Has anyone used this for their dogs?

[knee]

I always see this ad pop up whenever I’m scrolling. I wanted to try them now since they have the Black Friday sale but was wondering if anyone on here has used this product with good results? I do brush my dogs teeth but I’m not able to do it everyday and I was thinking that this can be helpful for the days that I don’t brush their teeth. 

 

[Odd Duck]

Brushing daily and annual veterinary cleaning is the best thing you can do for your dog’s teeth.  Twice daily brushing is even better and some dogs may need anesthetized cleaning more often if they have particularly bad teeth.  Not that awake cleaning nonsense, either, that doesn’t let the vet get x-rays of the roots or clean under the gumline properly.  If you don’t clean under the gumline you’re not getting the job done right and wasting your money.

 

I used to work with a vet tech that got a schnauzer puppy (a breed notorious for getting heavy tartar) and she brushed her teeth twice daily, every day, and got annual cleanings.  When I met that dog she was already 13 years old and she had teeth that looked like a puppy’s teeth!  They were spotlessly white without a speck of staining or tartar!  It was truly amazing!  The cleanest teeth I’ve ever seen on a dog over 1 year old and I’ve looked at probably over 50,000 dog’s teeth by now.  Some repeats, of course, but it’s still lots and lots of dog teeth.

[lefty o]

with my last german shepherd i used dentasticks. i never brushed her teeth, and they kept the teeth fairly nice.

[Odd Duck]

9 hours ago, lefty o said:

with my last german shepherd i used dentasticks. i never brushed her teeth, and they kept the teeth fairly nice.

Some breeds are more likely to have issues or have teeth be better longer and some individual dogs within breeds are better about the teeth staying cleaner or vice versa.  I’ve got a dachshund (notorious for horrible teeth) that still has decent teeth at around 8-ish (estimated age) and I will be the first to admit I don’t brush his teeth like I should and he hasn’t had a dental, yet (cobbler’s kids having no shoes syndrome).  And I’ve seen 6 month old dachshunds that already have more tartar than mine does now.  🤷🏻‍♀️ 

[Potterygal]

I have a minpin who is 14 and has had regular dentals but it’s been about a yr and vet seems to think she’s too old . She’s never been good about me getting in her mouth long enough to brush well . I’d hate to lose her to anesthesia but worry about the teeth build up in back affecting her health as well. Shes still spunky but does have a chronic collapsing trachea syndrome that she lives with for years. ( coughs after every drink of water)  if you are a vet or tech or familiar with such, could  you comment? 

[Chris]

6 hours ago, Odd Duck said:

Some breeds are more likely to have issues or have teeth be better longer and some individual dogs within breeds are better about the teeth staying cleaner or vice versa.  I’ve got a dachshund (notorious for horrible teeth) that still has decent teeth at around 8-ish (estimated age) and I will be the first to admit I don’t brush his teeth like I should and he hasn’t had a dental, yet (cobbler’s kids having no shoes syndrome).  And I’ve seen 6 month old dachshunds that already have more tartar than mine does now.  🤷🏻‍♀️ 

One thing we've done that seems to help ours is if they want to chew - let them chew.

 

My mom started giving her dogs toothbrushes as chew toys. They went from having some pretty awful buildup (even with regular dental appointments) to decent looking teeth. Even the vet was surprised.

 

For our bigger Great Pyrenees and Lab, we keep beef bones (raw of course) around for them to chew. The vet recommended it to us whenever our Pyrenees was a puppy and had terrible breath - food was getting trapped between his teeth and jowls after each meal. When he chews, it scrapes it clean.

[Odd Duck]

3 hours ago, Potterygal said:

I have a minpin who is 14 and has had regular dentals but it’s been about a yr and vet seems to think she’s too old . She’s never been good about me getting in her mouth long enough to brush well . I’d hate to lose her to anesthesia but worry about the teeth build up in back affecting her health as well. Shes still spunky but does have a chronic collapsing trachea syndrome that she lives with for years. ( coughs after every drink of water)  if you are a vet or tech or familiar with such, could  you comment? 

