What's the best way to clean my dog's teeth and prevent tartar?

It’s time for Nena to have her teeth professionally cleaned by her veterinarian. That is very heavy tartar on her teeth and over time, she will start to get a separation of her gums from the teeth. This will lead to infections, loose teeth, dental pain and can lead to endocarditis, kidney and liver problems. She also had a retained puppy tooth that needs to be extracted as it is causing problems and stretching the socket (there should only be one tooth there). Small breed dogs tend to be prone to dental disease. They need the teeth cleaned at least once a year by the veterinarian in order to maintain good oral health. At home, brushing the teeth with dog tooth paste every day can help. Special dog foods, treats and toys can help but they don’t help clean the front of the mouth as pets don’t use that to chew. Even with this action, she will still need her teeth professionally cleaned. Better to get this taken care of soon. Once the damage is done to the teeth, it’s permanent. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

My own preference is the Virbac C.E.T enzymatic toothpaste. You can find it online or in most pet stores. https://us.virbac.com/home/our-products/pagecontent/product-selector/cet/cet-enzymatic-toothpaste-dog-cat.html

Dental biscuits are the best, they help tarts build up as the dog naturally chews through them. There are lots of brands that you can choose from, my preference goes to Royal Canine dental biscuits for small dogs.

You can get an enzymatic doggie tooth paste from your veterinarian which only needs to be applied to the teeth and does not need brushing. Once tartar is on the teeth this will likely not be removed by any tooth paste. You can also let him chew some Greenies which helps also. Yorkies notoriously have bad teeth, so they do need regular cleaning and also dental cleaning at the vet's office.

As long as you are using a dog-only toothpaste, you should be good (NO fluoride). Daily brushing is the best medicine. With a 15 year old beagle, she probably has underlying tartar and calculus (unless her teeth were recently cleaned by a vet), so you won't be removing anything that is already there, you would be preventing anything new from forming. Good job for taking good care of Daisy's oral health!

Hello, and thank you for using PetCoach. It's great that you're thinking about Teddy's oral health! It is best to brush Teddy's teeth daily using a toothpaste formulated for dogs. There are lots of good options, so try a few out and see what flavors Teddy likes, but I recommend an enzymatic toothpaste. Here's an example: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/sentry-petrodex-enzymatic-toothpaste-for-dogs-5000644--1 It's also beneficial for Teddy to chew on things that are meant to massage his gums and help work tarter off his teeth. I prefer rawhides that are coated in enzymes to help combat tarter, such as these: VIP-_-92700027187667220&kwid=p27187667220&device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2PLt-eSv1wIViLrACh0JkwyJEAQYASABEgLS3PD_BwE My own opinion is that providing good products for dogs to chew on does the most to help their teeth - but the combination of chewing and regular tooth brushing will benefit Teddy's oral health the most. Also, some dogs are less enthusiastic about chewing, which makes brushing the teeth even more important. Of course, all of these are measures to help slow tarter production - but nothing completely replaces regular dental care from your veterinarian. Just as we humans brush daily and still need regular dental care, our pets need the same. Hope this helps!

Hello, you'll likely need to scale the tartar accumulation off of his back teeth so that you can have an easier time keeping them clean. Ideally, after their teeth have been scaled, brushing their teeth and using dental treats may help keep their teeth clean and white the longest. As in humans, dogs should have a dental exam at least every 6-12 months with a scaling and polishing as needed. Brushing daily and dental chews such as OraVet have worked the best for my clients in the past. Hope this helps and best of luck.