How to remove plaque on dog's teeth?

Hi-

My dog has plaque/tartar on her teeth...how can I get this off without having to have a vet do a dental on her. I do not want to place her under
anesthesia. Her molars are pretty nasty.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

You can get dog toothpaste (people toothpaste isn't good for dogs) and use a washrag and scrub them as best you can. You might google dog tartar also and see what comes up.
Our dog had to have a back tooth extracted and she did not do well at all post surgery, due do anesthesia and she's very sensitive to boot.

Understand your concerns, the stuff is hard on dogs.
Does your dog mind you fussing with her mouth at all? I always lure mine onto there backs with doggy massage to get them to relax for any clipping or medicine, or wound care.

Best of luck to you.

Something like this has good tasting doggie toothpaste and also a toothbrush AND a finger brush for you to have better control:

C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Kit: Pet Toothbrush & Toothpaste - 1800PetMeds

I would think some place like Petco or Petsmart might have the same thing or something very similar if you can't find this exact item (altho your vet prolly sells it).

I know CET also makes dental chews to prevent plague buildup.

And btw, it's more about what the dog's gums look like than the teeth themselves. Of course, plague usually causes gums to be inflamed (and then there is a definite need to get the teeth cleaned as you are trying to do), but just wanted to mention that.

I tried to brush my dogs' teeth. Ha! They liked the doggie toothpaste but were having nothing to do with me messing with their teeth!

Milkbone type chewies and rawhide bones help dogs keep their toofers clean ... unless they're like our girl Zoey and she runs around crying and whining and trying to find a place to hide them ...

Hi-
She does not like to chew anything. Her gums are blue/black, which they are supposed to be due to ber breed.

She will put up w/ me using the dremel for her nails, but I started that when she was a puppy..When I try to go to the molars, she wants no part of it.

Some dogs will absolutely NOT let you mess with their teeth. My Leo american eskimo dog is one of those.....his teeth got so bad that several have actually fallen out root & all. Can't even chip the tarter off once the tooth was out of his mouth.......some times it takes the surgical removal even though we don't like to use the anesthetic (I agree with you on that also).......dry dog food is supposed to be the best for keeping the teeth clean.....but some dogs have problems no matter what & I think some breeds have worse problems than others......& sometimes unfortunately it depends on how bad it actually is, the vets have the only tools & with the anesthetic, it's the only way to accomplish the task....then hopefully brushing from then on will keep the teeth clean.....several of my dogs ended up with almost NO teeth except for their canines.....needless to say, their dry food gets soaked with water so they can eat it at this point.

Wish you the best with finding a good solution

Supposedly good teeth & gums vs. bad teeth & gums is genetic (said my vet)...just like people. (Not saying some breeds aren't more prone to issues than others, I don't know enough about that.) But just like people, some dogs/cats have better overall dental health naturally based on genetics in that particular animal.

Everyone,

I have had two w/o ever having to have dentals, one that had two dentals, and now this one, whom has STINKY breath and all of this nasty tartar. All of the raw food people tell me the enzymes in raw meat will clean her teeth up, BUT, she has long hair and would need a bath after every meal....I do not even know if she would chew a chicken leg.

I am not a good Dog Mom @ the vet's. I question everything.

There are many, many reasons a dog might have bad teeth/stinky breath...

What kind of diet is she on? While it is a myth that kibble cleans the teeth it does seem to be true (in my experience) that dogs on strictly canned will have more plaque overall than dogs on a combination of the two or fed just kibble, or raw.

You say she doesn't chew anything. I'm curious as to what you have tried. I wouldn't recommend ever, ever, ever trying rawhides personally (I have had not one but two dogs nearly choke on them. the second time, I managed to pull the rawhide out and discover it swollen to TWICE its side, pretty scary) but there are a variety of chews you could try. Assuming you haven't. My dog doesn't really chew anything, either. But she used to love Nylabones. They worked wonders on her teeth. I hate buying Hartz products so I hate recommended it... but I know what it's like to have a finicky dog. And my dog always loved the Hartz Chew n Cleans, too. And they, also, helped. Yeah, raw meat will help, too. It might be a pain cleaning her long hair every meal... but what if you included a raw meal only once a month or so?

