# Dental Care: What do YOU do?



## AmandaN (Apr 15, 2013)

What do y'all do for dental care? I've been brushing Nola's teeth every night since she was 12 weeks old, and her teeth are incredible. She'll be 3 in October, but has the teeth of a 1 year old. Her vet says most Doxies he sees need cleanings by age 3, but he can't see Nola needing it _any_ time in the future if I keep up with the brushing. She also gets bully sticks, hooves, Kongs and the occasional nylabone, but I don't know if those help.


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## Smook&Boo (Jun 2, 2013)

I'm new to the dog teeth thing. Lily has had her teeth brushed about a dozen times since she was brought home at 7wks. She's 5 months this Friday. Being raw fed, she gets alot of raw meaty bones, but I try to brush her teeth at least once a week.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

Raw marrow bones is all I do. I've never had a problem with teeth on any of my dogs and I've never had to brush them. 

Cats...yes and I attempted to brush teeth on one of our past kitties. We both hated the process and I lasted a month with that. LOL


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

I... feed some raw? My dogs all have awesome teeth. The 6 and 6 1/2 year old's teeth are as good as the 7 and 13 month olds. I think it's mostly just luck of the draw and genetics, just like people. My mom/step-dad's JRT gets his teeth brushed every night and he has more than a couple of teeth that need extracted and a ton of plaque. Likewise, my father had incredible teeth and mine are CRAP.


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 23, 2013)

Those teeth are beautiful! You should be very proud of yourself for keeping up on those. 
I just started giving mine raw turkey necks. 

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## Emily1188 (Jun 21, 2011)

I feed raw bone-in meals (chicken and turkey) and the occasional recreational marrow bone. My 8 year old has teeth like the vet "has never seen" and has never had a dental.


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

I used to keep up w/ the teeth brushing, it was an every night thing, now it's when they get their bath every other week or so. They eat a decent brand of kibble, get an occasional raw bone or Greenie...

Donatello was a little over one when I got him in '08, had great teeth, just two specks of plaque/tarter build up on his canines; I started brushing his teeth every night, and using a gel made by Petz Life, that is supposed to help breakdown the tarter and plaque, which it did! So he's gotta be a little over 5 right now, (wow, letting that sink in for a moment.) but he's got great teeth! The vets he's gone to always ask his age, and I give them my estimate and ask if they can determine by his teeth and they chuckle, and say, "With teeth like his he could be between 1 and 3 years," and I say, "I rescued him four years ago," 

Like someone else said, I think it's the luck of draw w/ genetics but also in conjunction w/ whatever preventative maintenance you can maintain as well.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

RMBs for my dog and also for my cats (well, they get bone-in meals, like quail, and other chewy meats like heart regularly)  He also gets tons of things like Nylabones, bully sticks, tendons, Zukes dental bones... Yeah, sparkly clean teeth


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## Gogoclips (Apr 27, 2013)

I haven't really done anything for his teeth except give him bully sticks and other chews. He's still a baby but teeth look pretty good so far.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Nola's teeth look fabulous! We try to brush every night but it usually become every-other-night. But, on average, 5 nights a week.

I use CET toothpaste, which he tolerates better than any other kind we had tried in the past.

I also have HealthyMouth gel that we use occasionally, Petzlife, and I sprinkle Wysong Dentatreat on his food (vet recommended it).

He does get bully sticks occasionally, not as often as he used to though.

I got very lazy with his teeth and got him a dental in April, of this year. Here was the before and after.

(also, if you're wonderign, he had his canine tooth shaved down in 2011, and had a 'vital pulpotemy' due to a slight overbite and the tooth was pushing up into his upper palate)

As you can see, they weren't *horrendous* but definitely had some tarter and plaque build-up. I was glad to get the dental and get a clean start.


After:


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Gypsy's teeth are starting to look gross. I'd better up the teeth brushing!


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## Aska (Jun 9, 2013)

I brush their teeth every two days and feed them raws. Their diet is raw and raw only, not sure if it helps.


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## kbt_guy (Dec 2, 2012)

I try to brush every other day.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

Lots of raw meaty bones and hard chew toys like nylabones.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

Happys teeth are terrible and I try to brush them but.. life gets in the way lol, they are not like awful or anything just terrible compared to my others. she is raw fed but has always hated chewing so it never helped as much with her. Baby's I also try to brush since she does not eat raw and bone options are limited for her. every one else? nothing. Rusty recently got praised on his teeth, he is a 10 year old small dog and the vet thought he had just had a dental...he's never had a dental lol


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## Tuco (Jun 16, 2013)

I use the original method, feeding raw, the chewing on bones scrapes and the ripping meat apart scrubs, in macins 16 years of eating raw he never had a cleaning nor a cavity or gum issues, not to mention his pearly whites that compete even with Cesar Milan's 


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## anne.s (Jun 18, 2013)

Wow those are beautiful teeth. I clean Ellie's teeth 1-2x a week. Everyone comments on her clean teeth. I haven't given her many bones but after reading the other posts I think I will. Where's the best place to buy marrow bones?


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## Tuco (Jun 16, 2013)

Don't give marrow bones, they carry too much weight and are very dense, they can easily chip teeth. Plus they don't clean as well as softer bone, try giving turkey drumsticks, those things are the Colgate of the butcher shop


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## melaka (Mar 31, 2010)

I give Buffy RMB, specifically a frozen beef rib about once a week. I had slacked off over the past few months because they've been hard to find, so her back teeth are starting to get a little yellow (her front teeth are still stunningly white). She had her first one in a while this week, and I have 3 more weeks' worth to give her before I have to find more. I'm pretty confident her teeth will be clean again soon.


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## Tuco (Jun 16, 2013)

Oh yes pork and bud ribs are also great cleaner bones


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

Within the last few months I've started to give Jubel a turkey neck about once a week and it seems to be helping. He's five and just really started to show tartar build up within the last year. I think he's just a genetic luck of the draw with decent dental health, other than his little underbite that is. 

I bought some toothpaste with a figure brush I've tried to use a few times but its a hassle and I don't know how effective it is if at all so not too motivated to use it.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

I use to brush the dogs teeth every other night. I got lazy and now only do it once a week or so.  I need to start doing them everyday to keep everyone's teeth healthy. I also give RMB, greenies, and other dental chews. Nylabones, antlers, and horns are their favorite chew toys, im not sure if that helps or not but yeah. All of them have pretty good teeth despite me being lazy about brushing them.


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## hueyeats (Apr 2, 2013)

Raw bones and also brushing the teeth 1-2x a week.

I like playing with his mouth anyways...
He is used to that.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

I would give more complicated chews than turkey necks -- maybe try beef necks?

I give them to my dog and they do a really good job at keeping his teeth clean... and it keeps him occupied for a long long time


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

Like most small dogs, Levi tends to accumulate a fair bit of aque very quickly. I used to brush his teeth once every month or two which is obviously not enough and he now has a spot of brown tartar hardened onto each of his fangs. There is clear line that seperated it from his gums so the vet says its harmless but I hate how it looks. Especially because he's only 17 months old. So I now try to brush everyday though realistically it probably happens 4-5 times a week. I also give chicken necks and spines, bully sticks, rawhide chips, himilayan yak chews, greenies, etc.


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