How do I know when my dog needs a dental? (Question 3)

Dr. Marc Smith:
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Dr. Marc Smith, and the question is, how do I know when my dog needs a dental, or has dental disease?
I can tell you a quick way. When dogs, they're kind of like you.
When they eat food and the food mixes with saliva, lots of times it will cake around their teeth, and it makes this nasty stuff. We call it tartar.
When that tartar gets close to the gum, it can lead to chronic infection, cause redness and irritation.
I tell my clients, the way you know when your dog needs a dental is when that gum gets red.
Now, that's counter to what a lot of other experts in the field might say, but it's impractical, I think for us to do dentals on dogs every six months. Unfortunately, some dogs will collect tartar every six months.
What you want to look for is the redness that develops right around the gum line where the gum touches the tooth.
If it's red and there's tartar, you need a dental. If it's not red and there's tartar, then I would wait.
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