As for toothpaste, you can, also, use baking soda and water. Which is cheaper as most of us have both already. You can add just a drop of something for flavor (so the dog won't protest as much). I have found my dogs like the taste of it far better than dog toothpaste. There are, also, dental drops for dogs. Many vet offices sell them so you could ask your vet about them. You just put a drop in their drinking water and it helps with breath.

Questioning everything isn't bad. Quite the contrary. It's good to want to know as much as you can. I wish you all the best.

yes, the food in some water helps with dogs with some dental problems, as well as cats. I have an old cat, which when we were in better financial circumstances, I had vet do the oral care, tho like you all, I did not care to put her under, but did, since I didn't want her to suffer.

great tips here. I've used some dental chews, but I never even thought about the raw meat. I've tried baking soda and water, and added some meat juice to it from cooking, do you have any other suggestions? Fine, if not, thanks for the info!

Thanks everyone-

She actually eats better & healthier than I do. She eats cooked human food, no grains because of their inflammatory properties. She gets a fish oil cap as well. The only carbs she gets are lentils or sweet potatoes. I pulverize egg shells for Calcium to balance the phosphorus.

She is the best thing in my life. She loves me no matter what.


Kirby & her dog.

The best way I've found to keep dogs' teeth clean is to feed raw meaty bones - beef knuckle bones, chicken necks, lamb ribs, and so on. Steer clear of weight bearing bones (like cow femurs).

Be careful rotten teeth causes kidney trouble and other health problems. Besides the bad breath. I used different bones till I found some my little Brownie like. His teeth got better but it was to late for his kidneys.

Be careful with pigs ears also my Chow Chow almost choked on those.

What bones did your dog like?

Just wanted to caution you about cleaning from a vet. Had my Chows teeth cleaned using the high pressure water treatment and then both canine teeth were cracked. She got an abscess so they pulled one and two days later she was blind!! Of course what they did had NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Arrgg makes me so angry.

[quote=hannabee;3240437]Just wanted to caution you about cleaning from a vet. Had my Chows teeth cleaned using the high pressure water treatment and then both canine teeth were cracked. She got an abscess so they pulled one and two days later she was blind!! Of course what they did had NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Arrgg makes me so angry.[/quote

OMG. hannabee. Now I defintely do not want to go to the vet. They let the vet techs do it anyway. I was able to scrape some of the tartar off...maybe I need a different dental tool?

Seems as if there are some chow people on here!

I don't know if there is a better dental tool. Unfortunately my chow has passed away and now I have mini dauchunds and although I try to brush their teeth they still don't look too good, kinda brownish. They get milk bones and no soft dog food, only chicken breasts and Turkey hot dogs. I don't know what else to do for them and can only hope that their teeth are ok because I'm certainly not going back to a vet!!

Hi Hannabee-

My dog eats cooked human food as well...SHe does get a few dog biscuits, but not many because I want to avoid any grains. If she died due to a dental, it would really have me spiraling out of control. She is the only thing I have.

Raw bones are the best thing for cleaning teeth. I feed my dog a raw diet and her teeth are amazing. Make sure you look up your stuff before you feed anything new though. Recently a lot of the made in China stuff has been making dogs really sick. Not to mention a lot of the ingredients in some chews are just not good.

Are you grinding the food or just feeding the pieces of meat? I have always been drawn to the raw diet, because she has weird skin issues and it is healthier. My dog is a gulper and has long hair.

Thanks!

Nope, just feeding whole pieces of meat. With the prey model raw you aim for about 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organs which is what natural prey is. It's really great and I'd advise you to try it as long as you make sure you know your stuff about how to feed it safely first. If you have a gulper make sure you get pieces big enough that she has to chew before swallowing.

You don't want to take your pet to vet for dental treatment, then you got to follow Five Facts about Pet Dental Care, which would really help your dog overcome dental disease:-
1. Start a daily oral care routine
2. Buy best dental care kits which includes toothbrush, paste, chews and gums.
3. Follow proper and healthy diet
4. Remove food particles as they can mix with saliva and bacteria to form plaque
5. Stop gingivitis as it may lead to more serious disease called, periodontitis.