Periodontal disease is the number one health issue affecting dogs today. It’s estimated that over 80% of adult dogs are plagued by it. Chances are your dog is also affected, even if it’s raw fed. In this post, we’ll explore the unsuspected cause of this epidemic disease and how new research suggests we might be treating it wrongly. Natural dental care for dogs may be easier than you think.
What Is Dental Disease? Dental or periodontal disease is usually progressive and has several stages.
Dental disease in dogs poses a significant risk to their overall health, affecting not just their oral health but also other organs. To understand this, let’s delve into the bacteria present in a dog’s mouth.
A Closer Look at Bacteria and Dysbiosis: Dental disease was once thought to be merely an accumulation of bacteria in the mouth, but this is only a part of the story. Your dog consumes over a trillion bacteria daily, with some moving to the gastrointestinal tract and others colonizing in the mouth plaque. These bacteria in the mouth are crucial for your dog’s health and immune system. The bacteria in your dog’s mouth are not random; they form organized colonies within dental plaque, making up the microbiome, which is vital for oral health. The microbiome in plaque is a structured metropolis of microscopic bacteria colonies. The microbiome is the second largest in the body, after the gut. Researchers have discovered that Corynebacterium is the bacteria found next to the tooth enamel, growing outward and networking with other layers of bacteria. These bacteria are packed closely together and adhere closely to the tooth, making them hard to remove. The outermost layer of the microbiome is mainly composed of friendly strains of Streptococcus, which release carbon dioxide to aid their growth. These bacteria live harmoniously with the body, with bacteria and other microorganisms outnumbering the dog’s own cells by nearly 100 to 1. When the bacteria in the microbiome are healthy, they provide health benefits, such as manufacturing short chain fatty acids and vitamins, forming the immune system, and having a direct connection to the brain through the gut-brain axis. However, not all bacteria are friendly. If the bacterial colonies are disturbed, and some species die off while others take over, their influence on your dog will change. Research indicates that a reduction or lack of diversity in bacterial populations in microbiomes increases the risk of disease.A study in cats with irritable bowel disease (IBD) showed that healthy cats had a much higher bacterial population in their gut compared to cats with IBD.
Another study found that the skin of healthy dogs was inhabited by a much more rich and diverse bacterial population than the skin of dogs with allergies. Research is also showing that dysbiosis in the plaque – not plaque itself – is the real cause of periodontal disease. When the bacterial populations are balanced, the immune system won’t be alarmed and activated. But if the balance of bacteria becomes unbalanced, some unwanted species of bacteria can grow out of control and initiate an immune response. When the sulcus is inflamed, the cells in the gums will be deprived of oxygen and this lack of oxygen favors the growth of harmful bacteria. Once their colonies grow, they can crowd out other friendly colonies of bacteria by competing for the same nutrients and dysbiosis will occur. If this dysbiosis isn’t repaired and balance returned to the microbiome, colonies of harmful bacteria such as Porphyromonas gingivalis will start to destroy the tissue of the gums. Once the gums become inflamed, the immune system delivers nutrients like iron to the infected area. But these bacteria have adapted to feed on these nutrients and they start to rapidly grow out of control while the immune system continues to feed them by pumping more and more iron and other nutrients into the infected tissue. How much damage is done depends on a few factors. Small breed dogs and brachycephalic breeds like Pugs and Boxers seem to be more prone to dental disease. It’s also more likely to occur in older dogs, but the immune response is critical to how quickly and how severely periodontal disease develops. Diseases like diabetes or other health issues related to a compromised immune response (like allergies, arthritis, hypothyroidism, liver, bowel and kidney disease), will ultimately cause exaggerated inflammation in the gums and further fuel the dysbiosis. Not only can diseases in other organs have an affect on oral health, periodontal disease can cause damage in your dog’s organs as well. How Dental Disease Causes Other Dangerous Diseases If the microbiome in your dog’s mouth is balanced, the bacteria colonies will be balanced and healthy and they’ll stay in their normal environment. But when the populations of some strains grow out of control, the bacteria will find it harder to compete and will migrate out of the neighborhood. Bacteria can travel from the damaged gums to the lymphatic and blood vessel systems and migrate to the body’s organs. This is called bacteremia and it’s very similar to what happens with leaky gut. In fact the colonies of bacteria in the mouth and gut are very similar. They share 45% of the same colonies and populations. So if the bacteria in the mouth grow out of control, that dysbiosis will seed the same dysbiosis in the gut.The toxic by-products from harmful bacteria can lead to inflammation and erosion of the gut wall’s cell lining, allowing more bacteria and toxins to enter the body. This can trigger a cascade of chronic inflammation that may eventually affect organs and cause disease. In humans, periodontal disease has been linked to various conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, IBD, and stroke. Similarly, research in dogs has shown a connection to heart, liver, and kidney disease.
Can brushing your dog’s teeth prevent these issues? Most bacterial colonies reside in plaque, prompting many veterinarians to recommend regular brushing or even annual veterinary dental cleanings under anesthesia. While these practices can clear away plaque, bacterial recolonization begins immediately after removal. Studies indicate that about a million organisms can cover a tooth within a minute of cleaning. Disruption of these populations might allow harmful bacteria to take hold before beneficial ones can reestablish dominance.
