Fun facts about your pet’s teeth

  

Between the slobber and stinky breath, it may not seem like it, but your pet’s mouth is actually a very fascinating place! We’ve gathered some of the most interesting facts about your pet’s teeth—see what pearls of wisdom you can pick up about your pet’s pearly whites!

 

• Pets have baby teeth, too. Dogs and cats have a first set of baby teeth that, just like ours, eventually fall out and get replaced by adult teeth. But unlike people, their baby teeth are needle sharp and first come in while they are still nursing—ouch!
• Dogs have more teeth than people, but cats have fewer. Dogs have quite a mouthful, counting 42 teeth as adults. People, on the other hand, typically have 32 teeth, and cats come in right behind them with only 30 teeth.
• Cats have the ultimate carnivore teeth. Cats may have the fewest teeth, but the teeth they have are perfectly built for eating meat. Their canines help pierce the skin and their premolars and molars shear and tear meat. Dogs have these same teeth, but they are not quite as sharp. Plus, dogs have some flatter molars in the back of their mouths that are useful for grinding, a motion that can be used on tough plant material.
• Pets' incisors are useful for more than eating. Pets use their mouths like hands, so incisors (the small teeth at the very front) can double for many useful purposes, like grooming, scratching or picking up delicate objects. 
• Pets' teeth are longer than they look. The part of your pet’s tooth that you can see, known as the crown, is only a third of the length of the whole tooth. The tooth root, which is the part that extends below the gumline, is twice the length of the crown. Think about the next time you see your pet’s canines!
• Pets very rarely get cavities. Cavities may be common in people, but they almost never happen in pets. This is in part because of the shape of pets' teeth and partly because of the type of bacteria in their mouths. Don’t feel jealous, though; pets have different types of dental lesions that can hurt just as much.

Learn more about your pet’s teeth and their care at Shop myVCA, where you can find helpful articles, video tutorials and veterinarian-recommended products to keep these intriguing structures in tiptop shape.

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