Dental home care in dogs - a questionnaire study among Swedish dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses

Enlund, Karolina Brunius; Brunius, Carl; Hanson, Jeanette; Hagman, Ragnvi; Höglund, Odd Viking; Gustås, Pia; Pettersson, Ann

doi:10.1186/s12917-020-02281-y

Cited by 34 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…In order to investigate dog owners' opinions and assessment of their dog's dental health, and perceived dental problems and specific non-dental chronic diseases, a questionnaire survey to dog owners was analyzed. This was part of a large study including questionnaire surveys to dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses, which were constructed and validated according to survey methodology guidelines, as described elsewhere (19,20). The target group consisted of all registered dog owners in Sweden, 607,610 individuals.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The questions were mainly closed, i.e., with fixed response options, and both nominal and ordinal data were collected (20). Twelve questions [Questions 5,6,7,18,19,20,23,24,25,26,28,29 (20)] concerned owners perception of the dog's dental and general health. In particular, questions 5, 6, and 7 relate to dog owners' general opinions on the dental health of their dog, and questions 19 and 20 to their assessment of the dental health of their dog, questions 18, 23, 24, 25, and 26 to their dogs dental health, and questions 28 and 29 to general health and specific non-dental chronic diseases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Daily tooth brushing is considered the gold standard for prevention of periodontal disease development and progression (14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Compliance to the recommendation of daily tooth brushing in veterinary patients is low (19). This may, in part, be explained by a lack of knowledge regarding dental disease (19), and an important factor to increase compliance may thus be to increase awareness of clinical signs of disease among dog owners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compliance to the recommendation of daily tooth brushing in veterinary patients is low (19). This may, in part, be explained by a lack of knowledge regarding dental disease (19), and an important factor to increase compliance may thus be to increase awareness of clinical signs of disease among dog owners. Additionally, dental home care is not possible without the dog owner being able to handle the dog's mouth, which requires a certain amount of skill and training of both dog and owner.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the framework of a nationwide survey on canine dental home care (19,20), we have investigated canine dental health from a dog owner perspective. If properly constructed and validated, questionnaire surveys provide a useful method for evaluating attitudes, opinions and practices on specific topics (20)(21)(22).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dog Owners' Perspectives on Canine Dental Health—A Questionnaire Study in Sweden

et al. 2020

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Periodontal disease is one of the most common diseases affecting dogs, with a reported prevalence of at least 80% in dogs over 3 years of age. However, there is a lack of studies regarding dog owners' assessment of their dog's dental health, and whether they perceive clinical signs often associated with periodontal disease, i.e., dental calculus, halitosis or mobile or lost teeth. A validated questionnaire survey was distributed to all Swedish dog owners with email addresses in the national registry (n = 209,263). The response rate was 32%. The survey questions concerned opinions and practices regarding canine dental health, including assessment of dental health parameters and dog owners' ability to examine their dog's mouth. A construct (α = 0.76) was used to investigate dog owners' assessed symptoms of their dog's dental health in relation to background factors. Half of the respondents rated their dog's dental health as very good. However, one in four dog owners experienced difficulties when inspecting the dog's teeth. The most common reason for this difficulty was stated to be an uncooperative dog. Almost half of the dog owners reported halitosis to some degree in their dog, and almost four in ten owners reported dental calculus. One in eight dogs had been previously anesthetized for dental cleaning, and one in 12 dogs had experienced problems with gum disease, according to the owners. Owners' assessment varied significantly with the dog's age, weight, breed, breed group, sex, and concurrent disease. Owner-related factors that influenced the assessment of the dog's dental health were age, gender, education, county (urban/rural), and whether they were breeders or not. Dog owners with smaller dogs, older dogs and certain breeds predisposed to periodontal disease assessed their dog's dental health as worse than their counterparts, which is in agreement with previously reported higher prevalence of dental disease in these groups. This indicates that dog owners are able to perform relative assessment of their dog's dental health status. Our results also highlight the need for routine professional assessment of periodontal health, as well as education of dog owners and training of dogs to accept dental care procedures.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%