What do you do/give for your dogs teeth?

[shelldockley]

Fdogs teeth are in a bad way poor thing and his breath stinks! I have got some dental sticks and treats but looking at the ingredients, they don't look all that healthy. Is there a healthier alternative, would raw bones be better?

You could buy a dog tooth brush and tooth paste and brush his teeth. Tesco's sell a tooth brush and paste kit for dogs for about £3.00

How often would you need to brush them? A couple of times a week?

Has anyone tried anything like this?

Or antlers? Although I've read some horror stores

What do you feed him?

Our dogs are on dry kibble, and the vet says that's the best thing for their teeth. On top, they get a daily Dentastix, and once in a while I'll brush them with a doggy toothpaste and brush.

He is on dry food now that he is with us, he is booked in at the vets to remove the plaque so we just need to try an stay on top of it from then on I suppose. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about Antlers so i was wondering about them, he doesn't seem very food oriented though so maybe tooth brushing is the best option.

My lot have both antler chews and one of those roots. The dogs love them but I don't know how effective they are for teeth cleaning. I got them the root in July last year and I can't say I've noticed much of a difference in their teeth.

I'm about to start using this stuff, which I've heard a lot of good things about.

I brush my dogs teeth twice a day, raw fed so lots of bones, fallow antler to chew.
I also have a dental pick which I use to scrape off any tartar I see at the back if dog is in the mood.

Have to say, if your dog has super bad breath chances are he has advanced dental disease and needs to be put under by a vet for a proper cleaning.

A toothbrush will only remove plaque NOT tartar so while it may stop further damage they are going to need a professional clean.

Dentasticks, kibble and the like are, imo, laughable and should be marketed as treats not for dental health.

I believe it takes 48 hours for plaque to harden into tartar so a once weekly brushing you may as well not bother.

Mine have split antlers, which they can then scrape the marrow out of without injuring their teeth. They also have dried tripe, fish skins and Whimzees XL edible toothbrushes (I buy this lot monthly from Vet UK).

On top of that lot they have Plaque Off added to their evening meal.

Their teeth get brushed 1-2 times a week and I have a dental scraper, bought cheaply off ebay that I use to remove any build up before it starts, iyswim.

My older lad had dreadful teeth a year ago. In fact I took him to the vet to ask if she thought he needed a dental. She advised me to start brushing and giving him the dried tripe and fish skins first and once we'd started the new routine, albeit brushing more frequently to begin with, his previously yucky teeth where white again within a month.

My younger boy is almost 2 and still has lovely white teeth with no build up on this routine.

The best way to keep their teeth clean is a raw diet. My old Collie cross girl had beautiful white clean teeth her whole life because she was fed raw and the bones kept them clean naturally. I don't have the facilities to feed raw anymore, so mine are both on decent kibble and I've really noticed how much worse it is for their teeth.

P.s. I bought one of those roots. Absolute waste of money, dog was not interested in the least.

Re antlers, fallow antlers are better as they are softer.
You need to be very careful that the dog doesn't try to crunch it like a bone which will almost certainly fracture teeth.

Buttholelane My dogs only have their teeth done once a week some weeks and theirs are lovely and clean. The Plaque Off stuff is great for getting rid of an exisiting build up, it seems to soften the tartar so you can just scrape it off and it also comes away with hard/rough chews.

We had to do it several times a week at first, but now twice a week for maintenance seems to keep them clean no problem, which considering how bad they were is amazing. We do scrape though, instead of just brushing and I'm lucky that both of them are compliant.

I do think it varies from dog to dog and breed to breed though. Some dogs seem to suffer far more from tartar and dental issues than others and some seem to get away with hardly any dental care at all.

I asked my vet if I should be brushing twice daily and she said in an ideal world, yes, but admitted that she doesn't manage that with her own dog and for her, like us, it's more like a couple of times a week, which works for them too.

We saw a different vet for my older lad's annual check-up and he complimented us on his lovely teeth (he'll be 10 years old this year).

We have two days a week where we do claws, teeth and ears, plus a quick groom and that keeps my two clean and smart - but again, it depends on the type of dog and their, er ... habits.

We used to buy fallow antlers to begin with, but I find mine prefer the split antlers and scrape the marrow out, rather than trying to bite or crunch down, so less chance of an injury.

