Help me prevent my dogs teeth getting crapped up please..

[CandysKisses]

I've got a beautiful 10 year old lab, had her a year from the rspca.

Today she's been to the vets to get her teeth polished & scraped and she's suffering today.

I've tried to clean her teeth before myself but she's having none of it.

So - is there any foods that would help?

I feed her on Arden grange everyday and if she has treats they are sugar free.

I just don't want her to go through tho again.

You could try giving her raw marrow or knuckle bones, they are excellent for keeping teeth clean. Natures Menu do them and they're stocked in pet shops, garden centres.

When I asked the dentist there is the obvious toothpaste and finger brush but you can also get something called plaqueoff that you can sprinkle on their food.

A dentastik a day? Makes a nice treat. I have a 10 year old lab with fairly perfect teeth apparently, so hopefully that's helped him.

Anything made by Pedigree I'd give a wide berth to be honest.

Sorry that's a terrible photo!

A raw bone or a stag bar will sort them out, gnawing bones is how dogs naturally keep their teeth and gums clean.

Ah yes I forgot we also give ours stag and deer antlers which I hope helps to keep his teeth clean.

Toothpastes like Logic Oral Hygiene Gel will help to some degree even if all you can do is get them into the dog's mouth. It's worth persevering with getting her used to brushing as it does work best that way.

Raw bones are great for helping keep teeth clean and you can just give them as treats, you don't need to switch wholly over to raw if you don't want. Nature's Menu sell a big range of raw bits and pieces which are good for this sort of thing.

Be careful with antlers if your dog is a really strong chewer. One of mine needed the remnants of a tooth removing after shearing off a huge chunk on an antler

A good alternative to antlers are Chew Roots. They're not as hard but still great for chewing and they're very fibrous which helps with teeth.

My friend is a dental vet and she recommends whole carrots and big celery sticks for dogs to chew on. She also said dentaflex and dentasticks are ok for teeth but to be careful of calorie content.

She recommends daily brushing if you can. Use a human toothbrush and dog toothpaste (any). Start with a soft bristle toothbrush.

Avoid dentastix and other crap like it! They are not good for your dog!

Raw diet will help. Especially the bones

I've been giving her a dentastick everyday but her teeth have gotten so bad that this has happened.

I'm worried about raw bones. What kind? Where do I get them? Don't they splinter and cause damage to the stomach?

I think dried fish skin chews have really helped my dogs' teeth. They love them, and a big chew keeps them going for a good while.

Detasticks will do nothing for her teeth, and they're also full of absolutely shitty ingredients.

No, bones will not splinter unless cooked. Pop to your supermarket and get some chicken wings and just give one to her, pet shops also stock raw bones/meat

Google the benefit of a raw diet for dogs.

Dentasticks*

I'm pretty sure a dentastik a day wont hurt. According to my vet anyway. As I say 10 year old dog has had one everyday of his life more or less, with perfect teeth.

Well I occasionally have a packet of crisps and a McDonald's so I give mine a dentastix as he is thin so no weight issue . However, I do try and brush his teeth but I can't say I am great at it

Lots of ideas above, but if you feed Arden Grange anyway, you could also swap to the large breed - much bigger pieces.

One of my dogs is obviously genetically predisposed to have crappy teeth, they plaque up far more than the others. The Arden Grange large breed really helps to keep on top of them as they actually have to bite it rather than just inhale.

Dentastix are awful. Full of crap and cling to the back teeth.

I give my lab a raw frozen carrot a couple of times a week.

My vet said don't give stag bars as they've had a few cases of broken teeth caused by these - We haven't had any problems but I removed them just in case.