Dental Care

Just like weight control and toe nail length, proper and regular dental care is a topic that massively impacts your animal’s neurological health! A huge part of my job when evaluating your pet is finding and taking into account external stressors that may be contributing to or causing the problems that I’m finding. By far, the top three things I see often in my office are poor weight control, long toe nails, and improper dental care. Today, we’re going to dive into why dental care impacts the state of your animal’s nervous system so much! 👇

One of the main jobs of the nervous system is to assess and respond to external stimuli, one of the most important being pain of course! So, when a tooth is causing pain and inflammation, the brain needs to respond to and adapt to that pain. Oftentimes the way the body adapts is by creating compensation patterns to stop putting so much stress in the area of that inflamed tooth… it changes the position of the jaw and changes the pattern in which they chew food, lick, or bark.

So what, right? Well, it’s estimated that close to TWO-THIRDS of our proprioceptors live in the upper neck and jaw. Proprioceptors tell the brain where the body is at in space, sounds important… don’t you think? When we end up with misalignments or fixations in the upper neck and jaw due to the body trying to adapt to inflammation and irritation in the mouth, it’s only a matter of time before your pet’s gait pattern is changing and other struggles start to arise. So, what can you do to prevent this?

👉 talk to your primary veterinarian about regular dental care!
👉 practice dental hygiene at home with regular brushing and treats that help clean the teeth!
👉 support your pet’s gut health! Your pet’s microbiome is so important when it comes to dental health, make sure you’re supporting it with a quality diet and probiotic!
👉 check your pet’s teeth at home! Look for signs of irritation, inflammation, or abnormal wear patterns.
👉 have your pet checked by an animal chiropractor! Preventatively checking and working on your pet’s jaw and upper cervical spine can be a game changer!