Greyhound - dental issues

[User12879923378]

My lovely boy has had dodgy teeth for a while. He hates having his teeth brushed but we had managed to keep extractions at bay for the last four years with Plaque-off and dentasept rubbed round his gums. Unfortunately this year it's all caught up with him and he had three extractions yesterday.

I obviously need to try a bit harder at cleaning his teeth. What's the best way to go about it? I have one of those flexible brushes that you put on your finger and some dubious looking chicken flavoured toothpaste.

Also, when can I start? His mouth's presumably going to be terribly sore today if he's had extractions and I don't want to make his issues with teeth cleaning worse by poking around in there too soon.

All advice welcome!

We are battling with brushing BiteyDogs teeth every night as we feed wet food and his teeth are a bit stained with tartar.

I didn't get on well with the finger brushes but found a really good expensive toothbrush which is so soft it won't hurt his gums. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077XMMNYB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_acO6Bb75FK8Q9?tag=mumsnetforum-21

I tried a few toothpastes from the vets but this seems his favourite as he will keep licking the brush after we have finished.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0058LQ1TK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_cfO6BbDRWZKVQ?tag=mumsnetforum-21

DH does his teeth as he is better than me as he holds him by his side so his head is against him and gives them a quick brush.

Some nights are a real battle and we have questioned whether it made a difference but after being at the boarders for a week his breath smelt awful and he had lots of food stuck on his teeth (we didn't ask them to brush them as we figured it didn't matter) that we realised even a token brush did make a difference.

Hmm. I don't really feel I've tried hard enough. Probably a duff comparison but with my daughter I started out just holding my finger with the little soft baby brush on it in her mouth and because she was teething she was quite enthusiastic about munching it. Perhaps I should try just putting the toothpaste on the brush and holding it in his mouth. He's super sensitive and quite nervy when it comes to things that might be painful. (He sometimes refuses to move because there is a speck of grit on his paw pad.)

When they show you those dogs on the YouTube videos just sitting nicely whilst someone spends 5 minutes brushing their teeth inside and out I do wonder if they drugged them .

We only do the outside as there is no way on earth he would open his mouth to let us do the inside. And we only do it for a short time. We started this months and months ago but quite frankly BiteyDog has not got any better so we just 'do our best'

I would wait until the vet is happy his mouth is healed as per your original thoughts. If you start brushing now he really will resent it. Have a look at your toothpaste, many brands are enzymatic so even if all you do is smear it on the teeth it’ll help. That’s how I’d start - get him used to the taste and routine whilst still getting some benefits, when he is used to being held for his toothpaste introduce the brush.

And well done you for not throwing up your hands because he’s a greyhound and “they just get bad teeth”.