Dental health Flashcards
What is the #1 cause of bad breath?
bacteria
What is the #1 cause of bad breath?
bacteria
What % of pets have oral issues by the age of 3?
85%
What % of dogs receive daily tooth brushing?
What is the purpose of daily tooth brushing?
to lower the incidence of periodontitis and gingivitis
Whats the best way to avoid tartar?
dental chews + brushing
What is the 2nd most common reason a pet visits a vet clinic?
dental issues
What % of owners brush their dog’s teeth regularly?
10%
What can periodontal disease negatively impact in the body?
there is a relationship with periodontal disease and increased changes in atrioventricular valves, kidney and liver disease (in poodles)
Improved dental health can lead to?
improved overall health
- healthy bacteria present to maximize immune response (while controlling inflammation)
What is a clean tooth?
in pets as well as humans, the tooth is only “clean” immediately after a dental cleaning and polishing
- within minutes of cleaning a pellicle forms on tooth (peptides, proteins, glycoproteins), which act as an adhesion site for bacteria
What is important to consider when doing a dental study?
Every animal must start at the exact same spot (baseline) = clean teeth
What is involved in plaque formation?
- oral bacteria
- food particles
- salivary mucin
What is plaque?
sticky film of bacteria and sugars that can harden into tartar if not removed
What makes up calculus (tartar)?
Salivary minerals
Gingivitis progression?
- calculus in sulcus
- bacterial toxins
- tissue damage
- periodontal pocket
- periodontal ligament damage
- bone loss
- tooth loss
Gingivitis progression?
- calculus in sulcus
- bacterial toxins
- tissue damage
- periodontal pocket
- periodontal ligament damage
- bone loss
- tooth loss
What % of pets have oral issues by the age of 3?
85%
What % of dogs receive daily tooth brushing?
10%
What is the purpose of daily tooth brushing?
to lower the incidence of periodontitis and gingivitis
Whats the best way to avoid tartar?
dental chews + brushing
What is the 2nd most common reason a pet visits a vet clinic?
dental issues
What % of owners brush their dog’s teeth regularly?
10%
What can periodontal disease negatively impact in the body?
there is a relationship with periodontal disease and increased changes in atrioventricular valves, kidney and liver disease (in poodles)
Improved dental health can lead to?
improved overall health
- healthy bacteria present to maximize immune response (while controlling inflammation)
What is a clean tooth?
in pets as well as humans, the tooth is only “clean” immediately after a dental cleaning and polishing
- within minutes of cleaning a pellicle forms on tooth (peptides, proteins, glycoproteins), which act as an adhesion site for bacteria
GRAS
generally regarded as safe
- long history of ingestion with no adverse conditions
What is involved in plaque formation?
- oral bacteria
- food particles
- salivary mucin
What is plaque?
sticky film of bacteria and sugars that can harden into tartar if not removed
What makes up calculus (tartar)?
Salivary minerals
What process is involved in calculus formation?
supersaturation and crystallization of salivary minerals
- cosmetic by nature, but can serve as deposition point for more plaque
- can also irritate the gum line by contact
HMP - regulatory
In 2001 - HMP was ok for use as a phosphorus source but not a dental agent
In 2007 - HMP and polyphosphates were widely used across the industry
Tissue damage associated with gingivitis?
- bacteria under stolen gum line –> red and inflamed
- bacterial toxins
What is responsible for the periodontal pocket associated with gingivitis?
- anaerobic bacteria (bacterial penetration)
- toxins
- host response (reduced immune response in that area)
When gingivitis gets to be so bad, what is the only cure?
tooth extraction
What does VOHC do?
design dental health studies
- exist to recognize products and meet pre-set standards of plaque and calculus (tartar) reduction in dogs/cats
- products receive VOHC seal of acceptance following review of data from trials conducted according to VOHC protocol
- seal awarded to diets that meet or exceed criteria
What is the first step to good dental care?
professional cleaning
What is kibble designed to do?
remove tartar
- tough and oversized kibble = Hills TD
With the use of kibble, the benefits are limited to?
