A short YouTube video by Dr. Lera Clone presenting a clinical case of an 11-year-old Pomeranian with sneezing linked to advanced periodontal disease. Dr. Clone explains how gum recession and bone loss from periodontal infection can create an oronasal fistula allowing infection or food to enter the nasal sinus and cause sneezing, recommends oral dental X‑rays under general anesthesia to assess and remove affected teeth per veterinary dentistry guidelines.
Questions this video answers
About 85% of dogs over the age of three.
11 years old.
Oral dental X‑rays (intraoral radiographs) performed under general anesthesia.
The American College of Veterinary Dentistry (ACVD) recommendations.
Chapters
Hey guys, Dr. Lara here today. I'm here with this 11 year old Pomeranian and he's coming in just because he's been sneezing. And so one of the things that's very, very common in dogs is something called periodontal disease. About, I think 85% of dogs over the age of three are suffering from some level of periodontal disease. The smaller breed dogs are much more prone to periodontal disease than the larger breed dogs like Ginger and Ruby, which you guys may have seen on some of the other videos, my dogs. And so when he came in today, what we did was, you know, we always do the same exam, a nose to tail exam, but we look in his mouth and Abraham, if you want to come close, you can see right here, see how the root, you can see root of the tooth and you shouldn't be able to see root. The gum should come all the way down to here. And so when the gum recedes, not only are you having gum recession, but you're also having bone loss. And so those teeth, they sit in a pocket of bone and when they have periodonthesis, the bacteria go in there and they eat away at the bone. And so what ends up happening is with these dogs or any dogs that have infection in that area, they will go ahead and the ceiling of where the root situation backs up to the nasal sinus. So if there is an infection that has broken through this wall right here or the ceiling, then it'll go into the nasal sinus and then you can have some pus or every time they chomp on something, sometimes you'll notice them sneezing as well. And that's because they're having some sort of discharge of food go into their nasal sinus, which is causing them to want us to sneeze. Now, the other thing that could potentially be going on is if he had what was called a foreign body in there and it was causing him to sneeze, that could be something. If he had some sort of growth or tumor in there, that's something else that could be causing it. Considering that he is a Pomeranian and he also has very noticeable periodontal disease. Almost all those teeth that I just showed you guys are gonna have to come out if we follow the American College of Veterinary Dentistry College's recommendation. And so my bet for this particular dog sneezing would be tied to periodontal disease. The way we're gonna know which teeth need to come out for sure. And also if there is a compromise of that ceiling or what we call an oronasal fistula is going to be with oral X rays. Not regular X rays, but oral X rays. And the only way as of right now, that we are able to get those is with general anesthesia. So this the way we're most likely going to resolve this is by putting this little excuse is by putting this little puppy under general anesthesia. And then we'll go ahead and do the X rays, we'll have our dental expert here, and we'll go ahead and get him the treatment that he needs. If you guys have any questions about this particular video, please leave it in the comment box. If you found this video helpful, give us a thumbs up. Subscribe and share. Thanks for watching. Have a great day and be safe.
