Dental care is an often overlooked area of your pet’s health, but an extremely important one. The health of your pet’s teeth and gums can have a huge impact on their comfort and welfare, but it is not always obvious that there might be a problem. For this reason, regular dental checks with your vet are vitally important, as they can often spot potential issues early on.
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Your vet can perform a full physical exam – including inside the mouth as long as your pet is comfortable with this. Further investigation and treatment can be carried out under general anaesthetic, such as dental x-rays, extractions and scaling and polishing the teeth. Having pet insurance that covers dental care for your pet can help to cover some of the costs. Unfortunately, most policies don’t cover this. If you can find a policy that does, it’s invaluable!
Here are 10 important reasons to have good quality pet insurance in place in order to help keep your pet healthy and comfortable.
1) Hygiene
Just like people, regular tooth brushing and good veterinary dental care is essential to maintain good hygiene inside your pet’s mouth. Especially as dogs love to lick!
2) Dental disease
If your pet has poor dental health, it can lead to inflammation of the gums, known as gingivitis. This can range from mild to moderate to severe and can cause significant discomfort. In the absence of regular tooth brushing, plaque can build up, just as it can in humans. This can then lead to tartar which is a very solid material, adhered to the tooth and requires veterinary intervention to be removed.
3) Pain
It is a common misconception that if your pet is in pain, they will yelp or cry, or stop eating. Most of the time, it is very difficult to spot the signs of dental pain as your pet will usually carry on eating like nothing is wrong. Some common signs to look out for might be rubbing their face on their paws or carpet, eating on one side of the mouth, dropping food, drooling.
4) Smell
Your pet’s breath may not smell that rosy, but if they have poor dental health it is much more noticeable and often one of the first signs of a problem.
5) Dental injuries and broken teeth
If you have a pet that loves to chew or catch, they could experience an injury to a tooth that could easily go unnoticed. During a dental check, your vet will examine the teeth to make sure they all appear to be intact with no chips, or cracks.
6) Foreign material
Sometimes bits of hair, grass, stick or other material can become trapped between the teeth and the gums; resulting in an area which becomes inflamed, painful and often quite smelly.
7) Oral masses
Just like anywhere else on the body, your pet could develop a mass inside the mouth. These can be benign or malignant, but there’s no way to know until the mass is found and investigated.
8) Prevention of progression
Dental problems won’t go away by themselves, and once they start they will only continue to gradually get worse. Early intervention is so important for continued good health inside your pet’s mouth.
9) Other health conditions
If your pet has really severe dental disease, the buildup of bacteria can occasionally be spread to other areas of the body. For example, if these bacteria get a chance to get into your pet’s bloodstream, it can lead to endocarditis (a serious bacterial heart condition).
10) Costs
All aspects of your pets’ healthcare can add up, and dental treatment is no exception. It’s wise to look for a pet insurance that covers at least some aspects of dental treatment to help cover these costs. Always remember to check your policy carefully. And read the small print so you know exactly what you are covered for.
So, there are 10 good reasons to consider dental cover when you are looking for pet insurance. While very few policies will cover routine, preventative dental care, there are now a number that will cover dental disease or dental accidents. So make sure you check the smallprint!
If you have noticed any recent changes or if you have any concerns regarding your pet, always contact your registered vet for advice.
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