As the ever so cold month of February draws to a close so does Pet Dental Month. This also brings our dental blog series to an end. Over the course of the month we have shared quite a bit of knowledge that may be important but let’s face it a little lackluster! So for the end of the dental blog series we would like to leave you with a few interesting dental facts!
• The average adult dog has about a third more teeth than us humans. Adult dogs have 42 permanent teeth compared to a meager 32 average human teeth (not counting any wisdom teeth. Those are “bonus.”). Puppies possess 28 baby teeth while human babies will have 20 deciduous or “baby” teeth.
• Cats have only 30 adult teeth and 26 baby teeth. That’s far fewer than dogs and less than humans.
• Puppies begin losing their teeth around 12-16 weeks of age and have most of their permanent teeth by 4 months of age.
• The order in which kitten and puppy permanent teeth erupt is helpful in determining the age of stray animals.
• The canine teeth are one of the cat’s main weapons. They’re anatomically designed to be super sharp and able to penetrate deep into their prey. The sharp teeth carry bacteria deep into the body. As the tooth is withdrawn the wound closes in on itself, trapping all the bacteria deep in the wound. This is why a visit to a doctor is often recommended after a cat bite.
• Canine and Feline braces are becoming more popular. These are used less for cosmetic reasons but can realign some serious uneven bites that could be life threatening.
• The spinney hair like structures on your cat’s tongue arte called “papillae” and are used to aid in grooming.
We would like to thank everyone who participated in our Dental Month Promotion! If you have not yet taken advantage of our 25% off dental cleaning promotion you still have time!
This blog post was written by McQueen Animal Hospital, a veterinary clinic in Brampton providing quality affordable veterinary care
