My clients are always asking questions about their pets’ teeth and how to keep them healthy. It’s an important issue that I want to address today. Dogs’ and cats’ teeth usually start life bright and white, then slowly turn yellowish brown with age. The reason is because daily use and tartar can turn them pastel shades of yellow, green or brown.
We can understand why chewing and rubbing can change the enamel, but what does tartar have to do with this process? Tartar is the accumulation of minerals and bacteria from the saliva that form at the gum line. Humans floss to get rid of this accumulation of plaque, tartar and bacteria. In animals gum disease begins with the brownish/yellowish/greenish crusty deposits of tartar and plaque near the gum line. Bacteria thrive underneath this shelter of plaque and tartar and can easily attack and destroy the attachment of the gums to the tooth. Fortunately not all individuals develop really bad tartar and receeding gums that can lead to putrid breath and a painful mouth.
This leads us to prevention and what we can do to help our pets’ teeth remain healthy. The good news is that most dogs do not develop painful teeth problems and only have discoloration and mild tartar throughout their lifetime. However, the dogs that do produce lots of tartar leading to receeding gums, painful loose teeth, or abcessed teeth need our help. So grab that bag of crunchy biscuits, feed dry kibble and stay away from canned food…right? No. Absolutely not.
I know this defies intuition, and I admit that I too used to be a kibble believer. But, in fact, I have not seen a difference in the health of teeth and gums with different types of food–canned or dry. And I’ve seen enough problems caused by kibble and biscuit treats (ranging from obesity and seizures to all sorts of allergic reactions) to make me avoid dry food. Let me put it to you this way, if you ate a bowl of big stale cookies every day, would that keep your teeth and gums healthy? Or your body either? Of course not.
Here’s the truth: The health of teeth and gums is linked to breeds, and some individuals produce more tartar and have the tendency for receeding gums. The toy breeds (small house dogs), some herding dogs (Corgi, Sheltie), and the squished-face dogs (Boxers, Bostons, Bulldogs) have the “terrible teeth” tendencies.
Whether you own one of the dentally challenged breeds, a poodle or an amiable mixed breed (mutt)…and yes, I know, they really own us…there are three ways you can deal with tartar:
- Veterinary dental cleaning
- Brush your pet’s teeth
- Encourage healthful chewing
Professional dental cleaning by your vet is effective but more expensive than regularly brushing your dog’s teeth or helping them chew away tartar buildup. The truth is I don’t know too many people that will brush their dogs’ teeth consistently enough to make a difference.
But the good news is letting your dog chew on smoked pork bones, knucklebones or frozen chicken thighs every 2-3 weeks keeps most dogs’ teeth really clean. I’ve seen this with my own dogs’ teeth and it’s the reason I make the right kind of chewing part of the Dog Dish Diet regimen. Now there are several cautions. These are important, but if you take care, you can help your dog enjoy strong, healthy teeth for years to come and, in many cases, without the expense of veterinary dental cleaning:
- Do NOT use baked or barbecued chicken or steak bones… these can be brittle and sharp.
- Do NOT use big, baked beef femurs…these can break teeth.
- DO use smoked or raw pork or chicken bones…thighs are just the right size and the bone is raw and flexible.
Here’s the bottom line: If your dog is prone to eating big chunks of bone or too much bone (what I call a gulper) or you feed the wrong type of bone, it could cost you or your dog dearly. That is why I favor the smoked pork bones or frozen chicken thighs every 2-3 weeks, to keep my dogs’ teeth clean. I will probably never have to clean my dogs’ teeth again!! Bone Appetit!
I welcome your questions on this and other subjects important to pet owners.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Dr. Greg, this sounds like great advice for dogs. But what can we cat owners do to help keep our pets’ teeth and gums healthy? My local vet needs to anesthetize my cats to clean their teeth. My cats are getting up there in years and I worry about this procedure. At the same time, brushing cats’ teeth is not a pleasant experience for either them or me. Any advice? Thanks.
Raw chicken? Is that safe for a dog?
I have had clients feed raw chicken for years. Frozen raw chicken does not get the chance to incubate and grow nasty salmonella or e coli bugs. Dogs are remarkably able to stomach eating garbage, dead stuff, and poop. Healthy pieces of chicken will not harm them, but a human with immunity issues should exercise caution using this practice. A few bugs could be transmitted to the owner or others in the house. Clients have used this practice for twenty years, and I became a convert about 10 years ago, with great reservations also. Now I believe it is a safe and healthy practice.
