaque and tarter formation. Studies have also shown that feeding a dry diet coated with sodium hexametaphosphate (a component of some pet toothpaste) reduced tarter formation by 50-80 percent in dogs. A similar preventive effect was also shown in cats. Medical Dental formula is an example of a food containing hexametaphosphate.

Other studies have shown the regular use of rawhide chew strips resulted in a modest reduction of tarter formation,but when these treats were coated with sodium hexametaphosphate, again the Dog Pet Shop showed a significant tarter reduction. This research reinforces the opinion that the build-up plaque and the impacton oral health can be affected by the use of certain diets and chew treats alone.

To obtain long term oral health, oral bacteria must be controlled by minimizing plaque build-up. This is best achieved by practicing oral home care on our pets from an early age.

Tana Rigets