Keeping your pet's teeth clean isn't just about giving your pet nice, sweet breath .... it's about helping prevent infection that can seriously affect your pet's health and wellbeing!

Dental disease isn't just about stinky breath!  It's a whole lot more than that. Infection in the mouth can spread to affect the kidneys, heart valves and other areas.

You should check your pet's teeth regularly :

Lift the lip of your dog every day and check for signs of dental disease :

1. redness or swellling of the gums?
2. bleeding from around the teeth?
3. is your pet reluctant to let you check its teeth, perhaps because it's painful?
4. bad or smelly breath?
5. loose or broken teeth?
6. pawing at the mouth?

Just because your dog eats its food normally it doesn't mean everything's OK - dogs will continue to eat, even with horrible dental disease.

You can get special pet toothpaste - it's flavoured with your pet in mind and it can be safely swallowed.

Toothbrushing can be fun for your pet - but you need to start early!

Feed your pet with a special diet (your vet will recommend what's best)

To learn a whole lot more about looking after your pet's teeth, you can visit www.petsmile.org

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