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This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only. You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet. Over the past few years great importance has been placed by the veterinary profession on dental prophylaxis in pet animals, but one report suggests that less than 10% of pets receive regular dental care. Pet Smile Month is held annualy in the UK - and pet owners are being advised about the benefits of regular dental hygiene to prevent serious dental problems. Many veterinary practices are even providing free dental check ups as part of this initiative. In the UK 149 veterinary practices submit computer data to an analytical programme which monitors their performance. This scheme is called the Fort Dodge Index. According to the results * less than 10% of owners attending veterinary practices purchase dental products or receive dental treatment. Even the best performing practices only provided dental products (such as tooth brushes) or services to less than 14% of their clients. These statistics are for "active clients" registered with the practices and owners who did not attend their veterinarian every year were excluded. This means that the number of pet owners in the general population who are not taking dental hygiene seriously pets is even higher ! This is a serious problem because dental disease is very common, and can lead to more serious problems such as heart disease. (*In Practice Vol 22, No 2, pg 99-104 February 2000)
Updated October 2013 | |||