I can only assume that once a week brushing is working because of the plaque off personally.
I think in the space of a week in most dogs the plaque would have hardened to tartar, tartar cannot be brushed off usually. It needs to be scraped.

Your vets comment really infuriates me.
I assume you brush your own teeth twice a day, and I would hope you brush your kids teeth twice a day.
Why should the dog be any different?
Ideal world nonsense, then again, silly me, hundreds for an anaesthesia dental clean versus nothing for an owner brushing daily...

Thanks for the replies I would love to feed him raw, but we will probably only have him a few weeks so I think we'll stick with the kibble supplied by the rescue. I might try those split antlers, thanks moosemama and we'll make sure we supervise him with them.

Not silly and I wasn't implying it was. In fact I totally agree, in an ideal world brushing twice a day is obviously the right thing to do, unfortunately the world I live in is far from ideal so I do the best I can and my dogs are fine, healthy and happy. Fwiw, I've owned dogs for over 25 years and not one of them has ever needed a dental. The only reason my old lad's teeth developed build up was because I was struggling with my own health issues and I let it slide. My fault entirely, but now rectified and without the need for anaesthesia and a dental clean.

Surely it's better for someone to start doing it a couple of days a week, plus trying other measures than to not bother at all?

If they have the time then yes of course people should do it twice daily, but the fact is you are most probably in the minority there and better to suggest something manageable that people will do, then tell them not to bother at all if they can't manage it.

i use dentaflex sporadically for our two labs:
www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/pedigree-dentaflex-large

have a much chewier & more abrasive texture than dentastix etc, and take them quite a while to get through. feed them only dry food too.

vets usually comment they have great teeth for 7yr olds.

i guess like humans though, some just have genetically better teeth than others (or are just lucky!)

I see where your coming from, but I think that dental health is probably one of the most important, if not the most important things we do for our dogs considering the horrendous outcome of neglecting it.
The number of dogs with advanced dental disease is shocking.
A sizeable proportion of those dogs must be feeling pretty poorly and in a great deal of pain and people dismiss it as 'doggy breath' or 'he's old so not eating that great now'.
At the end of the day, it takes literally a minute, probably less even, to just quickly give the teeth a little scrub and put the breakfast bowl down...

I can understand (but don't necessarily agree) when people say, for example, I don't have time to groom my dog everyday as that takes a fair bit of time but a quick tooth brush?

Obviously once a week is better than none but I really don't think people appreciate the seriousness of letting dental health slide, the risk of heart attacks, crippling pain that forces them to stop eating, general Ill health from bacteria circulating in the bloodstream...

Dental health and nail length are two things I am super fussy about, above anything else because of the effects of neglecting them and I find it very very difficult to sympathise with anyone who lets their dogs teeth become yellow and breath stinky and lets them walk around on uber long nails.
It's not fair on the dog.

I think I might try the plaque off as well, and I can pass it on to his new owners when he gets his forever home.

Our dogs are on dry kibble, and the vet says that's the best thing for their teeth.

MelanieCheeks I'm surprised your vet said this because dogs don't chew kibble so its hard to see how it helps keep teeth clean.
Dogs gulp (wolf) their food down, if too big, such as a whole rabbit, they bite into lumps they can swallow - the pieces are far larger than bits of kibble. If it won't go down they'll often puke it up and have another go rather than biting into a smaller piece.
My 2 are raw fed but when first dog was fed on kibble he'd hoover up a bowl full in seconds, absolutely no chewing at all .

try tropiclean water and foam cleaner can see both on amazon

my dog is blessed with gorgeous white teeth and no bad breath at all we dont know why or how she has aldi dentasticks and her normal aldi treats on top and is fed wet and dry food mixed together along with home cooked meal once a week

Raw meaty bones are a natural abrasive for dog teeth. My 10 year old dog has barely any tartar and what is there is usually cleaned off when he gets a good chomp at a very hefty bone!

i wouldn't recommend the "serrano ham" bones that poundland and other places sell i gave my girl one of these and she was ill for days after

Brush them with Logic oral gel. It's well worth the money.
Antler sticks can cause tooth fractures- rawhide chews we have found excellent .

Ddog1 had quite a bit of plaque on her teeth, but since we went raw it's got considerably better - I think something to do with chewing raw bones?
Ddog2 is much younger and never had the chance to build up any plaque on her teeth, hers are still clean and sparkly, I'm putting that down to raw bones too.
Neither has stinky breath any more either!