With their short, broad heads and flat faces, Boston Terriers don't have a lot of space for their jaws and teeth. As a result, their jaws may develop abnormally and their mouths tend to be crowded, causing misaligned teeth and jaw problems.
The technical terms for these conditions are prognathia and teeth crowding:
Prognathia: This condition occurs when the dog's mandible, or lower part of the jaw, is longer than his maxilla, or the upper jaw. This malocclusion, or abnormal bite, is considered normal in dogs with flattened faces.
Teeth crowding: Crowding occurs when there is inadequate space for the teeth in the lower or upper jaw, resulting in tooth contact or overlap. Because your Boston must fit 42 teeth in his shortened mouth, it's likely that his teeth will be misaligned.
A Boston with prognathia or crowded teeth requires you to be diligent about his oral hygiene. A secondary effect of teeth crowding is increased plaque with resulting gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums, and a predisposition to periodontal disease, the most common cause of tooth loss in dogs (and humans).
Brush your Boston's teeth regularly to rid his mouth of plaque buildup and bacteria that can lead to halitosis (bad breath), behavior changes linked to oral pain, and gum infection.
If your Boston develops halitosis, chews his toys less frequently, paws at his mouth, changes his eating habits, stops grooming himself, or shows any other signs of oral pain, contact your veterinarian. She won't recommend braces to straighten his teeth, but she may inspect his mouth, give it a thorough cleaning, and treat any localized infections.
12.6.08
A Down Side of Evolutionary Change: Antibiotic Resistance
In the days before antibiotics were widely available and widely used, people knew the dangers of infection. Even minor injuries like cuts and scrapes were taken far more seriously. Like they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — all the more so when there isn't any cure.
Fast-forward to today. People tend not to view cuts and scrapes as being potentially serious medical conditions. Prevention seems less important because we have a pound of cure — tons, in fact. In 2007, people in the United States used millions of pounds of antibiotics, and therein lies the problem. With each passing year, antibiotics become less effective as bacterial populations evolve to be resistant to them.
Although recent news stories warning people about antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria may lead you to believe that the phenomenon is relatively recent, it's actually as old as the use of antibiotics. Penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic, dates to the end of World War II. Within four years of its introduction, scientists found penicillin-resistant bacteria, and the incidence of resistance has increased steadily to the present day.
You'd think that having identified that bacteria began to evolve almost immediately in response to penicillin would have encouraged people to be a bit more careful about the use of antibiotics. But we weren't, partly because it's hard to not use a medication that's so effective (many people considered penicillin to be a miracle drug) and partly because, at the time, new antibiotic compounds were being discovered regularly. When one compound was no longer effective, doctors simply switched to a different one. The scenario is very different today.
In recent years, bacteria have been gaining on us: The rate at which researchers have discovered new medically useful antibiotics has slowed, but the steady march of the evolution of resistance continues unchecked. Again, the evolution of resistance isn't new. In every case, scientists have noted the existence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria shortly after the antibiotic is introduced.
Today, we humans now find ourselves facing bacteria that are resistant to many — and, in some cases, all — available antibiotics. Examples include staph, tuberculosis, syphilis, and gonorrhea. The most frightening thing we can observe from this information is that, in the end, all of our antibacterial compounds end up being defeated.
Fast-forward to today. People tend not to view cuts and scrapes as being potentially serious medical conditions. Prevention seems less important because we have a pound of cure — tons, in fact. In 2007, people in the United States used millions of pounds of antibiotics, and therein lies the problem. With each passing year, antibiotics become less effective as bacterial populations evolve to be resistant to them.
Although recent news stories warning people about antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria may lead you to believe that the phenomenon is relatively recent, it's actually as old as the use of antibiotics. Penicillin, the first widely used antibiotic, dates to the end of World War II. Within four years of its introduction, scientists found penicillin-resistant bacteria, and the incidence of resistance has increased steadily to the present day.
You'd think that having identified that bacteria began to evolve almost immediately in response to penicillin would have encouraged people to be a bit more careful about the use of antibiotics. But we weren't, partly because it's hard to not use a medication that's so effective (many people considered penicillin to be a miracle drug) and partly because, at the time, new antibiotic compounds were being discovered regularly. When one compound was no longer effective, doctors simply switched to a different one. The scenario is very different today.
In recent years, bacteria have been gaining on us: The rate at which researchers have discovered new medically useful antibiotics has slowed, but the steady march of the evolution of resistance continues unchecked. Again, the evolution of resistance isn't new. In every case, scientists have noted the existence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria shortly after the antibiotic is introduced.
Today, we humans now find ourselves facing bacteria that are resistant to many — and, in some cases, all — available antibiotics. Examples include staph, tuberculosis, syphilis, and gonorrhea. The most frightening thing we can observe from this information is that, in the end, all of our antibacterial compounds end up being defeated.
11.6.08
Erupting France
Both enlightenment ideas and economics link the American and French revolutions. Just as England excited unrest by raising taxes in the colonies to pay for the French and Indian War, so did the French. And King Louis XVI's administration made the situation worse by stretching the French finances even further to support American patriots. Indeed, Louis's generosity made him more vulnerable to the French Revolution of 1789.
That was the year that Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General, the French Parliament, which was a bold move considering the body hadn't met in over150 years. Smart enough to know that things must change, Louis was trying not to lose his crown, and calling the Estates-General into action was an attempt to get agreement on necessary reforms.
But reactivating the organization opened a pressure valve. The idea that the king might permit any reform brought forth a flood of discontent. People were fed up with the privileged class and high taxes. Then on July 14, 1789, an angry mob stormed the Bastille prison, a symbol of arbitrary injustice. Then the Estates-General, under the leadership of some of its more radical members, became the democratic National Assembly, which abolished the monarchy in 1792.
That was the year that Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General, the French Parliament, which was a bold move considering the body hadn't met in over150 years. Smart enough to know that things must change, Louis was trying not to lose his crown, and calling the Estates-General into action was an attempt to get agreement on necessary reforms.
But reactivating the organization opened a pressure valve. The idea that the king might permit any reform brought forth a flood of discontent. People were fed up with the privileged class and high taxes. Then on July 14, 1789, an angry mob stormed the Bastille prison, a symbol of arbitrary injustice. Then the Estates-General, under the leadership of some of its more radical members, became the democratic National Assembly, which abolished the monarchy in 1792.
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