Brushing dogs teeth

Lau2976

Do you guys brush your dogs teeth? I do it every second day and she also chews a dentastix a few times a week. My boyfriend doesn't and instead gets his dogs a deep clean every 6 months as per the vets instructions. And they also chew dentastix a few times a week.

I've discussed this with the vet and was told that either is fine once both are done properly. My boyfriend thinks I'm mad to spend the time every second day brushing her teeth but she doesn't handle the vet well and has only needed a deep clean once. She's nearly 5. Her teeth do get a check every 6-8 months during her check up.

Which do you's prefer if any? And does anybody know any benefits to either above the other?

VonVix

I don't brush my dogs teeth. My two 5 year old fellas have perfectly white teeth and they have long snoots, which tend to be more likely to have teeth issues. I think diet is an important factor as well, my little guys have a wet food diet, which I think contributes to their better-than-average teeth.
I don't buy into the whole dentastick malarkey when it comes to teeth cleaning, personally.

Hannibal_Smith

Brushing their teeth and scooping their poop, how the tables have turned in the dog/human/master relationship

Fluorescence

Teeth brushing is the gold standard. It'll save ya vet bills in the long rung, dentals will cost you decent change if you're doing them regularly. The GAs aren't always ideal if the dog isn't in good health either, and teeth problems can lead to other problems.

Dry food is ten million times better for teeth than wet food. Wet food sticks around in the teeth and harbours filth (imagine you were eating wet food all the time and never brushed your teeth? Ew). Dry food doesn't, and it also helps mechanically clean the teeth as the pet is chewing, so double bonus there. For this reason, long nosed dogs fare better: the squishy faces are more likely to have nasty teeth (same amount, same size, no room).

Dental sticks are alright, but they're very fatty (especially relatively with small dogs!) so shouldn't be given every day. Carrots, raw, are way better - many dogs love em! The chewing also helps clean the teeth.

Now if you were to combine all of those factors, you will never ever have a problem with your dog's teeth. Take it from a vet nurse

Yeah I combine dry food, raw carrots a couple times a week and a good brushing of their teeth a couple times a week. Too lazy to brush them everyday. I use plaque off in their food willy nilly.

tk123

Fluorescence wrote: »

Teeth brushing is the gold standard. It'll save ya vet bills in the long rung, dentals will cost you decent change if you're doing them regularly. The GAs aren't always ideal if the dog isn't in good health either, and teeth problems can lead to other problems.

Dry food is ten million times better for teeth than wet food. Wet food sticks around in the teeth and harbours filth (imagine you were eating wet food all the time and never brushed your teeth? Ew). Dry food doesn't, and it also helps mechanically clean the teeth as the pet is chewing, so double bonus there. For this reason, long nosed dogs fare better: the squishy faces are more likely to have nasty teeth (same amount, same size, no room).

Dental sticks are alright, but they're very fatty (especially relatively with small dogs!) so shouldn't be given every day. Carrots, raw, are way better - many dogs love em! The chewing also helps clean the teeth.

Now if you were to combine all of those factors, you will never ever have a problem with your dog's teeth. Take it from a vet nurse

Sorry but the dry food being better thing is a myth both for teeth and nutritionally - wet trumps dry according to many vets.

I know plenty of dry fed dogs with atrocious teeth and my own boys teeth were always dirty until I took him off dry food.

OP a nice meaty raw bone will help clean them for free.. My girls canines usually get dirty around the gum line because of how her gum line/lip sit so I do clean hers every now and again/chip the plaque off. I use Lintbells/YuCare tooth polish - it's got salmon oil in it so they love it!

Edit - this is the 'polish' and you use a microfibre cleaner on your finger You only use a couple of drops of the polish at at time so lasts ages

CeilingFly

Hannibal_Smith wrote: »

Brushing their teeth and scooping their poop, how the tables have turned in the dog/human/master relationship

And wiping their arses with baby wipes 😀

boomerang

Fluorescence wrote: »

Dry food is ten million times better for teeth than wet food. Wet food sticks around in the teeth and harbours filth (imagine you were eating wet food all the time and never brushed your teeth? Ew). Dry food doesn't, and it also helps mechanically clean the teeth as the pet is chewing

Agree with everything you say except on the benefits of dry food - that's been disproven now. Unless it's a dental diet like t/d, the mechanical action of eating dry food doesn't really have a benefit. Dry food debris can also remain on the teeth to help form plaque.

