How can I clean my dog’s teeth or improve his breath ?

[Dogbreath2]

My dog heavily resists having his teeth brushed and his teeth are manky and his breath foul. Has anyone tried the powders or the drops you add to water ? I dont want his teeth to be awful but I so struggle to get fingers in his mouth

Your vet can clean them up under anaesthetic and check that he doesn’t need any taken out. I’m just about to do exactly this with my rescue dog.

You want an enzyme toothpaste if your dog would accept the taste.
But you can start with coconut oil just to get him used to the action of teeth brushing.
If you never brushed his teeth before, would he let you use your fingers ad a substitute toothbrush? It doesn't matter if you're not actually achieving cleaning as such at this stage.
You could then try a baby finger toothbrush, the silicone type that go over your finger. Be extra careful that it doesn't slip off your finger obviously, chocking hazard. But they are usually very tight on the finger.
If you get to the stage you can brush this way, try and introduce an actual toothbrush and be very gentle and let him lick the toothpaste first, sniff it etc.
Just do one small section at a time and try it every day. Be super patient.
It doesn't actually matter what toothpaste you use as long as there is a cleaning action with the toothbrush.
Have you tried and chews?
Dry food is generally better because of the chewing action.
Good quality food in general should help when the smell.

He’s got good quality dried food but still likes a bit of wet and butchers is the best for his tummy at the minute. Have tried raw (refused it ) and Pure (went off it). Loves lily’s kitchen but it’s so expensive !! I’ll try coconut oil but I fear a vets trip might be needed. What chews do you recommend ?

He’s fast asleep and just let me curl his lip back and one of his teeth looks bad and his gum is swollen. I wonder if I can give it a wee rub now. I hope it’s not sore. God love him.

Give them raw bones.

Sounds like he has a dental abscess? If he does, he needs the tooth extracted asap

I’m going to book in at vets. He won’t have a raw bone annoyingly but likes an antler

His breath shouldn't smell foul..... when my cat started getting foul breath it's because he needed a tooth removed

Is there an equivalent of doggy polo mints? I am being serious. As dogs seem to have a lot of choice these days.

But get him to the vets asap.

My vet suggested PlaqueOff powder she said some owners sweated by it others saw no improvement but she said it was worth a try. I’ve used it for 4 months and it’s definitely improved the tarter on his teeth (no bad breath). My dog will be 5 this year and I was surprised how much tarter had built up, he only eats dried food, and loves antlers and is not a breed known to be prone to tarter, he’s my 3rd cardigan and none of the others had it, but she said there was a genetic component.
There is no way he’d tolerate having his teeth brushed.

A lot of dog groomers offer gentle but thorough cleans. DM's Ddog has one done every 3 months. Costs about £40. He was very nervous to start with, but he is getting better. She never brushes his teeth at home, but he has raw bones, and his bed time treat is a dried chicken foot.
His vet always comments on how amazing his teeth are.

JR Pet food do lots of ostrich bones and sinew/ tendon chews that I believe help remove plaque and tartar as they chew.

Also better for them than crap like Dentastix.

And it is a manual action, not a kind of "this minty herb happens to ingeniously dissolve plaque" kind of claim.

Well actually thinking about it, it isn't exactly manual elbow grease when the dog does it. I suppose I mean friction really.

He won’t countenance the ostrich bone I got him. I wonder what the tastiest raw bone is …

Give it time? Mine wasn't taken with his ostrich bone at first but got into the zone after a while.

Dried fish skins go down very well here. Lots of scrapey scaley goodness. I do suspect my whole house smells of fish and I'm nose-blind to it, though.

Just realised that 'make his breath smell better' isn't compatible with 'eat fish skin'. Sorry!

If he's got a sore mouth he won't want to eat any type of bone. So if you bought the ostrich bone recently that might be why he's not interested.

Once you've got rid of the sore in his mouth and his teeth cleaned by the vet you can start to get to grips with training him to accept you touching the inside of his mouth and ultimately having his teeth cleaned every day.

It takes a lot of perseverance, my dog is nearly 15 years old and I've been cleaning her teeth for years, it's still pretty hit and miss tbh. I use Logic tooth gel, which she loves the taste of, and as long as you get some of it on the dog's mouth, and preferably on the teeth it's supposed to work reasonably well.

It's pretty expensive, but you don't need a lot of it for each brushing, so a tube lasts a long time.

I do my dog's teeth every evening after her last meal of the day. It's not perfect but it does help and her breath doesn't smell.

We've been using the plaque off powder on our dogs food once a day for just over 6 months now. The vet said if it didn't work she'd have to be put under for a scale / polish. Very happy to say it's worked miracles and her teeth look amazing now. She also doesn't have bad breathe, but I don't think it was that bad beforehand.

I buy the plaque off powder on Amazon when it's on offer, its pricey but worth it to save dog having anaesthetic.

My rescue dog would never let me brush her teeth. Instead, I sprinkle PlaqueOff powder in her food and give her a Skippers Fish Twist every other day. It works really well! She had professional dental cleanings at ages 5 and 11, but my vet said she does not necessarily need them.

My dogs have always had lovely teeth. They love raw carrots and that seems to keep their teeth clean. Ask your local butcher for a bone for the dog. They usually give you a marrowbone which dogs love - or at least mines have always loved them. Just be aware their poops end up white!
also use Lily’s kitchen wet food in addition to their dry food. Get it on subscription on Amazon. Can normally get 6 tins for £13ish. Keep your eye on deals on there

I use Canident and the vet noticed a mark improvement in my ld dog’s teeth. It just sprinkle on his food.

I use Canident and the vet noticed a mark improvement in my ld dog’s teeth. It just sprinkles on his food.

I use Canident and the vet noticed a mark improvement in my old dog’s teeth. It just sprinkles on his food.

I use Canident and the vet noticed a mark improvement in my old dog’s teeth. It just sprinkles on his food.