# Dogs and their teeth



## callmaker60 (Jan 2, 2015)

Should I brush Miss Sadie's teeth?


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Yes! Get an enzymatic toothpaste, an exfoliating bath glove, put the toothpaste on the thumb and forefinger and rub away.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Yes. There are literally no downsides to brushing teeth that I can think of.


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## sandgrubber (May 21, 2014)

Guess I'm an old lady who's set in her ways.
I have never brushed a dog's teeth and the vet always gives mine a thumbs up for the dental department. Even my old girl has very little plaque.
The downside I see is it's a waste of time. . . . or at least it would have been for me cause my lot are fine without it. 
I have read in various places that small dogs are much more prone to tooth problems than large dogs. I have Labs . . . not small. Not sure what breed Miss Sadie is. Brushing is more important if she's small.
On the other hand . .. I think handling is generally good for young dogs. Rub her teeth, rub her ears, rub her toes, rub her belly, go over her with a brush . . . all good.


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## BostonDan (Dec 29, 2014)

I keep getting different answers on this. How often should teeth be brushed?


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

BostonDan said:


> I keep getting different answers on this. How often should teeth be brushed?


I don't think it's a matter of how often _should_ they be brushed, but how often can you _get away_ with brushing.  Any brushing is better than no brushing. Once or twice a day is probably ideal... my vet told us that a few times a week is effective at reducing dental disease... but he's comparing to not brushing at all. It might also depend on your dog's teeth - dogs with genetically worse teeth might require brushing more frequently to keep them in good shape than dogs with less bad teeth.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

BostonDan said:


> I keep getting different answers on this. How often should teeth be brushed?


Once a day. You may have to countercondition your dog to the brushing, but it's worth it. It's not just dental health as a benefit, either, if your dog is used to having someone stick their fingers in their mouth on the regular, it's much easier to do so when you, or the vet, needs to.


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## Jen2010 (Feb 12, 2013)

> Get an enzymatic toothpaste, an exfoliating bath glove, put the toothpaste on the thumb and forefinger and rub away.


 That is such a great idea! Pepper always wants to chew on the toothbrush.


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## callmaker60 (Jan 2, 2015)

Thanks everyone!!!


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

sandgrubber said:


> Guess I'm an old lady who's set in her ways.
> I have never brushed a dog's teeth and the vet always gives mine a thumbs up for the dental department. Even my old girl has very little plaque.
> The downside I see is it's a waste of time. . . . or at least it would have been for me cause my lot are fine without it.
> I have read in various places that small dogs are much more prone to tooth problems than large dogs. I have Labs . . . not small. Not sure what breed Miss Sadie is. Brushing is more important if she's small.
> On the other hand . .. I think handling is generally good for young dogs. Rub her teeth, rub her ears, rub her toes, rub her belly, go over her with a brush . . . all good.


To be honest...same. I think for some breeds, at least, good genetics and a good diet do the job fine. 

If I had a dog that seemed prone to dental issues I'd start brushing teeth. Grudgingly, lol.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

I brush my dog's teeth 1-2x a day. He has horrible genes and is a breed(s) that is very prone to dental issues. He still is getting plaque and tartar buildup despite regular teeth brushing... He's only 3-4 years old and I suspect in another year or two that he will have to get a professional dental cleaning.

And I don't really find it a waste of time... it takes like a minute max lol


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

I'm sort of jealous of my elderly dog's teeth, actually. She's, what, 91 in dog years? And her gums are pink and firm and her teeth have very little discoloration, and are entirely intact and smooth.

I know it sounds like sort of a "my grandpa lived to be 102 and he smoked and ate lard every day of his life, so smoking is obviously fine!" illogical thing thing, lol, but I'm not minimizing the need for canine oral health care. I just do think there are plenty of dogs that it's superfluous to fuss over.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

I was told by my vet that the brushing action is far more important than the enzymatic paste. Not saying the paste doesn't help. But I was told that for most dogs simply the brushing, once a day, is enough. I have a lot of trust in my vet for many reasons, but I see no reason why she'd lie on this because it would be in her 'best interest' to sell me the toothpaste and I had intended on buying toothpaste to begin with.

Even so, Soro's never had horrible teeth but in his younger years I brushed his teeth, with the paste, religiously every day. And although they were nice they were never pristine. There was always just the slightest hue of plaque on the gumline, so minor I could scrape it with my fingernails. I agree with those who mentioned genetics and diet playing a role. He's just predisposed to having buildup on his teeth and I am sure if I wasn't ON IT for all of his life, he would need dental cleanings regularly. When he ate raw and had access to meaty bones, his teeth were PRISTINE and I never touched the toothbrush again.


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## ChelseaOliver (Nov 5, 2014)

Personally, I've found that raw bones do a great job for bigger dogs. If I were to have a small dog again I would definitely brush - every day, if possible. My chi-cavalier mix, RIP, came to me with rotten teeth and an infected mouth and ended up having full mouth extractions. It was a terrible, brutal thing for him to go through, though it'd be very unlikely to happen to Sadie I think.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Update: For anyone who didn't read my post, Kabota whacked his face off the coffee table and the whole side of his muzzle swelled up. I took him to a new vet (it was a Sunday, of course) and he let her spend a good 5 minutes poking around in his mouth. He has a dot of pigment on his gumline that looked like a hole- which would make the swelling an abscess or trauma to the tooth- and she had to get a penlight in there to make sure. There's no way she could have gotten the look she did if he were fighting her the whole way. I might have ended up giving him antibiotics and bendadryl just to cover all the possible causes of swelling, when he needed neither. (She preceded the exam by saying that if she couldn't get a good look, she'd have to treat for everything.) Admittedly, Kabota is naturally very tolerant of handling, but he is very used to me poking around in there as well.

As to paste v. no paste, Kabota LOVES the paste. I let him lick it off the glove when I'm done. You might want to buy a cheap, meat flavored paste just for the sake of the flavor.


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## dextermax (Feb 2, 2015)

Does anyone find those long handled toothbrushes effective? I don't. Maybe its just my dog is too small (25 lbs) but the handle is way too big and I feel like i get better contact with those finger-tip brushes than the handled one.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Jackson builds up plaque like crazy. If I go a week without brushing, it's amazing the difference. Lots of light yellowing, etc. But usually petzlife clears it mostly up. We use petzlife gel along with the brushing w/ pretty good luck. I was doing really good for a while, brushing every day or every other, but I always start to get lazy. Ugh. He's had 2 professional cleanings and he's 6 1/2. I think it's inevitable that he's going to end up on a every 2-3 year schedule for dentals.


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

Levi gets his teeth brushed every night right before bed. I use vanilla-mint enzymatic toothpaste from the vet. It takes 1-2 minutes each night and a $10 tube of toothpaste lasts us 3+ months so I really don't see a reason not to. He wakes up every morning with minty fresh breath (lol) and our vet always comments on his "beautiful white teeth". I guess she's not used to seeing little adult dogs with pearly whites. And yes, he's disgustingly tolerant of me poking around in his mouth, scrubbing his teeth, etc. He's 3 now and as long as I keep it up, I doubt he will ever need a dental done. Saves me $600 and putting him under. And yes, despite being fed a great food (and even raw!), his teeth will start to accumulate plaque if I even skip one night. So I don't.


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