Well, it’s that time of the year again, the Veterinary Dental Forum is on later this week in Boston and I am excited to head over for a hefty dose of dental immersion therapy.

I will be back (with all the latest dental information) at the Animal Referral Hospital on Thursday 17 November. Until then, if you have an enquiry please feel free to email me at christine@sydneypetdentistry.com.au. I will be checking my email regularly while away.

For urgent veterinary issues please contact the Animal Referral Hospital on (02) 9758 8666.

If you subscribe to Dogs NSW magazine, you might have already caught the feature in the November issue on Dental Care which Christine contributed to. If not, the exciting news is that, from this month, the magazine is available to all in digital format on the web. Like Sydney Pet Dentistry, Dogs NSW promotes the welfare of dogs, with an emphasis on responsible breeding. Many dental issues have a significant genetic component. So jump online, visit www.dogsnsw.org.au/resources/dogs-nsw-magazine.html and read all about it!

PDHM is a great opportunity to spread the word about the importance of dental care in our pets. This year’s pet dental health month received lots of media coverage. As Christine is the Pet Dental Health Month Coordinator for the Australian Veterinary Dental Society, she featured in many newpaper articles, and several radio interviews, discussing all matters dental.

The ‘bones’ controversy was a popular issue for discussion, as well as how to train dogs and cats to have their teeth brushed. Click here for more information on the drawbacks of bones, and here for our top tips for introducing toothbrushing to your dog or cat.

We won't be using these - they are not anatomically correct....

Sydney Pet Dentistry and the Animal Referral Hospital are excited to announce that we will be holding regular dental training programs for veterinarians wishing to improve their dental skills and knowledge. Topics we plan to cover over the next few months include surgical extractions, local anaesthetic nerve blocks for oral surgery, dental radiology and feline dentistry. We would love to know what you would like to learn more about, suggest a topic in the comments box below!

Christine recently attended the Australian Veterinary Association Conference in Adelaide. Aside from having fun catching up with other dentally-fixated vets from across Australia (and Canada!), she presented three talks, and was a tutor for both the beginner and intermediate dental workshop days. It was inspiring to see so many vets really getting into dentistry, improving their knowledge and skills for the benefit of pets across Australia.

Next year the conference will be in Canberra, and already the Australian Veterinary Dental Society has big plans to make the dental program even bigger!

Christine was recently invited to speak at the NSW Public Oral Health Conference in Wollongong on 11-12 May. For a change, her audience were ‘human’ dentists, rather than vets. She spoke about the world of veterinary dentistry, including some of the differences in treating animals compared with human patients. She also learnt a lot about what is new in human dentistry, including treatment of dental fractures, and reconstructive surgery of the face following trauma.

Christine’s favourite new tool is her rotary endodontic system, Lightspeed. Used for root canal therapy, this motorised system can speed up the procedure for your pet, meaning less time under anaesthesia. Christine was introduced to this system when in the USA recently, and cannot imagine living without it now!

Cleo

I went to see Dr Christine Hawke after she was highly recommended to me by our local vet who had been treating my dog Cleo with antibiotics for mouth problems.

Cleo was also being treated for a heart condition so the thought of an operation and anesthetic scared me greatly for this sweet old girl.

I went along to see Christine one Thursday morning, Christine could not have been more kind or thorough in her consultation.

Cleo will be 18 in December, she had suffered the problems in her mouth for too long now, I agreed that the operation was necessary so I left her with Christine to be operated on the same afternoon.

When I picked her up the next day she was happy to see me but I had a feeling it was going to take a couple of days to get her over the long operation and to get used to having no teeth!

It has been one week since the operation and I am thrilled to say that Cleo is looking wonderful, she is so much happier and brighter.

She has no problems at all eating, in fact I think she is enjoying food much more now!

Her mouth was slowly poisoning her system….now there is no more bad breath or sad eyes in fact I would even say there is a spring in her step that I haven’t seen for years.

I can highly recommend Dr Christine Hawke, she is an honest, down to earth and extremely clever lady whom I’m glad was recommended to my family.

