If you’re a pet owner, then you must be aware of the importance of maintaining the good oral hygiene of your pets. Brushing your dog’s teeth twice a day is good practice. In the market, many kinds of (effective) toothpaste are available that are specifically formulated to use for domestic canines.
An extra-soft child toothbrush or the toothbrush (that is specially formulated for dogs) can be used for cleaning dogs’ teeth at home. Dogs enjoy teeth brushing (in most cases), as it helps them to avoid dental problems and severe complications like gingivitis (inflammation of gums) or periodontal disease (gums disease), accumulation of plaque, and tartar on their teeth, tooth infection, etc.
The reason behinds the dog’s oral infectious diseases is the presence of bacteria (in the mouth). Food particles (e.g; meat particles) may be stuck in their teeth and cause a bacterial infection to develop due to poor oral hygiene (if you don’t brush your dog’s teeth on daily basis or three times a week at least).
What Is Dental Cleaning In Dogs?
Professional dental cleaning or teeth scaling for dogs is a process of removing accumulated layers of dental plaque (on dogs’ teeth) through dental apparatus (scaler) or by a dentist.
Although, it’s an expensive way to provide the best oral hygiene. But it helps to increase their teeth’ life.
Do Dogs Need Antibiotics After Teeth Cleaning?
It’s good to question that belongs to the dental cleaning of dogs. Antibacterial drugs can surely help to avoid germs infection and other dental diseases where the bacteria is the main suspect (culprit).
During the teeth cleaning (scaling) procedure in dogs, a sharp needle (i.e. scaler: a dental apparatus used to clean teeth) is used to clean/remove the dental plaque, bacterial coated layers, and teeth abscesses.
In very rare cases of a dog’s dental scaling (the process of cleaning teeth abscesses and plaque with a tool that is called “scaler”) may leave a tiny bad impact on gums. That may cause swelling and inflammation of the gums (a bacterial dental infection).
Nevertheless, in these cases, swelling (on the gums) and pain after the dental scaling of a dog may occur. That may take a few days (i.e. for 3 to 5 days, depends upon the condition) to heal.
In this case, if a dog’s gums are swollen and hurting (a little bit), broad-spectrum veterinary (FDA-approved) antibiotic drugs can help to avoid further complications (as these restrict the overgrowth of bacteria and increase the healing process).
Antibiotics in combination with NSAIDs (like carprofen) can help to reduce swelling, minimize the risk of complicated infection (antibiotics fight against bacteria and restrict their over-population that can damage the body organs by entering the bloodstream).
A veterinarian may better decide whether it is useful to prescribe antibiotics (prescription drugs) to dogs after dental cleaning or not (by observing the oral condition i.e. either gums are damaged during the dental scaling or not).
Warning: An unnecessary use of antibiotics in dogs can cause antibiotic resistance that can be fatal and life-threatening for them. Using anti-bacterial drugs under the supervision of your dog’s veterinarian can help to reduce risks of bacterial infections (that can delay the healing process).
It all depends on the dental cleaning process because if your pet gums are damaged (or very little hurt) you’re bound to give an antibiotic shot (I.V Injection/Infusion) or oral antibiotic (course) to your pet.
Make sure you’re dog’s dentist is using clean and sterile (germ-free) apparatus while brushing and scaling your pet teeth.
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