Just like any other member of your family, your dog's health is of great concern. One of the important areas that can sometimes be overlooked is dental health. A dental condition such as dentigerous is common in smaller breeds of dogs such as boxers, pugs and Boston terriers.
While it may be fairly prevalent, dentigerous can be easily overlooked during your dog's routine dental exam. That's why it's vital for pet owners to understand the important underlying factors that can lead to such a condition. Check out a few in this guide.
Clinical Signs
The greatest concern with this dental health condition is that it doesn't have any clinical signs. That said, if your dog has an unerupted or missing tooth it should be examined for the presence of a cyst. During the early development of the cyst, the area affected may not be painful until it becomes infected.
In some dog breeds, the section of the tooth affected appears normal while in others there may be a visible oral swelling. The fact that there are hardly any noticeable signs makes the cysts grow considerably which may lead to damage of the jaw bone or changes to your dog's facial structure.
Preventive Measures
If you own a small breed dog, then they are most likely going to be faced with this dental condition. This is mostly as a result of dental crowding which can make a tooth to erupt. One of the ways to curb this problem is by undertaking an oral examination when you go for a physical examination.
It is also important that you take note of any missing teeth. To do this, you have to be conversant with the number of teeth, and dental radiography can come in handy in such a case. This is because it shows that a tooth is missing and not embedded.
Treatment of oral cysts
Surgery is one of the most effective ways to deal with this dental condition. If this is not done, chances are that the cyst will return. During the treatment of a dental cyst, the adjacent teeth extracted as well as those embedded within the teeth usually undergo a histology exam.
This is designed to rule any case of oral tumour. If your pet condition has led to bone destruction, then you may want to consider grafting to manage in order to manage the condition.
Don't wait until it's too late, visit a professional veterinary dentist if your pet has a missing tooth. Visit a veterinary hospital near you for more information.