Lucius

Our Bull Terrier, Lucius was referred to see Christine Hawke for assessment and management of a tooth root abscess.

During the initial consultation, Christine could not possibly have been more helpful and forthcoming. She spent the better part of an hour explaining every possible outcome as well as answering all of my questions. At all times, she made me feel completely at ease and I was elated to have her take Lucius on as her patient.

Lucius underwent surgery the following week and has recovered beautifully.

At every stage of my contact and dealings with Christine Hawke, she was professional, friendly and exceptionally thorough in all aspects of her
service. Her genuine affection and concern for our pet was unmistakable.

I would absolutely recommend her service to anyone and would be happy to give verbal reference at any time..

Gemma Smith

Eastlakes, NSW

A broken dog tooth from chewing bones - this is a slab fracture of the upper carnassial

One of the most common problems we see are broken dog teeth -  specifically ‘slab fractures’ of the upper carnassials. These are the big teeth on the side of the mouth that dogs chew with in a scissor-like action. When they fracture the whole side of the tooth snaps off, resulting in pain and infection that, if the fracture is deep enough, this can only be resolved by root canal treatment or extraction – both pretty big procedures!

The most common cause of this injury? Chewing objects that are simply too hard to be considered safe. The most common object – bones!  Recently the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released a consumer update confirming what veterinary dentists have known for a long time – that chewing bones is not a safe option for our pet pooches (click here to view the release).

Culture & Myths About Bones

Here in Australia, ‘giving the dog a bone’ is firmly ingrained in our culture. Dogs love to chew them, it gives them great pleasure, and seems at least on the surface to help keep their teeth clean. Even my own children are adamant that ‘dogs eat bones’, thanks to various nursery rhymes and Wiggles songs. It’s hard to argue with a toddler when it comes to Wags the Dog!

Let’s start by dispelling some of the myths about bones:

Many people have fed bones to their dogs for years with no apparent signs of damage.

While some dogs chew bones for years without problems, we see many others that aren’t so lucky. Some dogs play rougher than others, and some chew harder than others. If your dog chews like it is trying to kill a wild beast, watch for the damage. And don’t forget, we see many dogs with fractured teeth that have been undetected for years – this doesn’t mean they aren’t hurting, just that they just don’t want to let us know about it!

Dogs in the wild chew bones, don’t they? Surely something so natural is safe?

More often than not wild dogs chew the meat off the bone and leave the bones behind. And they get broken teeth and periodontal disease too! And natural isn’t always best – there are many safer dental chew products available that are softer yet effective.

How do I tell if my dog has a broken tooth?

Well, remember that dogs really aren’t good at telling us they are in pain – in fact they will try to not show any ‘weaknesses’ to their pack (that’s us!) until it becomes too sore to hide it any longer. Many of us have had an infected tooth and know how painful it is – well it hurts your dog just as much, even if they don’t whinge about it! This means they will suffer in silence for years if we don’t keep an eye out for problems. Things you might notice include:

• You might see that a tooth looks a different shape or colour to the one on the other side.
• You might notice that a tooth on one side has more tartar buildup compared with the other side – this often indicates a damaged tooth surface or that the dog is not chewing properly on one side due to pain.
• You might see swelling around the tooth or a lump under the eye (in this case a tooth root abscess is highly likely).

Or you might not see anything at all! If you are unsure, get your vet to do a dental check.

What if you really want to give bones to your dog?

Well, that’s ultimately up to you, and how you weigh up the risks and benefits. IF you wish to feed bones, you can decrease the risk of problems to dog teeth by only using raw bones (less likely to splinter), match the size of the bone to the size of the dog (less likely to get caught or cause an obstruction), leave the meat on (so there is something to chew), supervise your dog, and take the bone away once the meat is gone.  Better still, look into safer chewing alternatives, such as specially formulated dental diets, dental chews and toys. Your dog will thank you for it.

Related Articles

What should I do if I see a broken tooth?
Why consider trying to save teeth when we can extract them?
Do dog chews really work?