Age alone isn’t an inhibitor for me anesthetizing a pet (yes, I am a vet).  Other factors that can come along with age can be more of an issue.  I ALWAYS do blood work before anesthetizing a geriatric pet for a non-emergent procedure like a dental.  It’s a very, very rare occasion that I don’t require at least minimum blood work before a geriatric anesthesia even in the ER.  If they have a heart murmur, they get a decent cardiac evaluation.  If they have enough pain from dental issues, they may still get the dental work done even if there is mild kidney or liver disease present.  So it does vary per pet, especially for geriatrics.  
 

If in doubt, see if there is a veterinary dental specialist around.  They will have much more experience anesthetizing geriatrics than your average GP and will likely be more comfortable anesthetizing geriatrics with concurrent diseases present.  Since geratrics have more dental issues, it’s a much more common thing for them to do anesthesia on a geriatric than for most general practitioners.  Look for somebody boarded in veterinary dentistry.  They will have either DVM or VMD behind their name like other vets, plus AVDC behind their name or it will say they are “boarded in veterinary dentistry” and may also say “and oral surgery”.  
 

Most large cities will have at least 1 boarded vet dentist, but smaller towns likely won’t.  There are multiple here in the Dallas / Ft. Worth, Texas area, but we have many vets here boarded in the various specialties.  You may have to drive a ways to find a boarded dentist depending on where you live.  There may also be another GP that is more willing to do the anesthesia.  Not every vet will have the same comfort level anesthetizing a geriatric pet and that’s OK!  You don’t want somebody doing the anesthesia if they’re shaking in their boots about it.  Too much nerves means any snap decisions will be harder (if they’re needed).  So you need to find someone that is more comfortable doing the anesthesia.  They will likely be more expensive because they will almost certainly require more pre-anesthesia testing.  If they DON’T require more pre-anesthesia testing, run away!  That is NOT the right place.  The right place will do everything they possibly can to make sure your pet is as safe as possible under anesthesia.

 

Vets know it can be nerve wracking for owners to anesthetize pets, especially a geriatric.  But the benefits to their health from managing dental disease will most often outweigh the risk.  There needs to be some solid risk assessment before anesthesia but if the pet is otherwise healthy, then dental cleaning and care is very appropriate even for geriatrics.  I’ve cleaned teeth on many 15 year old dogs, some 16 and 17 years olds, even with heart murmurs, Cushing’s disease, borderline kidneys, etc (once all of,those in the same dog!).  You just have to weigh things in the balance risk vs. benefit for that specific individual.  And the owner has to understand that there will always be some risk with anesthesia, but if everything is done to mitigate the risk as much as possible, the benefit is usually greater for the pet to have the periodontal / dental disease addressed.

[Odd Duck]

2 hours ago, Chris said:

One thing we've done that seems to help ours is if they want to chew - let them chew.

 

My mom started giving her dogs toothbrushes as chew toys. They went from having some pretty awful buildup (even with regular dental appointments) to decent looking teeth. Even the vet was surprised.

 

For our bigger Great Pyrenees and Lab, we keep beef bones (raw of course) around for them to chew. The vet recommended it to us whenever our Pyrenees was a puppy and had terrible breath - food was getting trapped between his teeth and jowls after each meal. When he chews, it scrapes it clean.

Please blanch any raw bones to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination.  Don’t cook through because that makes them too hard, but blanching briefly in boiling water reduces the bacterial contamination and reduces the risk of GI upset that can be life threatening if bad enough.  Real bones are NOT actually recommended by the boarded dentists (or me, I’ve seen the slab fractures) because they are too prone to causing cracked teeth, especially slab fractures in the back molars.  Their recommendation is to not offer anything you can’t dent with a fingernail.  There are loads of dental chews out there that are safer and are specifically designed to scrape the tartar off a dog’s (or cat’s) teeth as they chew.  Find treats / chews that are “recommended by VOHC” - Veterinary Oral Health Council.  They even have a list on their website.

 

https://vohc.org/accepted-products/