What are your top tips for looking after your dog's teeth?

[Madsometimes]

At my dog's last routine vet check, I was told that my 3 year old dog has early signs of dental prolems (spaniel cross).

His gums are slightly inflamed and receding. The vet said that plenty of gnawing on bones should reverse this. He also said dentastix etc were useless because they are too soft and dogs just eat them.

So do people here have a dental routine for their dogs? Do people clean their dog's teeth?

We give ours half a carrot ( lengthways) every night. She loves them and according to our neighbour who has a 10 year old collie " keeps their teeth looking like a puppy's)!
Unfortunately, raw bones make our dog sick

I use Beapher dental nuggets in his dinner and I'm sure his teeth look cleaner and also brush twice a week ,but there's often more licking than brushing so I'm not sure how successful that is. I have heard other people say carrots are good but mine only eats cooked veg with gravy . He also has chicken wings ( daily) , raw bones and chews a lot of stag bars and nylabones .

Ours have raw bones no tartar or anything . Even the old dogs have good teeth. You can chip off the build up with a special tool but you would need the vet to show you how to do it :)

Plaque off is fantastic, costs around £10 for a tub and is actually dried seaweed that you sprinkle a small measuring spoon (comes in pot) on top of dogs food, my spaniel is six he has lovely white teeth and never has dog breath as we have used it since he was a puppy. My 12 year old cat had gum disease 4 years ago and was losing the odd tooth, started using plaque off on her morning meal and we have managed to stop the gum disease. Some vets sell it or you can get it off the net, one pot tends to last 3 months :)

Thanks for these tips. Raw carrots will not work. He is the only dog I know that doesn't like carrots.

I felt like such a bad owner when the vet asked what his dental routine was, and I said nothing. He does have nylabones that he gnaws on, but I think perhaps they are a little smooth. He also needs to loose 2 kg.

I accidentally discovered that dentastix (or the supermarket equivalent that I buy) go very hard if you leave them out of the packet for a week or so. Took my dog about 10 mins to chew through one last night, so think that his teeth must have had a good clean then.

I wonder whether gnawing on an antler would have the same effect as a bone. My dog loves antlers and they seem to be less messy than bones.

I use Plaque off & also Petzlife gel, a bit of brushing sometimes. The vet advised me to scrape off the little bit of tartar my oldest Yorkie had, to avoid having to have dental work.
The Skyes EAT the giant Nylabones & strongest Kongs....every dog needs a hobby

We use raw bones.

We also regularly check his mouth. We know what's normal and if we were to find something then the vet wouldn't have trouble looking because he's used to t

We use raw bones too. Dogs seem to get so much satisfaction from a good bone it seems to me! I must get into the habit of checking his mouth regularly though, which is a good point Naysa.

Ours eats his on a piece of vet bed in the kitchen usually, he chose to do this, our kitchen floor is tiled so I could wipe it over anyway tbh. I stick the vet bed in the wash after he's finished. We have three or four bits of vet bed that I cut up from a larger bit that I bought before we got him so there's always a spare.

needsa we try to have a routine that means if something was to happen (touch wood) he wouldn't be as upset by being examined.

We lift his paws, move his legs, check his teeth and his ears, look under his tail things like that.

Definitely worth it for keeping stress down at the vets

Naysa - thanks, missed this! We do similar in terms of legs, ears, paws, tail etc. I also regularly fish things out of his mouth that he 'investigates' . He's very much a big wuss and doesn't mind in the slightest what we do to him. But yes, thanks, I hadn't incorporated his mouth and I should do and will