Cleaning dog's teeth - Page 1

How do you clean your dog’s teeth?

A buddy of mine has an old Siberian with some ugly buildup on the back teeth.  His vet wants to do a professional cleaning but they would have to put the dog under anesthesia, and since the dog is so old the guy doesn’t want to take the chance.

I wasn’t sure what to tell me other than recommending dental chew toys:  nubby Nylabones, rope toys, rawhides, etc.

So what’s the plan?  How to clean up nasty teeth?  And how to prevent the buildup in the first place?

Any helpful suggestions appreciated!

Yvette

I recently acquired a female with the same thing. Petsmart has a rolled rawhide (can't remember the name,but it says it's for clean teeth), I figured I'd try it- It really worked! All that buildup on the back teeth is gone. If the dog does alright with real bones, like a cow bone, that should do the trick too.

Theresa

I use a canine dental scraper, always have on all my dogs. Bones, etc help, but often they still build up tartar on the molars and canines. If it gets ahead of you , then the vet will have to knock the dog out and crack it off or use a cavitron. I've seen some really gross mouths, some dogs actually get hair "cemented" into the tartar.  Bassetts were the worst. If your dog won't let you scrape its teeth, then the vet will need to intercede. If you can do it, be sure to get under the gumline. After scraping, I use a doggie toothpaste on a soft cloth and polish all the teeth. Baking soda works well too.  Blitz has a very brilliant smile .

To prevent this a RAW diet is the ticket. It changes the PH in the mouth. My old girl just passed in June and her teeth were amazing at 12+ years. I have another that is almost 10, same scenerio with her teeth. So I am not sure what to do to clean them other than the suggestions above.

I've heard others say that a raw diet cleans the teeth.  I've been telling myself for years to feed that to Blitz. TI did try it a few times and he vomited up bone shards and had diarrhea, so I went back to commercial food. Now he's eating EVO red meat and that goes through him like a dose of salts. Back to RC......

Blitzen I grind the chicken. The bones are small pieces that way.I just feed the wings and necks whole. I hear some dogs need to be started slow instead of cold turkey. I haven't had the problem myself though.  It is a pain and after 3+  years my  grinder died today  I am off to ebay to look for another one.

Trailrider is correct - raw meat has enzymes that eat the tartar off the dogs teeth.  Our 11 year old Chow had always been fed Purina One Lamb & Rice and had awful teeth.  One month on the raw meat and changed to Canidae dry food and her teeth were considerably whiter.   We purchase AFS raw meat in freeze dried sprinkles and slowly introduced to her current food.  Also, minimize dry food that has a "shiny" exterior as most times this will be a binder that also adds tartar to the teeth.  Just my experience with my dogs here.

Very cool ideas, folks!  I'll pass on the words of wisdom to my buddy.  Fortunately my own dog's teeth are in good shape but he chews on rawhides and ropes all the time.  I'm sure that helps.

Trairider, I bought a grinder and my kitchen looked like a butcher shop when I was done with those damned chicken wings. I sold it . I was then advised to feed turkey wings, backs, and necks whole. Vomiting and diarrhea. Tried it 2 or 3 times with always the same results. I think it's me. Maybe I should have made the transition slower? Blitz seemed to like it well enough, but he's not a picky dog. He knows he must eat what I give him when I give it to him or poor old Blitz gets very hungry. I think he'd eat sawdust.

LOL! It can get old cleaning up. Gotta love those Clorox wipes! I haven't had it splash quite as bad as you describe though, some pieces are a bit juicier than others. I usually get stewers and they aren't as bad.  If it was that bad I think I would re-think it too. I got better things to do than clean up!!