Pet dental care nowadays is a veterinary speciality in its own right. Just about anything your dentist or orthodontist can do for your teeth, a veterinary dentist can do for your pet's teeth.

However, there is a lot you can do to help your pet maintain a healthy set of gnashers without having to break the bank.It is also very important that you pay attention to your pet's dental health because it is an area that, if neglected, can lead not only to the obvious dental problems, but also indirectly to a range of non-dental health problems.

The thing to remember here is that, without your help, most pets (and we are talking primarily cats and dogs here) will start developing dental related problems before they are 2 years old. This has a lot to do with their diet and, in many cases, suburban lifestyle (i.e. they don't get to do much "hunting, shooting and fishing"!).

The developing dental problems immediately put an extra load on the immune system,and consequently tend to shift the pet health pendulum away from "healthy" towards "unhealthy".

So what can you do to help maintain good pet dental health?

1) Check your pet's teeth regularly (e.g.monthly) so that deviations from the normal can be spotted early and dealt with before a major problem develops. The added advantage of this is that the pet gets used to you handling it's mouth area.

2) Feed a dry kibble diet. These types of diet are more abrasive on the teeth than tinned foods or home prepared diets, and tend to keep the teeth clean for longer periods.

3) Start regular brushing of your pet's teeth using a pet specific toothpaste from when they are young. This will prevent or at least delay the onset of periodontal disease.

4) Make sure your pet has a yearly dental check up and that cleaning and scaling is undertaken on a regular basis.

All cats, dogs and some exotic pets are reliant on humans to ensure that they can eat happily for their whole live.

Pet dental care, like many other aspects of pet health, is the responsibility of the pet owner!