Dietary regimen and oral care applications have significant influence on the occurence of dental plaque and calculus ^7-10. Gingivitis first occurs in the superficial tissues, then in the deep tissues leading to the onset of inflammatory lesions in the remote organs ^2,3,6,11. Poor oral health in dogs, causes halitosis, chewing difficulty, stress and sociological problems. The quality of life of the dogs is reduced ^4,12-15. Periodontal diseases are seen more commonly in small dogs than large ones and in older animals than young ones, and as dogs get older, there is a gradual increase in the severity of periodontitis ^{1,4,5,13,16-20}.

Nutritional habits are responsible for the formation of periodontal diseases, and in general, feeding with soft foods increase the likelihood of the oral disturbances ^7,18,21. Regular brushing of the dog's teeth ^{8,10,15,20-22,} proper habit of giving chewing materials ^3,18,23, reducing the risk of the development of periodontal disorders ^5,8,10,13. It has been postulated that stress has some effects on the progression of oral disturbances ¹².

In the early stage of the disease, dental plaque formation, mild redness and swelling in gingival tissue are noticed ^5,19. With the progression of inflammation, severe redness, hypersensitivity, swelling and bleeding in gingival tissue develops ^4,15. The other clinical findings in these cases are tartar formation, mandibular lymph node growth and general status disorders ^13,24.

The oral health index score is used in order to evaluate the oral health in dogs. The following criteria are taken into consideration for determining the oral health index scores; 1. The severity of clinical symptoms of gingivitis, 2. The rate of accumulation of plaque and tartar on teeth, 3. The grades of lymph node growth ^20,25.

The most effective practices to prevent or delay the development of oral health disorders in dogs are to brush the teeth continuously ^8,10,15,20 and to give chewing materials after feedings, as much as possible ^14,20,23,26. Different ideas about the influence of the type of foods on oral health have been put forward ^7,9,22,24. While some researchers point out that the influence of the kinds of foods on oral health are limited ^7,9,24, some researchers indicate that dry commercial foods are useful for the protection of oral health ^7,8,18,27,28. The other researchers have indicated that soft foods have significant contributions to the deterioration of oral health ^7,28.

At the physical examination, the severity of the gingival disorders (redness, swelling, pain, bleeding), the rate of the accumulation of the plaque and tartar on teeth and the grades of mandibular lymph node growth were determined. The grades of these disorders were scored as 0, 1, 2, and the sum of these scores for each case, was evaluated as an oral health index score that was graded as between 0-6 (20, 25).

The following criteria were taken into account while scoring the clinical findings of oral disorders. The scores of the accumulations of the plaque and tartar on teeth (DDS) were clasified as (0), (1) and (2) according to the rate of deposits of plaque and tartar on the teeth. Score (0): No plaque and tartar accumulation on teeth; Score (1): The plaque and tartar accumulation have covered the half of the visible part of the teeth; Score (2): The plaque and tartar accumulation have covered more than the half of the visible part of the teeth. Gingival disturbances scores (GDS) were scored as (0), (1) and (2) according to the degree of impairment. Score (0): No gingival disturbances. Score (1): Mild redness and swelling in the gums. Score (2): Severe redness, swelling, pain and gingival bleeding. Mandibular lymph node disturbance scores (MLDS) were scored as (0), (1) and (2) according to the grades of the lymph node growth. Score (0): No growth; Score (1): There is slight growth; Score (2): There is severe growth. Oral health index scores (OHIS) are the sum of the scores of DDS, GDS and MLDS, and are graded as between 0 and 6. The score '0' means good oral health. The scores from 1 to 6 indicate the gradual increase in the severity of oral health disorders. Expressions about the severity of oral health impairment were classified as follows; 1. OHIS-1,2,3 indicate the ‘mild degree’ oral health disorder, 2. OHIS-4 indicates the ‘moderate degree’ oral health disorder and 3. OHIS-5, 6 indicate the ‘severe degree’ oral health disorder ^20,25.

In the statistical analysis of the results given in the tables, 'One Way Variance Analysis' was used. The 'Duncan test' was used to determine the differences between subgroups. SPSS 11.5 packet computer program was used for all statistics. Each test item group value in each row between the subject items in each row was tested by chi-square analysis between them.

