RE: Dental water additive

Chris Geddes — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 11:01:32 GMT

Never heard of it, but if you're going to use this kind of product I'd ask the company for the published evidence of efficacy...if they have it, review it critically. Does it measure what it's important - development of periodontal disease in the long term? Or is it measuring something unimportant (like degree of tartar buildup), in the short term?

Can you not begin brushing by starting very slowly, beginning with just letting your dog lick toothpaste of your hand? I've always found dogs love having their teeth brushed when they learn that they get a treat of some nice chicken flavoured toothpaste as part of it. It's about taking things slowly and giving them a positive experience. Other than that...I believe there is reasonable evidence that certain dental diets and chews are ok at slowing buildup of plaque and tartar, and can't do any harm (unless chews to hard of course)...in fact they can be beneficial as dogs enjoy chewing them. They're not so good at gum margin which is what's important for periodontal disease, and they do nothing for the incisors, which is of course why brushing is best....by the way, there is a study that showed that there's no point brushing unless you do it at least every other day. But once a day is best. But of course you don't have to get there straight away, just start very slowly and build up.