Re: Dogs Mouth

Question
Hi once again.Thank you so much for so sites that you gave me they were really helpful! But my teacher said that I needed an interveiw part for my project, and that's why I emailed you earlier, and she said that I needed more than just websites. So if you could, can you answer some questions straight from what you knew? I still needed some final facts if you're willing. First of all, I need to how much bacteria is in a dog's mouth. And how often dog's get dental problems. If you cannot help, it's okay. I'll just ask my teacher for some advice. But thank you for your previous answer. Thanks to that information on that website you gave me, I'm almost done. But if you can, will you try to answer those questions by your brain? Or if you do some research on something you learned. Thanks once more.
                   Sunny

Answer
I don't know whether I will be terribly helpful or not Sunny, but I'll try . Provided you remember this is just my opinion :)
From what I've seen and learned, and from several university studies including Indiana University,the bacteria types in a dogs mouth vary. Just as it does in a human. Bacteria depends on what the dog has been eating, the general health of the dog, and the condition of it's teeth and gums. Naturally a dog that just grabbed a decomposing dead squirrel, or got into garbage and ate something nasty is going to have some pretty serious disease causing bacteria in his mouth. A dog that is a house dog, eats dog food and other clean foods and treats provided by it's owner, has regular dental visits and is in good health is going to have a pretty clean mouth, with few dangerous or disease causing bacteria.
As for dental problems., some breeds tend to have more dental problems than others. Chihuahuas, and Yorkies for example both tend not to lose baby teeth, which in turn causes them to have double rows of teeth,. Sometimes this causes deformed bites, misaligned jaws, and infection resulting from food getting trapped between the two layers of teeth. They also frequently have to have surgery for these problems. That's not to say ALL dogs in those breeds have these issues but it's more common with those and other tiny toy breeds. Like humans, dogs need regular dental care and teeth cleaning to keep their gums and teeth healthy and disease free. And like humans they can have abscesses , infections when not cared for properly. Poor nutrition can also cause problems with dogs teeth and gums. I can't give you a  specific time frame on how often dogs get dental problems, so I hope the sort of generic responses that I'm giving you can help you at least a bit. Another thing that can cause problems with a dogs teeth is feeding them a soft diet. Dogs need hard, crunchy food and bones to clean their teeth in between dental visits. A good toothbrushing every day is as helpful to them as it is to us!
Good luck with your project and thanks for asking Sunny,
Cindi