A longitudinal assessment of periodontal disease in 52 miniature schnauzers

Abstract

BackgroundPeriodontal disease (PD) is the most widespread oral disease in dogs and has been associated with serious systemic diseases. The disease is more prevalent in small breeds compared to large breeds and incidence increases with advancing age. In prevalence studies 84% of beagles over the age of 3 and 100% of poodles over the age of 4 were diagnosed with PD. Current knowledge of the rate of progression of PD is limited. The objective of this study was to determine the rate of PD progression in miniature schnauzers, an at risk small breed of dog.Dogs (n = 52, age 1.3-6.9 years) who had received a regular oral care regime prior to this study were assessed for levels of gingivitis and periodontitis around the whole gingival margin in every tooth under general anaesthetic. Assessments were conducted approximately every six weeks for up to 60 weeks following the cessation of the oral care regime.ResultsAll of the 2155 teeth assessed entered the study with some level of gingivitis. 23 teeth entered the study with periodontitis, observed across 12 dogs aged between 1.3 and 6.9 years. 35 dogs had at least 12 teeth progress to periodontitis within 60 weeks. Of the teeth that progressed to periodontitis, 54% were incisors. The lingual aspect of the incisors was significantly more likely to be affected (p < 0.001). The severity of gingivitis in periodontitis-affected teeth was variable with 24% of the aspects affected having very mild gingivitis, 36% mild gingivitis and 40% moderate gingivitis. Periodontitis progression rate was significantly faster in older dogs. Only one dog (age 3.5) did not have any teeth progress to periodontitis after 60 weeks.ConclusionsThis is the first study to have assessed the progression rate of periodontitis in miniature schnauzers and highlights that with no oral care regime, the early stages of periodontitis develop rapidly in this breed. An oral care regime and twice yearly veterinary dental health checks should be provided from an early age for this breed and other breeds with similar periodontitis incidence rates.

A longitudinal assessment of changes in bacterial community composition associated with the development of periodontal disease in dogs

“…2, Supplementary Table 1). Marshall et al (2014) showed that in the absence of an effective oral care regime periodontitis will develop rapidly in miniature schnauzers and therefore it is likely that many of the teeth in the non-progressing group are also progressing towards periodontitis which might explain this pattern. The proportions of others remained constant over time in the nonprogressing group but increased in the progressing group e.g.…”

“…Teeth were selected that progressed into mild periodontitis (<25% attachment loss; Marshall et al, 2014) regardless of the gingivitis score and are referred to hereafter as "progressing". Teeth were also selected that remained in mild gingivitis (mean gingivitis score 1 and 2) over the course of the study and are hereafter referred to "non-progressing".…”

“…Fifty two miniature schnauzers aged between 1.3 and 6.9 years housed at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition were recruited for a 60 week study in which dogs received no dental prophylaxis and underwent dental assessments every six weeks (AE1 week) for between three and 11 time points (see Marshall et al, 2014 for further details). To avoid teeth progressing to the later stages of disease, individual teeth were scaled and polished as soon as periodontitis was detected and then no longer included in the study.…”

Longitudinal quantification of the gingival crevicular fluid proteome during progression from gingivitis to periodontitis in a canine model

“…More recently we followed 52 miniature schnauzers, a small‐sized breed at risk of developing periodontitis, for 60 weeks (Marshall et al. ) without any tooth cleaning regimes. Thirty five of these animals had 12 or more teeth develop periodontitis during the course of the study and the incisors were the most likely to develop disease on the lingual aspect.…”

Evaluation of Some Systemic Inflammatory Parameters in Dogs with Gingivitis

“…Köpeklerde beslenme sonrası ağız bakımıyla ilgili bazı uygulamaların ihmal edilmesi hastalığın hazırlayıcı faktörlerindendir. Gingivitis diş plağı oluşumu ve bölgede bakteri üremesi ile başlar, periodontitise ve sistemik yangı-sal organ bozukluklarına yol açar [1][2][3][4] . Gingivitisli hastalarda ağzın fiziksel muayenesinde fark edilebilecek ilk bulgular diş plaklarının oluşumu ve hafif diş eti yangısına özgü belirtilerdir.…”