# Dental health



## thatrandomgirl (Mar 4, 2012)

When I took Stella to vet a while back, I was told that her teeth look great, but to consider teeth cleaning for her from here on out since toy breeds are prone to dental issues. 

So, do any of you clean your dog's teeth? If so, what products do you use? How often?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.


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## Rach_Honey (Jan 13, 2012)

I've been cleaning honeys teeth since she was a pup and she still hates it! We use a human looking doggy toothbrush, she hates those plastic finger ones with a passion! She likes the minty doggy toothpaste flavour over the poultry or liver too x 


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

i use bullysticks....and once in a while to get the top parts of the teeth the best i can i use the flavored doggy toothpastes from petsmart usin a tiny toothbrush or even fingers...also i use petzlife oral spray


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

Bones and bully sticks have been effective so far over here.. I am pretty OCD and fidget with my pets though (I have a service animal and one of the babies is with me at all times due to mental stuff) so I sometimes fidget with his teeth and clean off any gunk I see.

My ferrets get way too frequent ear cleanings this way too. LOL.

They all seem to understand well that I have mental issues so they don't fuss much with the fidgety behaviors.. I play with their feet a lot too. Bonus for me that I do such odd things and it helps them out.


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

Also
I switched my ferrets to raw this year and have never seen such a change in teeth. Bode had some solid stuff that would not come off of his molars and a week with bones and it was GONE. His teeth are perfect, shiny white now. He is a two year old ferret and has teeth like a baby.

My other ferret has a lot of health issues and on raw his teeth are also sparkling clean. Less of a big deal since he is less than a year old still but I am proud.

These are bone in meals. Ferrets eat bones, it's kind of scary. But dang they have nice teeth. I don't know if dogs can eat small raw bones or not, I haven't done lots of research on that front yet. My ferrets can crunch clean through a drumstick in one bite. I bet adding bones, if they can eat them, would really keep teeth nice.


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## thatrandomgirl (Mar 4, 2012)

I really need to try bully sticks. I keep hearing such good stuff about them. 
When I used to give rawhide, it seemed to help with Stella's teeth/breath, but I don't plan on going back to that. 

This may be a dumb question, but do they sell toothbrushes specifically for dogs/small dogs? And if not, I'm guessing a soft bristled one is ideal?


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

They do sell small dog specific toothbrushes, but we have one meant for a toddler and it's probably just as small. Odie gets bully sticks and she also get a raw bone a couple times a week. I've tried brushing with just water and toothbrush to get her used to it, but our petzlife gel came in the mail today and I'm excited to use it! Be bought the mint flavour.


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## thatrandomgirl (Mar 4, 2012)

I'd imagine that the toddler toothbrushes are cheaper too. I'll run by the store tomorrow and check. 

petzlife spray/gel seems to get decent reviews, so I'll definitely look into that.


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

thatrandomgirl said:


> I'd imagine that the toddler toothbrushes are cheaper too. I'll run by the store tomorrow and check.
> 
> petzlife spray/gel seems to get decent reviews, so I'll definitely look into that.


I buy kids toothbrushes and just cut off half of the bristles if that makes sense, so they aren't so tall. It works really well.


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## _Luna_ (Oct 11, 2012)

I use a toddlers toothbrush on Luna. She doesn't really mind me brushing her teeth every other night. I think she got used to it. Since I been doing it since she was 3 months. My sister works at a dentist office and she is always trying to make me brush Luna's teeth almost every night. 


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## rubia (Jul 3, 2008)

missy_r said:


> I buy kids toothbrushes and just cut off half of the bristles if that makes sense, so they aren't so tall. It works really well.


I use "human" tooth brushes too. I use the Oral-B electric one with the soft head. I use a dog gel to brush with and the petzlifde spray too. Yes he doesn't like the dental care but I remain calm and firm--show no hesitation and go straight to work. It is only a 2 minute task. Rico is almost 5 and he had one "dental" at the vet , mostly because he had retained baby teeth (can you say double canines). The dental invovled general anethesia and he didn't need it per se but those extra teeth needed to come out.


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