Stinky breath on 2 year old

[Mortonpup]

Poo! Stinky breath strikes. Pup has been getting worse breath for ages and whilst he seems fine and not ill, his breath could knock you out.
He's a slight chipped tooth which vet said he wouldnt treat as just on the surface. He won't eat dental sticks - at least not the ££ I bought or those little dinosaur shaped ones and I read the cheaper ones are no good.
He used to like an antler but I worried that had chipped the tooth.
I get now tonnes of adverts for miracle breath fresheners (see expensive chews he won't touch ) and magic water additives but there's too much to choose from and not an endless budget sadly.
Has anyone tried anything they rate? He'll let me clean them a bit with a finger tip toothbrush (that looks like a sex toy 😬) but likes licking the toothpaste off more!!
Thanking you from under my gas mask 😷

Anyone? Maybe thread title needs amending in case people think I'm talking harshly about a toddler?! 😬

You can add a a product called "Plaque Off" to his food - it's only about a tenner and lasts ages.

I also give mine hard natural chews everyday - pizzles, beef skins, trachea etc.

Toothpaste every night.

There's a really good one called Septicleanse, which is harder to use as it's sticky & expensive but might get on top of the current issue.

Logic the rest of the time.

Have you checked his back teeth? One of my dogs had a bit of stick stuck between a small gap at the teeth at the back of his mouth. Took nearly a week to find it! I could dislodge it very easily but didn't spot it for quite some time despite lots of investigations. His breath was awful. Just from chewing a stick on a walk!
For something like this, I'd expect some excess dribbling though as a sign.

Antlers are one of these chews that are harder than dogs' teeth and should never be used.

It doesn't matter what you use as long as there is a mechanical action when cleaning his teeth and you manage to cover most of them without annoying the dog. Coconut oil even, as long as the toothbrush gets used.

A safer chew could be a very old, hard bread baguette.

An apple is also ok.

I assume the dog has free access to drinking water.

Ooh thanks all
He has loads of water. I'll try and look in his mouth for rogue bits ! I'll investigate the products too. He used to like a pizzle but wouldn't touch the last one and wouldn't eat the trachea. Might investigate other options - ostrich?

Chews all the way. We do nylabones and hard wood, but whatever suits you and your dog will do. Smear peanut butter or whatever on it to get them started if reluctant. Chewing gets the plaque off. Our dogs who were chewers have had fresh(ish) breath until their old age. Dogs who didn't chew much had stinky breath by the age of two.
Brushing their teeth is good, but that's going to be max five minutes a day realistically, so doesn't compare to half an hour plus of chomping on a nylabone.

Ooh peanut butter is good idea. What hard wood do you use?

Not sure what it is actually. It's a bit darker than oak, although maybe it's just all the drool stains! It's a big lump and it's on it's third dog now (although middle dog wasn't a chewer) so I can't remember I'm afraid. We got it off a local furniture maker. It doesn't make big splinters so it's really good. If you have any local sawmills/wood turners or similar, maybe ask about what's non splintery?