I have a greyhound with terrible gum recession and really fast plaque build-up - and I do everything I can to keep it at bay! It's a problem with needle-noses, seems to go with the breed.

celica00

First of all:
Dentastix is not good AT ALL for dogs. There is a lot of chemicals in it and almost all of the ingredients are damaging to dogs. Not sure if i can post the links to the articles, but if you google dentastix-review etc. you will find them!
Healthy teeth depend on the dogs diet. For example feeding only dried nuts: the worst.
a good few tips were mentioned already.
There is also "Dogsfirst" and they sell something called Canident. Thats very helfpul and all natural. I would highly recommend considering it! And also recommend to stay away from all kind of predigree products.

tk123

celica00 wrote: »

There is also "Dogsfirst" and they sell something called Canident. Thats very helfpul and all natural. I would highly recommend considering it! And also recommend to stay away from all kind of predigree products.

Canident is a bit of a rip off - you can buy generic kelp on amazon for a fraction of the price or Plaque Off if you don't want a giant bucket of kelp lying around! I actually got a refund on the Canident because I found it rubbish compared to Plaque-Off when I used to use it. 1 scoop of Canident = 7 scoops of Plaque Off so while you may get more in the bag you use WAY more.

celica00

tk123 wrote: »

celica00 wrote: »

There is also "Dogsfirst" and they sell something called Canident. Thats very helfpul and all natural. I would highly recommend considering it! And also recommend to stay away from all kind of predigree products.

Canident is a bit of a rip off - you can buy generic kelp on amazon for a fraction of the price or Plaque Off if you don't want a giant bucket of kelp lying around!  I actually got a refund on the Canident because I found it rubbish compared to Plaque-Off when I used to use it.  1 scoop of Canident = 7 scoops of Plaque Off so while you may get more in the bag you use WAY more.

Thats good to know, thanks!

Main point here is (i suppose) to look for the natural options that seem to work well. in that case they seem to be even cheaper too havent tried around different brands yet so only knew of them providing that sort of product.

muddypaws

celica00 wrote: »

First of all:
Dentastix is not good AT ALL for dogs. There is a lot of chemicals in it and almost all of the ingredients are damaging to dogs. Not sure if i can post the links to the articles, but if you google dentastix-review etc. you will find them!
Healthy teeth depend on the dogs diet. For example feeding only dried nuts: the worst.
a good few tips were mentioned already.
There is also "Dogsfirst" and they sell something called Canident. Thats very helfpul and all natural. I would highly recommend considering it! And also recommend to stay away from all kind of predigree products.

Can you please explain why feeding dry nuts is the worst for dogs' teeth?

celica00

muddypaws wrote: »

celica00 wrote: »

First of all:
Dentastix is not good AT ALL for dogs. There is a lot of chemicals in it and almost all of the ingredients are damaging to dogs. Not sure if i can post the links to the articles, but if you google dentastix-review etc. you will find them!
Healthy teeth depend on the dogs diet. For example feeding only dried nuts: the worst.
a good few tips were mentioned already.
There is also "Dogsfirst" and they sell something called Canident. Thats very helfpul and all natural. I would highly recommend considering it! And also recommend to stay away from all kind of predigree products.

Can you please explain why feeding dry nuts is the worst for dogs' teeth?

Dry nuts are bad in general for the dogs health (especially because of the wheat and grains in it. Dogs would not eat wheat in nature etc). The unhealthy diet therefore automatically leads to the teeth as well.
I think this is something that only shows after years and years as in: bad in the long run. There is as well a lot of articles and studies in regards of it.
There is definitely some high quality ones out there and combined with a good mixture of meat/high quality wet food etc, it should be okay.
The key here is: a good balance aka finding the right balance for your dog. I personally prefer raw-meat or high quality wet food for my dogs. also raw bones etc. has a lot of benefits for dogs
There a lot to it altogether and it took me years to study all this and get to this conclusion. by following up with blood tests on my dogs and checking the liver/kidney results, i was able to see what worked or what did not work (dry nuts etc).

muddypaws

celica00 wrote: »

Dry nuts are bad in general for the dogs health (especially because of the wheat and grains in it. Dogs would not eat wheat in nature etc). The unhealthy diet therefore automatically leads to the teeth as well.
I think this is something that only shows after years and years as in: bad in the long run. There is as well a lot of articles and studies in regards of it.
There is definitely some high quality ones out there and combined with a good mixture of meat/high quality wet food etc, it should be okay.
The key here is: a good balance aka finding the right balance for your dog. I personally prefer raw-meat or high quality wet food for my dogs. also raw bones etc. has a lot of benefits for dogs
There a lot to it altogether and it took me years to study all this and get to this conclusion. by following up with blood tests on my dogs and checking the liver/kidney results, i was able to see what worked or what did not work (dry nuts etc).

We were discussing teeth, dry nuts are good for teeth, due to the crunching movement as the dog eats them.

The jury is out on whether grains etc are bad for dogs, they can digest them. Domestic dogs don't eat things in nature, they have been domesticated for a long time now, and adapted to eat our waste and what we give them. It is how they are so successful in living with us, we may now be able to pay for food to give them, but people wouldn't have had that luxury in days gone by, the dog got what was left, or unwanted.

tk123

muddypaws wrote: »

We were discussing teeth, dry nuts are good for teeth, due to the crunching movement as the dog eats them.

They're not though - at most they might leave the tips clean but they're not going to clean teeth down to the gum line. You also have to allow for the fact that some commercial foods are pure crap filled with sugar and starch to bulk them out = sticky paste to coat a dog's teeth.


OP what do you feed out of interest?

muddypaws

tk123 wrote: »

They're not though - at most they might leave the tips clean but they're not going to clean teeth down to the gum line. You also have to allow for the fact that some commercial foods are pure crap filled with sugar and starch to bulk them out = sticky paste to coat a dog's teeth.


OP what do you feed out of interest?

Depends on the shape of the nut etc. Some are actually shaped to work on the whole tooth.

Of course some commercial foods are full of crap, but saying that all dry food is bad for dogs teeth is wrong. Feeding a dog only mince isn't going to do the teeth any good, or indeed feeding only wet food, be it from a tin or pouch.

Ms Doubtfire1

My boy gets a nice solid fresh bone form the butcher once a week which takes care of all the plaque. brushing his teeth I tried once..ended up in a tug-of-war over a toothbrush. >lurchers<:rolleyes:

celica00

Ms Doubtfire1 :thats actually the BEST thing to do! works so well!! and just like its supposed to be

tk123

muddypaws wrote: »

Depends on the shape of the nut etc. Some are actually shaped to work on the whole tooth.

Of course some commercial foods are full of crap, but saying that all dry food is bad for dogs teeth is wrong. Feeding a dog only mince isn't going to do the teeth any good, or indeed feeding only wet food, be it from a tin or pouch.

Plenty of vets who aren't subsided by Mars and RC would disagree with you. My own experience was that we had clean teeth when I stopped feeding dry food - and no bones were involved!

celica00

tk123 wrote: »

muddypaws wrote: »

Depends on the shape of the nut etc. Some are actually shaped to work on the whole tooth.

Of course some commercial foods are full of crap, but saying that all dry food is bad for dogs teeth is wrong. Feeding a dog only mince isn't going to do the teeth any good, or indeed feeding only wet food, be it from a tin or pouch.

Plenty of vets who aren't subsided by Mars and RC would disagree with you.  My own experience was that we had clean teeth when I stopped feeding dry food - and no bones were involved!

I can second that! It took a while until i introduced bones but surprisingly the teeth got better when i stopped with dry food too. You would think it's the other way around....
Then again....its important to find the right combination for you and your dog. Could work for me/us one way but might not for you at all etc. Trying different options will help.

muddypaws

tk123 wrote: »

Plenty of vets who aren't subsided by Mars and RC would disagree with you. My own experience was that we had clean teeth when I stopped feeding dry food - and no bones were involved!

Yawn. My vet doesn't sell RC but yeah, I guess they're under the thumb of big business and big pharma.

My experience is that different dogs have different teeth, all fed the same, some have fantastic teeth, some have really bad, genetics as much as anything plays a part. My two 12 year old dogs still have a full head of teeth and no issues.

VonVix

tk123 wrote: »

My own experience was that we had clean teeth when I stopped feeding dry food - and no bones were involved!

Same experience here.

tk123

muddypaws wrote: »

Yawn. My vet doesn't sell RC but yeah, I guess they're under the thumb of big business and big pharma.

Some vets are simply more impartial and forward thinking compared to others. The same way some will treat a problem rather than the symptoms.

Sure there's a vet nurse on the thread even agreeing that dry food doesn't clean teeth unless it's dental food the size of golf balls* but that seems to have been overlooked...

* they gave little sample bags at puppy school years ago to use as treats and it was huge:o

Ms Doubtfire1

I think the clue lies in variation. Nuts one day, wet the next, thrown together with a juicy bone once a week and voila...:-).If you have a dog whose stomach can handle that of course...not going to start talking about diarrhea so short before dinner...:P

muddypaws

tk123 wrote: »

Some vets are simply more impartial and forward thinking compared to others. The same way some will treat a problem rather than the symptoms.

Sure there's a vet nurse on the thread even agreeing that dry food doesn't clean teeth unless it's dental food the size of golf balls* but that seems to have been overlooked...

* they gave little sample bags at puppy school years ago to use as treats and it was huge:o

It was indeed overlooked, as it was posted before the reply that I quoted and replied to, I didn't see it until now. But, you obviously think that it was done deliberately, me being in the pay of Mars...

mymo

I recently started Oliver on a diet due to injuring and an op, he needed to loose over a kilo fast.
I mixed frozen veg (left to thaw about 10mins), broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and carrots in with his food, reducing his food by half.
Since I have second dog who wants whatever he has I gave her the same, she has had terrible teeth since she was about 2, I clean when I can (she's a stubborn little madam) but I noticed her teeth are much cleaner recently.
I feed a mix, dry nuts, wet food, left overs, raw bones and some veg (Oliver always loved veggies and has raided the veggie garden) one dog has perfect teeth at 9, the other bad since she was young.

aonb

Ive been adding PLAQUEOFF to my dogs food. It comes with the tiniest spoon, is 100% seaweed, the effect supposedly comes through the dogs saliva, and the plaque is cleared from the teeth. Dogs teeth are NOTICIBLY cleaner/whiter since we've been using Plaque off. (I also give him raw bones several times/week) Im going to start adding it to the cats food too. There is also a human version which Im going to order

Latatian

Thank you to the starter of this thread, had almost gone to bed forgetting to brush the dog's teeth.

"Dry nuts are bad in general for the dogs health (especially because of the wheat and grains in it. Dogs would not eat wheat in nature etc). The unhealthy diet therefore automatically leads to the teeth as well.
I think this is something that only shows after years and years as in: bad in the long run. There is as well a lot of articles and studies in regards of it." Cecelia can you link me a couple of those long-term studies? I've looked for this a couple of years ago when I had library access to do it, and couldn't find much confirming this so based on the science I found I kept feeding wheat and dry nuts. Maybe it's come out since then.

Fluorescence

On the topic of wet food vs dry food, I’ve been curious by the assertions on thread that dry food is of negligible benefit to preventing periodontal disease in small animals. So I decided to look into it. I didn’t find any studies that claimed this (please link me to one if you know of any, I’m genuinely interested!), although I did find plenty that said regular dry kibble isn’t enough on its own (consistent with current teaching in veterinary schools). Most studies seemed to say that a specially formulated dental food (like Hill’s T/D etc) is better than a regular dry kibble (again, consistent with what I’ve been taught, at least). Dental chews and tooth brushing are better again. A few examples:

A Polish study measured 17000 dogs (also a few thousand cats, not sure if anyone here is interested in that) and the effect of diet on dental health. They found that dogs given home-prepared meals had significantly worse dental health than those fed commercial dry food diets. Those who had their teeth brushed regularly and were given dental chews periodically fared even better. Interesting read, actually! (“The impact of home-prepared diets and home oral hygiene on oral health in cats and dogs” Buckley, C. et al (Oct 2011). The British Journal of Nutrition; 106.S1: S124-7.)

Plenty of studies indicate that feeding a dry food alone is not enough to maintain dental health. In combination with chews and tooth brushing, oral health can be maintained. The Journal of Veterinary Dentistry has a good few articles on this subject, including “Effectiveness of an Oral Hygiene Chew to Reduce Dental Deposits in Small Breed Dogs” (Quest, B. (2013) Vol 30, Issue 2) which showed a reduction of 17.3% on plaque deposition and 45.8% on calculus accumulation compared to dry food alone. Another measured the effect of pellet size on efficacy at removing plaque and preventing buildup and found a 42% reduction in calculus accumulation when kibble pieces were increased in diameter by 50% (“Effect of Pellet Food Size and Polyphosphates in Preventing Calculus Accumulation in Dogs“ Hennet, P. et al (2007) Vol 24 Issue 4).

I found no studies that indicate wet food is as good or better at preventing periodontal disease than dry food. Anecdotal accounts are an interesting start to this discussion but I’d love to see some numbers, so if anyone has any to hand do let me know

tk123

Fluorescence wrote: »

I found no studies that indicate wet food is as good or better at preventing periodontal disease than dry food. Anecdotal accounts are an interesting start to this discussion but I’d love to see some numbers, so if anyone has any to hand do let me know

Annectodatal is probably as good as you'll get because nobody is going to fund and run an independent study to run for 10 years - they have nothing to gain financially. 12,000 members on just one FB group I'm on would vouch for the effectiveness over dry food.

Also 10 year old studies are crap to me - I want the info on what's happening NOW.. not what happened 2006.. So somebody needs to build a time machine, do the study and come back to present day with the stats lol .. And maybe a few graphs! :pac:

celica00

Might be worth to mention by whom the study was run as well. By food companies, vets or independently

Ashbx

I don't brush my dogs teeth and I get the professional cleaned every 2 years (I am lucky that both my dogs actually have very good teeth). However I have a dog breath freshener/cleaner (sorry don't know the name off hand but can get it for you) that I spray onto a rope toy. The rope toys themselves are a great floss substitute.

Then I treat them to carrots or plain ricecakes every couple of days to keep the plague at bay.

I know someone else mentioned it but I agree that dentastix are nothing but calories. So good on the teeth yes, but not so good for the weight so I would keep an eye on that especially if you have dogs prone to weight gain.

kylith

I've only ever fed grain-free kibble and have had no issues with teeth except for a terrier with an underbite, who couldn't chew properly anyway.

Nylabone chews, fresh butcher bones, and the odd going over with a toothbrush and Finn's teeth are nicer than mine.

tk123

kylith wrote: »

Nylabone chews, fresh butcher bones, and the odd going over with a toothbrush and Finn's teeth are nicer than mine.

LOL maybe you should try some plaque off for humans too;) I love when a pet supplement company starts selling a human version lol.
"They buy it for their dogs....so maybe they'll try it too?!"

Latatian

tk123 wrote: »

Annectodatal is probably as good as you'll get because nobody is going to fund and run an independent study to run for 10 years - they have nothing to gain financially. 12,000 members on just one FB group I'm on would vouch for the effectiveness over dry food.

Also 10 year old studies are crap to me - I want the info on what's happening NOW.. not what happened 2006.. So somebody needs to build a time machine, do the study and come back to present day with the stats lol .. And maybe a few graphs! :pac:

Hang on, though, there would be a huge financial incentive to do that if you could prove your soft food (or even your 'like home cooked' food) resulted in better teeth than the hard food other people were selling- so any company producing these, or any company with a factory capable of producing foods like this, would have an incentive to do it. Maybe not a 10 year study but certainly something.

12,000 people who already believe in something would vouch for it. This is why we need science in the first place. You can find similar groups and similar anecdotes for all kinds of things- you can find more anecdotes for holy wells and bloodletting. Nothing personal against any one thing, but it's just not a good way to find out what works.

kylith

tk123 wrote: »

LOL maybe you should try some plaque off for humans too;) I love when a pet supplement company starts selling a human version lol.
"They buy it for their dogs....so maybe they'll try it too?!"

Lol, just like the udder cream and mane & tail shampoo?

I've said in the past that if they brought out nutritionally balanced human kibble in 'cheeseburger' and 'roast chicken' they'd make a mint!

tk123

Latatian wrote: »

Hang on, though, there would be a huge financial incentive to do that if you could prove your soft food (or even your 'like home cooked' food) resulted in better teeth than the hard food other people were selling- so any company producing these, or any company with a factory capable of producing foods like this, would have an incentive to do it. Maybe not a 10 year study but certainly something.

12,000 people who already believe in something would vouch for it. This is why we need science in the first place. You can find similar groups and similar anecdotes for all kinds of things- you can find more anecdotes for holy wells and bloodletting. Nothing personal against any one thing, but it's just not a good way to find out what works.

(Sorry too fiddly to cut the quote on my phone)

There's no incentive to individuals who prepare the food themselves is what I meant and most do. One small company isn't going to be able to take on a global billion dollar company either.

Fluorescence

Sponsors of the studies I mentioned, for those curious, in red/bold. Yes, obviously, food companies sponsor a lot of studies. But food companies also make wet food, which tends to make more money IME:

Fluorescence wrote: »

A Polish study measured 17000 dogs (also a few thousand cats, not sure if anyone here is interested in that) and the effect of diet on dental health. They found that dogs given home-prepared meals had significantly worse dental health than those fed commercial dry food diets. Those who had their teeth brushed regularly and were given dental chews periodically fared even better. Interesting read, actually! (“The impact of home-prepared diets and home oral hygiene on oral health in cats and dogs” Buckley, C. et al (Oct 2011). The British Journal of Nutrition; 106.S1: S124-7.) Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, Warsaw Agricultural University and several vet hospitals in Poland

Plenty of studies indicate that feeding a dry food alone is not enough to maintain dental health. In combination with chews and tooth brushing, oral health can be maintained. The Journal of Veterinary Dentistry has a good few articles on this subject, including “Effectiveness of an Oral Hygiene Chew to Reduce Dental Deposits in Small Breed Dogs” Nutro/Greenies Company (Quest, B. (2013) Vol 30, Issue 2) which showed a reduction of 17.3% on plaque deposition and 45.8% on calculus accumulation compared to dry food alone. Another measured the effect of pellet size on efficacy at removing plaque and preventing buildup and found a 42% reduction in calculus accumulation when kibble pieces were increased in diameter by 50% (“Effect of Pellet Food Size and Polyphosphates in Preventing Calculus Accumulation in Dogs“ Hennet, P. et al (2007) Vol 24 Issue 4). Clinique vétérinaire ADVETIA and Royal Canin

I have yet to be persuaded by the wet/raw food advocates when it comes to oral hygiene in pets but am always open to some solid evidence.

tk123

Fluorescence wrote: »

Sponsors of the studies I mentioned, for those curious, in red/bold. Yes, obviously, food companies sponsor a lot of studies. But food companies also make wet food, which tends to make more money IME:



I have yet to be persuaded by the wet/raw food advocates when it comes to oral hygiene in pets but am always open to some solid evidence.

Oh god I'm the opposite! I don't buy anything without reading real world reviews from users and I'd be the same with the doggies! I don't care what the manufacture says lol!!