According to the information from the animal owners, 32 dogs have been fed with dry foods, 23 dogs have been fed with soft foods and 45 dogs have been fed with both dry and soft foods. Dry foods have included commercial foods. Soft foods have included both commercial canned foods and homemade foods. In 26 dogs, teeth have been brushed 1-2 times in a week after feedings, and 48 dogs have been sometimes given chewing materials between the times of feeding.

The distribution of the mean oral health index scores according to the age range were showed in Table 1. Mild oral health disorders begin to develop at <1 year old and the severity of the disorders increases with age, Most of the dogs of >7 years old, have severe oral health disorders. There was significant statistical differences (P<0.05), between the numbers of the cases in the each clinical examination finding scores and age groups.

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Table 1: Relationships between the ages and the oral health index scores (OHIS)

The distribution of the oral health index scores according to the sizes of the dogs were showed in Table 2 and Table 3. As a result, it can be said that small or medium breed dogs are more susceptible to the formation of oral health disorders than large dogs, but no significance found between groups. Significant statistical differences (P<0.05) were found in the group of large dogs and the group of the small or medium dogs between the DDS 0,1 score and the DDS 2 score and between the MLDS 0, 1 score and the MLDS 2 score.

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Table 2: Relationships between the small-medium dogs, large dogs and gingival disturbances scores (GDS), dental accumulation scores (DDS) and mandibular lymph node growth scores (MLDS)

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Table 3: Relationships between the small-medium dogs, large dogs and oral health index scores (OHIS)

The distribution of the oral health index scores according to the diet regimens were showed in Table 4 and Table 5. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the kinds of food.

The distribution of the oral health index scores according to the toothbrushing were showed in Table 6.

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Table 4: Relationships between the kinds of foods given the dogs and gingival disturbances scores (GDS), dental accumulation scores (DDS) and mandibular lymph node growth scores (MLDS)

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Table 5: Relationships between the kinds of foods and oral health index scores (OHIS) in dogs

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Table 6: Relationship between the dogs whose teeth being brushed and given chewing materials and the gingival disturbances scores (GDS), dental accumulation scores (DDS) and mandibular lymph node growth scores (MLDS)

There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the toothbrushing 1-2 times a week

The distribution of the oral health index scores according to the giving chewing materials were showed in Table 6. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the giving chewing materials occasionally.

Some symptoms that can be seen in dogs with oral health disorders are halitosis, difficulty in eating hard foods, restlessness and nervous behavior ^3,4,11-15. Although there are no studies investigating the relationship between the oral health disorders and the quality of the life in dogs, there are studies that state that halitosis in dogs is a disturbing condition for humans and that some applications must be made to correct this condition ^4,14,15,26. In this study, it was learned that, the dogs with impaired oral health were more restless than those in the past, and their association with human due to the bad breath was reduced. According to the grades of oral disorders, the dogs had some difficulty in chewing their foods and they were not friendly to the dogs and people around them. Information about the increased frequency of taking dogs to the veterinary clinics, was recently received due to the onset of abnormalities in general health status.

Some of the factors that affect the oral health of dogs, are the breed, age, mouth structure ^{1,5,17,19,20,} the types of the foods and the oral care practices ^7,21,27,28.

Several articles have reported that plaque and tartar on teeth and some clinical findings of periodontitis may be seen in dogs of all ages ^1,5,20. When clinical findings of oral health disorders are evaluated according to the age groups in dogs in this study (Table 1), there was a significant statistical difference (> 0,05) between the number of patients with clinical examination findings scores and age groups. This interpretation resembles to that of some researchers' indicating that the grades of severity of periodontal disorders increases with age, and causes serious mouth problems in dogs over 5 years of age ^5,19,20.

Although the numbers and the severity of the cases of periodontal disorders were reported to be higher in small dogs than those in large dogs ^1,5,13,17, in our study, as shown in the Table 2, and Table 3; it was showed that the number of the cases with oral health disturbances are high both in small-medium dogs and in large dogs. But the severity of oral health impairment in the large dogs was found less than those in the small or medium dogs. This difference between the small or medium and large dogs may be attributed to the differences in the mouth and dental structures of the dogs, in the types of foods, in the ability to chew the foods and in the individual local and general immune status. According to the distribution of the numbers of the cases in the small or medium breed dogs, although no significance were found between groups, it can be said that small or medium dogs are more susceptible to the formation of oral health disorders than the large dogs.

