Veterinarian Dr Chris Brown has warned that tennis balls, a popular toy for dogs, can cause permanent damage to their teeth. According to Dr Brown, the nylon fibres on tennis balls are designed to withstand hard tennis courts and act like sandpaper on dogs' teeth, wearing them down over time.
Dr Brown, who has studied the effects for over a decade, explains that once the enamel is worn away and the pulp or nerve centre is exposed, the damage is irreversible. 'You can fill it, but you can't get the teeth to grow back,' he said. He cited a case of a four-year-old cattle dog with teeth resembling those of a 14-year-old due to excessive tennis ball play.
In another example, a boxer named Duke had worn down most of his canine and incisor teeth. Dr Brown also noted that many dogs struggle to see tennis balls because they are often orange, which blends into green grass for dogs' colour vision.