Consider the fate of the displaced bacteria; brushing does not eliminate them but merely transfers them elsewhere. An unbalanced oral microbiome can seed the gut with harmful bacteria daily. Moreover, brushing can cause bacteremia, particularly if the gums are bleeding, allowing bacteria to enter the bloodstream. While a healthy dog’s immune system can manage this bacterial surge, dogs with inflammation, dysbiosis, or chronic disease may reach a critical point due to the introduction of substantial bacteria into the bloodstream through brushing or cleaning.
To summarize, plaque is a biofilm of organized bacteria and other substances that coexist with your dog. If this colony is eradicated through brushing, it will regrow within minutes. Disruption can lead to harmful bacterial overgrowth and inflammation. In dogs prone to chronic inflammation, bacteria can enter the bloodstream, affecting the gut and potentially leading to further infiltration and disease in the organs. Maintaining your dog’s oral health is crucial, but traditional methods like brushing might not suffice and could even exacerbate health issues in some dogs. Dental care is not merely about plaque removal but also about preserving the bacteria that help keep unwanted bugs at bay.
However, it is possible to clean dog teeth without brushing at home. The key is to protect or restore the delicate balance of bacteria in your dog’s mouth through natural dental care. The first step in preventing or treating dental disease is to safeguard the microbiome from damage.
Dysbiosis in dogs can stem from several sources:
– Antibiotics indiscriminately kill all bacteria, disrupting the microbiome.
– Poor diet, particularly those high in starch or sugar, can fuel harmful bacterial colonies.
– Genetically modified foods or those with pesticides can also kill bacteria, leading to dysbiosis.
– Drugs and chemicals can harm bacteria.
– Processed diets, often devoid of bacteria, can lead to the death of bacterial colonies, causing dysbiosis.
– High-pressure pasteurization of raw foods can have similar effects.
Protecting your dog’s microbiome is crucial as a first line of defense to ensure balanced and healthy bacterial populations.
However, what if your dog already has dental disease or compromised bacterial colonies? What if your dog suffers from allergies or immune-related health issues?
Probiotics can offer a natural solution to dental disease in dogs. They are friendly bacteria that compete with harmful organisms for space and resources, balancing the immune response.
Research is increasingly focusing on the microbiome’s role in dental health. A 2009 study in the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association found probiotics effective in treating and preventing dental disease.
Probiotics colonize in plaque, competing with harmful bacteria for colonization sites and food. They produce antibacterial by-products that discourage harmful bacteria colonization and can alter mouth pH and oxygen levels, supporting the immune system.
Not all probiotic strains colonize effectively in the mouth. The Canadian study indicated that Lactobacillus species were more likely to colonize on teeth and in plaque than Bifidobacterium species.
Lactobacillus species in the mouth can reduce inflammation associated with gingivitis and periodontal disease.
To increase these beneficial bacteria in your dog’s mouth, consider two approaches:
– Probiotics in Food: Add probiotics to your dog’s daily food, either through probiotic-rich foods like fermented vegetables or probiotic supplements.
– Commercial Probiotic Products: Ensure the product contains multiple strains of bacteria to maintain or restore balance against the trillion bacteria entering your dog’s mouth daily.
Ensuring your dog’s food contains prebiotics, which are soluble fiber ingredients that feed probiotics, is crucial. Without proper nourishment, probiotics will die off.
Avoid dairy-based probiotics, as they can trigger allergies in many dogs. Probiotics in your dog’s food can restore balance in his gut bacteria. Since dogs don’t chew their food thoroughly, many probiotics pass directly to the gut. To introduce healthy bacteria into the mouth, mix probiotic powder with filtered water in a spray bottle and spray it into your dog’s mouth. Then, add the rest to his food to help seed his gut. Do not store probiotics in water; make a new batch at meal time, as bacteria don’t survive long in water. If you brush your dog’s teeth, spritz his mouth with this mixture afterward to encourage healthy bacteria growth. As research delves into the microbiome’s role in health and immunity, some traditional treatments may become outdated. Adding probiotics to your dog’s mouth daily might help avoid dental cleanings. References: Jessica L. Mark Welch, Blair J. Rossetti et al. Biogeography of a microbiome at micron scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2016, 113 (6) E791-E800. Inness VL, McCartney AL, Khoo C, Gross KL, Gibson GR. Molecular characterisation of the gut microflora of healthy and inflammatory bowel disease cats using fluorescence in situ hybridisation with special reference to Desulfovibrio spp. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2007 Feb;91(1-2):48-53. Aline Rodrigues Hoffmann et al. The Skin Microbiome in Healthy and Allergic Dogs. Plos One. January 8 2014 T Berglundh et al. Gingivitis in the deciduous and permanent dentition. An experimental study in the dog. J Clin Periodontology. August 1989. Daniel Grenier PhD et al. Probiotics for Oral Health: Myth or Reality? JCDA. October 2009, Vol. 75, No. 8. Kõll-Klais P, et al. Oral lactobacilli in chronic periodontitis and periodontal health: species composition and antimicrobial activity. Oral Microbiol Immunol. 2005 Dec;20(6):354-61. Riccia DN, et al, Cifone MG. Anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus brevis (CD2) on periodontal disease. Oral Dis. 2007 Jul;13(4):376-85.