The researchers point out that the numbers of the cases of periodontal disorders observed in dogs increase markedly from the age of 2-3 years old and that the severity of these disorders increases gradually from the age of 5 years old ^{1,16,17,19,20}. In this study, as can be understood from the Table 1; periodontal disorders began to be seen from the age of <1 year old. As the age progressed, the number and severity of the oral health impairment increased. Almost all dogs of >7 years old, have been found to have a moderate-to-severe oral health impairment. This finding, is consistent with the common idea that periodontal disorders are the most important problem that arises in older dogs, especially in small ones ^1,5,20.

Similar to the reports of that 'during the course of periodontitis in the dogs, variable degree of growth in mandibular lymph node and deterioration in general health condition develop' ^2-4,6,27, this study showed that the mandibular lymph node begins to grow from the age of <1 year old dogs with mild degree oral health disorder. The greater growth of mandibular lymph nodes in older dogs may be attributed to the greater severity of oral health disorders (Table 2).

The results of the evaluation of OHIS numbers showed that the mouth disorders in dogs can not reach to a severe degree due to the strengthening of individual immunity from 1 year to 3 years. The probability of the lack of adequate sensitivity to protect oral health, the inability to maintain continuity of oral care practices, increase the severity of the mouth disorders inevitably. In addition to the other reasons, since the immune system begins to weak in almost all dogs over the age of >7, there is a greater likelihood of suffering from moderate-severe illness in the mouth following 7 years old in dogs. Similar comments from previous studies have shown that severe periodontal disorders begin to occur for a variety of reasons, such as immune system disorders in dogs of 2-3 years old, and in addition, one of the greatest problems of older dogs is severe periodontal and tooth disturbances ^1,16,19.

In studies, investigating the relationship between food type and oral health in dogs; Some researchers have indicated that commercial dry foods does not positively affect oral health ^9,18,22,24, while some researchers suggest that oral health is affected well in dogs given commercial dry foods ^{7,8,18,24,28,} and a researcher ²⁸ reported that commercial dry foods negatively affected oral health. The idea that soft foods have a bad influence on oral health is a common thought of among the researchers ^{7,18,22,24,26,28}. In this study, the results suggests that the consumption of the soft foods may have a little more bad effect on oral health than the other two kinds of food. There was also no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of the kinds of food.

It is reported in some investigations that one of the most common practices for cleaning the food deposits in the mouth is to give the dogs some chewing materials that will encourage them to chewing ^{7,17,21,23,26,28}. In this study, unexpectedly an adequate decrease in the numbers of the cases with oral health disorders are not determined in the dogs given sometimes chewing materials. The probable cause of this may be that the animal owner's habit to give chewing material had not improved sufficiently.

In some investigations in the dogs, it is stated that if post-feeding toothbrushing are realized several times a week; the development of periodontal disorders is delayed to later ages, and that in cases of periodontitis development; the severity of symptoms appear to be milder than those in the dogs whose toothbrushing has never been performed ^{3,7,8,10,15,20-22}. In this study, similar comments can be made for the dogs whose teeth have been brushed 1-2 times a week and for the dogs whose teeth have not been brushed.

The following conclusions can be made according to the results obtained from this study: Oral health disorders in dogs can be seen in the dogs from the age of >1 year old and the severity of the disorders increase with age. Severe oral health disorders begin to see at >3 years old. When the OHIS scores of the cases were evaluated, it can be said that most of the cases of >7 years old, have severe oral health disorders. In cases of severe oral health disorders, general health problems also arise and some sociological problems may encounter. Severe oral health disorders occur more frequently in small or medium breed dogs. When the GDS and DDS scores are taken into consideration, oral health disorders occur more frequently and more severely in the dogs given soft foods. Tooth brushing, 1-2 times in a week, delay the development of oral health disorders. It can be said that the infrequent use of chewing materials in dogs between the feeding times has little effect on the protection of oral health.

In conclusion, when evaluating the oral health in dogs, according to the results of this study, it was concluded that consideration of the age range and mandibular lymph node growth findings by the clinicians is clinically useful to evaluate of the oral health.

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