the chewing surface
- not a universal solution but does help
What is the purpose of polyphosphates?
used in human dental products as chelates to help control tartar deposition rates
Sodium hexametaphosphate (sHMP)
- chelant
- sodium phosphate “glass” or long chain polymer (~21 phosphate unit)
- soluble in water and possess sequestering ability (chelates calcium)
- polyphosphates = GRAS
- kibble coating with HMP
HMP target tissue?
entire mouth
GRAS
generally regarded as safe
- long history of ingestion with no adverse conditions
How does tartar form?
mineral precipitation from the saliva
HMP mechanism of action
- polyphosphates work in saliva by chelating calcium and attaching to surface of tooth to block additional calculus growth
HMP degradation cycle
- the longer chains breakdown the smaller units
- each smaller unit still has the ability to chelate calcium until it becomes elemental phosphorus
What happens to HMP in the body over time?
- in the mouth, oral bacteria breaks down the dental agent into phosphorus which is absorbed by the body
- the the stomach, the digestion process also breaks down the dental agent into phosphorus
HMP - regulatory
In 2001 - HMP was ok for use as a phosphorus source but not a dental agent
In 2007 - HMP and polyphosphates were widely used across the industry
Experimental support - % reduction in plaque formation with the use of sHMP?
45-50%
Why is it important to have a within dog comparison?
to control for the fact that every animal has a different mineral composition and different bacterial count in their mouth
VOHC
veterinary oral health council
What does VOHC do?
design dental health studies
Rapid prototyping before animal based studies - in vitro methods
crystal inhibition method to stimulate oral cavity and HMP release
- assesses mineralization rates
- coating releases quickly and embeds within the crystal structure to provide barrier to tartar formation
What may be another benefit associated with dental chews?
may have behavioural component = mental health benefits
What is the difference between plaque and tartar? What is tartar also known as?
Plaque is the sticky film of bacteria and sugars that can harden into tartar if not removed
Tartar = calculus
- salivary minerals that supersaturate and crystallize on teeth
What is the ultimate fate of dental diet HMP within the body and how should this effect diet formulation?
- oral bacteria or the digestive environment of the stomach will break HMP into phosphorus
- then absorbed by body as any other P source would be
- must be included as a P source in formulation
True or false - the VOHC awards a seal of acceptance after performing trials on diets that meet or exceed their criteria?
False
- they don’t actually test thesis products themselves, they review data from trials
Compare and contrast the use of kibble to with tarter vs. the use of polyphosphates
kibble designed to fight tartar has an increased size compared to average kibble
- this increased SA allows for kibble to come into contact with the teeth and help wear away the tartar on the surface
Polyphosphates work in the saliva by chelating calcium and preventing it from binding to the surface of the teeth
- also binds directly to the surface of teeth to further block calculus growth
- kibble is effective but only reaches teeth that come into contact with the kibble; polyphosphates are much more effective at protecting the entire mouth
Describe the cycle between plaque and tartar formation and what can be done to interrupt this cycle?
- professional learning
- bacteria and food particles combine to form plaque
- plaque hardens into tartar –> dental problems
- brushing regularly can interrupt this
What are the 2 mechanisms of action of HMP in the mouth to help control tartar deposition rates?
- chelates calcium in saliva
- attaches to the tooth surface to block additional calculus growth
What are 2 factors that allow HMP in kibble to be available to its target tissue?
- put on the outside of kibble
2. very quickly solubilized in the saliva
When is the only time that we see clean teeth and why is this?
Immediately after a dental cleaning and polishing. Within minutes of cleaning a pellicle layer forms composed of peptides, proteins and glycoproteins which allows bacteria to adhere to the surface of the tooth
True or false - in 2001, HMP was ok for use as a P source and dental agent
False
- it was only allowed for use as a Ph source
- a self affirmed GRAS was submitted to the FDA and was not officially approved for the use in pet care products for calculus control until 2007
How was it decided to put HMP on the outside of the kibble rather than inside?
Through in-vitro methods
- a crystal inhibition method was used to stimulate the oral cavity and HMP release
