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Pet Medication Home -> Dog Dental Care
Keep Your Dog Smiling With
Preventative Dog Dental Care
What should I use
to brush my dog's teeth?
If you have a young puppy introducing a tooth brushing
routine will probably be much easier then if you have an adult dog.
In either case start slow, keep the sessions short, and be very
gentle while working in your dog's mouth. Use lots of praise and
reassurance to reinforce good behavior. You will not want to give
your dog treats during this task for obvious reasons.
Since a dog will swallow whatever you use never brush
your dog's teeth with "people" toothpaste. This toothpaste
is not formulated to be ingested and can upset your dog's stomach.
It's also designed to foam which is not desirable when brushing
a dog's teeth. So use a pet toothpaste formulated for dog dental care that does
not require rinsing.
You will also need a pet
toothbrush.
There's a great triple sided pet toothbrush that will get the job
done faster than a traditional style toothbrush. Or if you have
a small dog you may want to try a pet
finger toothbrush.
Finger toothbrushes slip right onto your finger and are easily controlled
to reach the common trouble spots up near the gum line. Add some
specially formulated tartar removing toothpaste and you're all set.
Dog toothpaste is even available in all-natural formulas and yummy
flavors like chicken and vanilla.
If this is your dog's first toothbrush look for a
pet
dental care kit (left) to get you started. These kits typically include a pet toothbrush,
a tube of pet toothpaste and a pet finger toothbrush.
Pet
dental wipes are great for use on dogs that resist brushing. These easy-to-use
pet teeth cleaning pads help remove food debris and plaque, kill
germs and help to control bad breath. If your dog will not allow
you to use the toothbrush method try using dental wipes regularly
as part of your dog's home dental care program.
You may also want to try to increase the amount of time your dog
spends chewing on real bones, dog
dental chew toys and edible dog chews.
This type of chewing helps remove food debris and prevents tartar
build up. If your dog chews enough you may be able to reduce how
often you need to manually brush your dog's teeth.
How do dogs in the wild keep their teeth clean and healthy?
Dogs in the wild are generally much more active than
our domesticated pets because they must hunt for their food. They
also spend much more time chewing and gnawing on fresh bones, which
helps to keep their teeth clean and healthy.
Our domesticated dogs can spend a lot of time sleeping
with their mouths closed while passing long period of time alone.
It is commonly believed that the lack of fresh air circulating over
the teeth and gums can encourage certain types of bacterial growth
in the mouth. And since our pet dogs get their daily rations served
to them in bowls it isn't necessary for them to spend much time
chewing. Although gnawing on bones is how dogs
in the wild keep their teeth free from food debris, bacterial accumulation
and tartar buildup, our domesticated friends rarely spend as much
time at such pursuits.
Encouraging your dog to chew will make a big difference
in the effectiveness of your dog dental care routine. Real bones
are nature's edible dog chews. But if you prefer not to give your
dog real bones there are plenty of wonderful dog
dental chew toys and edible dog chews that will get the job
done.
Will real bones help keep clean my dog's teeth?
(continued...)
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