One week ago, as I was brushing my dog’s teeth with coconut oil in our nightly routine, when I suddenly noticed that there was blood on the toothbrush. Upon closer examination, I noticed that there had been traumatic injury to the front tooth, and one of the side teeth, and the gums were blue-purplish and receding on just the two teeth affected. I extrapolated that my dog had either bitten something hard or had been injured while playing with other dogs with their pull toy. However, something had happened and two teeth were now loose and moving freely in my dog.
I immediately called the veterinarian the following morning and she told me that there was nothing they could do. If the teeth were bothering my dog, I could take my dog in to have the teeth pulled, then my dog would be prescribed antibiotics and painkillers. She said it was very common for dogs beyond age 8+ years to eventually lose their teeth, and that I should keep an eye on it. However, I recalled several years back, my mother’s dog had a tooth infection in which the veterinarian pulled out all her front teeth then used an aggressive form of antibiotic treatment that lasted on and off for 5 months, and my mother’s beloved dog eventually fell ill of health and died the following year at the age of 10. We did not know at the time that antibiotics not only cause DNA damage, but also destroy the natural harmonious state of microbiomes in the body that lead to an impaired immune system; however many unethical veterinarians often push pet owners towards aggressive antibiotic treatment due to the profitability scheme of prescribing those various drugs that often damage our pets’ health.
Pinhole surgical technique for humans with receding gumlines pioneered by Dr. Chao in California. Dr. Chao uses a pinhole instrument and pushes gums down to stretch over receding gums, then fills the area with collagen. This procedure is not yet available for pets.
Although there might be scant studies of short-term benefits of taking antibiotics for some types of infections for a short period of time, antibiotic usage has generally been attributed to long-term complications in impairing health of both animal and human subjects.
In fact, some types of antibiotics led to a higher risk of a life-threatening inflammatory condition called graft versus host disease in a study of 857 patients led by researchers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.
I had mentioned in a previous entry that I have used low level light therapy (LLLT) or handheld photobiomodulation (PBM) devices with great success. As I tend to engage in a lot of physical exercise and outdoor sports, I often suffer from bruises, torn muscle ligaments, and other sports-related injuries from time to time, and I have used this particular PBM device for about 10 months daily until the lithium battery had stopped charging.
However, I called the company Laspot, located in China, and had a nice conversation with Tina Tang, who is their General Manager, and since my device was under the one year warranty and lifetime repair services, she let me know that all I had to do was send my device to them, and they would repair it and send it back to me. I didn’t have much expectations from a company that was located abroad in China, however, I was very impressed by their service as Tina had my device repaired and sent back to me within a week, although at the time it was a major holiday in China.
I followed up with Tina the next month to find out more about Laspot, and she explained that the company was founded in 2008 and they had around 100 employees. All the materials used for their devices were imported from Taiwan and Japan and assembled in China.
Tina told me that all their products were for home use, as opposed to the large, often cumbersome photobiomodulation (PBM) devices at hospitals. Their demographic consisted mainly of the elderly population who were in need of physical therapy and had “blocked blood” somewhere and were looking for therapy to absorb inflammation. She had first discovered Laspot PBM devices after her father had purchased a handheld wrist device, called the laser watch, which used pressure points in acupuncture, and had benefited from a significant decrease in blood pressure from 200/120 to the prehypertensive baseline of 140/90 without changing his diet or exercise. Since then, she has been working for the company in distribution and customer service.
Laspot’s most popular product: 650nm laser watch with 10 laser diodes at acupuncture points for blood irradiation.
The Laspot device that I have: the handheld. It has 12 laser diodes at 650nm and 1 laser diode at 808nm. I have used this device for muscle aches, torn ligaments, prevention of bruises from forming after injury, and even acne. As I mentioned in a previous entry, typically conventional medical doctors tell you to put ice on injuries and bruises to prevent inflammation, but I have found that using this device after an injury prevents inflammation and bruises from forming at all. To read more about LLLT or photobiomodulation, see my entry on Thor Medicine and its founder James Carroll.
