What exactly is dental disease? How does it start? What effects does it have on your pet? This set of pages will answer some of these questions. First, we'll cover dental disease briefly, then we'll look more closely at the progression of dental disease, and finally we'll end with some pictures to demonstrate what's been discussed.
Normal, healthy teeth should be smooth, clean, and white. They should be tight in their sockets, and the gum tissue (gingiva) around them should be tight against the teeth. Normal gum tissue should be light pink, and firm to the touch.
Dental disease occurs in several stages, which can be summarized briefly as follows:
1.Healthy teeth
2.Plaque accumulation
3.Tartar development
- supragingival (visible above the gumline)
- subgingival (not visible, below the gumline)
4.Gingivitis
5.Periodontitis
Everything up to and including gingivitis is considered reversible; periodontitis results in permanent changes.
The next page will detail the changes involved in the progression of dental disease: