Brushing Their Teeth?

[veronyc]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Do you brush their teeth?

My dog is 3.5 and although the vet says his teeth are fine to me it looks like there is plaque near the gums.

Brushing is not easy although the dog is fairly patient

I also have Plaque Off but am a bit worried about the the warnings on the leaflet about thyroid ( not that I am aware about my dog having any health problems)

Otherwise the inside of his teeth are cleaned because he has lots to chew on.

Should I persevere with Plaque Off or brushing or both?

Many thanks

 

[jezza]

I do brush my dogs teeth occasionally, but it can be a bit of a struggle! I have also tried plaque off which did work at loosening plaque but you still need to brush the teeth to remove it once softened, and I worry about the iodine content too much to use it regularly.

The best way to clean the teeth would be raw bones however both of my dogs are awkward :lol: Lenny seems to be almost frightened of bones!!! I don't know why but he just shys away from them (I think because Molly turns into a dog possessed at the sniff of a bone! but he won't even touch them on his own :wacko: ), he does eat rawhide and pigs ears though and they seem to do a bit of cleaning. On the other hand, Molly loves bones but some of her teeth are shaped really weird so even bones don't clean them and I think that one will have to be removed soon. The vet has looked too and he said just to try brushing them from time to time.

I don't think I'd use plaque off all the time but it can be good if a bit too much plaque builds up as in my experince it did soften it enough to brush it off.

 

[Beerhound]

Use your thumb nail to get the worst of the plaque off; that is what I did with mine (well the dogs teeth). They also have raw bones from the butcher which reminds me I will have to get two out the freezer.

I also do brush their teeth two or three times a week, Brad doesn't mind but Josh hides!!

 

[Macha]

I've been having intensive gum cleaning recently and I hate it. Dogs can't understand what it's for, so they have to have general anaesthetic for descaling. I've had a few whippets who reached old age without needing descaling, but when I was at school a friend's aging pug went to get teeth done and Delilah died from the anaesthetic. Anyway, my mouth feels really sore the rest of the day after getting cleaned and I know I should be trying to keep my young dogs' teeth and gums in shape so they are less likely to need descaling in future. I've bought some of those little brushes that you can put over your finger, but haven't tried them out yet!

 

[Whippets Rule]

I have a set of dental tools and once a week go over their teeth with a descaler and also toothbrush and chicken flavour tooth paste.

 

[JAX]

I have a descaler too ,but suppose it could be a cruel tool in the wrong / inexperianced hands.

I even do Floyd the cats teeth too :lol: