When to Begin Dental Care
Taking care of the teeth should begin the moment you bring your Yorkie home. If you have a Yorkshire Terrier puppy, you will want to begin taking care of their teeth at a young age. It is best to handle a pup a lot... touch their paws...open their mouth...Run your finger across the teeth...
This will all help them be used to things that will happen during grooming...And being used to having the mouth and teeth touched will help them stay still when you are serious about scrubbing them.
If you bring home an older Yorkie, one of the first things that you should do is to bring your dog to the vet. Not only for a medical checkup, but for a dental checkup. It does not matter if you received your Yorkie from the best breeder in the world or rescued your dog from a shelter...you will have no idea of the status of the dog's teeth and what type of dental care was previously given.
How Often to Clean the Teeth
Due to the high incident rate of health problems of the mouth, jaw and teeth, we highly recommend brushing each day. it only takes a few minutes, and with practice your dog will stay still and you will become an expert. At the very least, you should brush your Yorkie's teeth one time per week.
A scraping, should you choose to do this, can be done as often as one time per month or every 6 months.
Leaving a longer gap than 6 months, often brings you to a point where things may have spread under the gum line and will need to be taken care of by the vet.
What About Professional Visits?
This should be done 1 time ever 2 years by an experience and trusted veterinarian. Some dog breeds receive professional cleanings every year.
You would at first think that the Yorkie, being prone to dental disease, should have the same.
However, the Yorkshire Terrier is very sensitive to anesthesia. Most professional cleaning are done by using anesthesia on the dog, so that the dog does not move while this careful cleaning is being performed.
You will be removing plaque and the veterinarian will be removing tartar via scraping...You may choose to do that yourself at home, but many owners find it best to allow the vet to take over this element...As it is tedious and very important that no spots be missed. The tartar is a yellow color. When you notice any buildup of this, it will a sign that your Yorkshire Terrier needs to go to the vet for a professional cleaning. Every other year for most is fine, as long as you keep up with cleaning at home.
For those with previous issues and/or soft teeth, twice a year may be needed and the pros and cons of anesthesia will need to be weighed and discussed with the vet.