Previously, I had read several studies on using PBM or photobiomodulation or otherwise called low level light therapy (LLLT) for dentistry and its healing effects. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4639680/
My dog was a trooper and was very still during the 20 minute PBM laser treatment. Note: the light isn't really as bright as captured in the photo.
I had decided on an irradiation schedule for my dog using my handheld device. Although, this particular device uses near-infrared non-ablative laser light (NIR) at the 650nm and 808nm levels which do not damage eyes, I was still careful not to expose the laser to my dogs’ eyes and made sure they were covered during treatment. PBM devices have been used to improve eye conditions and treat retinal diseases as well, but the dosage could vary. It was really blue light that people had to be more careful about, as blue light was closer in spectrum to UV light, therefore could damage eyesight. I utilised the maximum power setting 650 nm at continuous laser (not pulse or strobing) for 20 min per evening on my dog’s front tooth. Every evening, I would put on my favourite YouTube cookery channels, and lay next to my dog with my dog’s belly side up, and play some soothing music for my dog, as I would gently pull back my dog’s mouth and carefully direct the device to my dog’s teeth. I have to say my dog was very calm and did a great job of laying still for 20 minutes.
Periodontal disease in dogs. Sadly, most dog owners do not care for their dogs teeth until it is too late. Typically veterinarians put dogs under anaesthesia to clean their teeth, which can sometimes result in accidental death. I have found that brushing my dog's teeth with a soft baby toothbrush using coconut oil every evening would dissolve all the plaque.
The wolf: a cousin of the domestic dog, also frequently suffers from periodontal disease. Although many pet owners and dog food producers praise a raw meat diet, this kind of diet can accelerate periodontal disease, in addition to the development of health problems present when parasites are ingested from uncooked animal products. In addition, many commercial dry dog food also contain fillers and other processed materials that are detrimental for dogs' dental health. Also, let us remember that wolves live an average of 6-8 years in the wild on a raw meat diet, whereas domesticated dogs have a lifespan from 15 up to 25 years. One of the oldest living dogs, a border collie named Bramble, lived up to 27 years on a farm in the UK on a vegan diet.
Although my dog does not have periodontal disease as many dogs do, and has bright white teeth due to the fact that I brush my dog's teeth daily with coconut oil, dogs are still at risk when given bones, raw hide chews, and deer antlers. Not only are these “chews” bad for your dogs, and contain toxic chemicals, they can also cause severe dental damage.
Rawhide chews. If you're a pet owner, you've most likely given your dogs these treats as I have in the past. However, these chews are made from leftover hides from the leather industry, then bleached and treated with toxic chemicals before they are sprayed with flavours that dogs like. Not only are these chews harmful for your dogs' health, they can also wreak havoc on dogs' teeth.
A new trendy marketing campaign. Deer antlers are often hyped to be good for dogs' teeth, but have lead to multiple dental fractures in dogs as seen in the photo above. Many pet dentists do not recommend deer or elk antlers for dogs.
Several years ago, my dog had been chewing on a rawhide chew snack when I noticed there was blood all over the chew. The chew had damaged the front 2nd incisor, and since then I have banned any sort of chews for my dog. Instead, my dog now enjoys sliced apples, carrots, baked sweet potato and other healthy snacks that do not wreak havoc on teeth.
The condition of my dog’s front loose tooth benefited dramatically just after one 20 minute session. Although, I had tried to use the handheld laser therapy device on my dog every evening, I did miss the treatment on the 4th day, simply because I had forgotten. However, on the 5th day, I noticed that the tooth was noticeably not as loose as before and was strengthening as the gums were thickening over the tooth. I’m hoping that my dog won’t have to lose the tooth, despite the fact that my veterinarian thinks that all dogs will lose their teeth after a certain age. In the meantime, until the front and side molar fully heal, I’ll have to make sure that my dog only eats soft foods, and take away all of my dog's pull toys.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended as medical nor veterinary advice and only for educational purposes only.
If you are interested in finding out more about Laspot’s photobiomodulation devices, you can visit their website http://www.lasermedicalhome.com or contact Tina Tang by phone or email: info@lasermedicalhome.com mobile: +86 1572161959