Hello Dr. Greg. I have been trying to find a way to get my dog’s teeth clean and when I was looking online I came across your website. I would like to compliment you on your accomplishments working with dogs. I have a Kuvasz named Pocona. I got her at 4 months old and she is now 1 year old. I have had problems with keeping her teeth clean, even with using a toothbrush on her teeth. Kuvasz are very sensitive to being sedated so I am nervous to have to take her to the vet to get them cleaned. I am willing to try what you do with your dogs, and let her have bones. She has some brown tarter buildup on some of her back teeth, do you think that letting her chew bones will eliminate the buildup and the need for a dental cleaning at a vetrinary clinic? Please let me know your advice.
Thank you for your time
Sincerely,
Pauline
Pauline,
Depending on the type of chewer your kuvasz is and the type of chew she likes, you may be able to maintain her bright smile with this practice. I have found that smoked pork shanks and frozen chicken thighs from the market work the best because most dogs work on them for a longer time. Do not use baked or barbequed, steak or chicken bones. Those hard round thick bones from the pet store can break teeth. Smoked pork bones or lamb bones from the pet store also work well because your kuvasz can “sink”her teeth into the bone, catilage, and marrow….like the old days. I have demo chewing viedeos on bajagreg1 and drgregdvm youtube
Dr. Greg, a friend of mine also had a Kuvasz (just recently passed away at a ripe old age). Tessy had particularly bad teeth. I’m wondering if the breed is prone to bad teeth and therefore special efforts should be made to find a natural way to keep their teeth clean.
Tartar accumulation and resulting gum infections seem to affect some breeds and some individuals more then others. If your dog develops tartar and red inflammed gums, he or she needs to chew on something that will help scrape the tartar off. I have found that “dry food” or kibble does almost nothing to help. Dogs need a food item they can “sink” their teeth into, like smoked pork bones from the pet store and smoked pork shanks, and frozen chicken thighs from the market. If they are not chewers, veterinary dental care and home dental care are needed.
Hello Dr. Greg.
I appreciate your page here telling others about the benefits of raw bones for our dogs dental health. Many veterinarians shy away from recommending or suggesting raw food and raw bones for our pets. It’s good to see some who are “with it” when it comes to the benefits of natural diets for our dogs and cats. Thank you!
Dr. Greg,
I have a chihuahua that I received at 11 months old. His baby canines never came out, so I have to have them removed, due to this his teeth are AWFUL and at dog shows the judges get hung up on this and I’m afraid it will hold his championship back. After the teeth are removed and cleaned I wanted to give him bones as you suggested. I have a bitch that had her teeth cleaned by the vet, and they still turned yellow not too long after. Since they are such small dogs, do you suggest the same bones, or marrow bones? I don’t want to give them something that they could choke on.
For small dogs you can use cut up beef knuckle bones, frozen chicken thighs with bone in them, and smoked pock hocks or shanks. Not too small that they eat them fast, and not too big that they have trouble grabbing a hold of them. Many of my clients feed and have had no trouble with chicken necks, but dogs need to chew them up to be safe
Dr. Greg, Thank you for such great information:) When giving frozen chicken thighs do you thaw them out first or give it to them completely frozen? What about the other bones that you suggested also. Also, is it okay to give it to them raw? I have two beautiful Samoyed’s (rescues) and would rather go the natural route in keeping their teeth clean. By the way, your dogs are adorable and I can tell they are well loved:)
Dr. Greg, So sorry I left out several important questions that I was curious about. How often do you give your dog bones to help clean their teeth and how long do you let them have the bones at a time. I actually purchased some beef marrow bones before I found this website because I wasn’t sure how to go about it. Thank you in advance for your patience and help:)
Deborah, i don’t thaw them. The raw frozen chicken thigh and flexible raw bone inside gives the meal that added tartar cleaning muscle. I give them bones or frozen chicken weekly or so
I also use raw meaty lambs bones, smoked pork bones, pigs feet, and beef femur and hock bones if the dogs are ok with beef. I leave the bones with them for 20-30 min. My lab Tucker eats a pretty good size bone in that time and his poop is pretty white the next day. You can buy raw bones at the market or pet store. Same with smoked. Does that help?
Dr. Greg, Thank you SO much for this information:) My Samoyed’s, Sammy & Max think that I am the best mom ever to let them eat raw chicken! I was nervous at first to give them the frozen chicken thighs but they handled it like a champ! They enjoyed every bite and it took quite a bit or tarter off their teeth. Now, that’s all that they want to eat!!! I am excited to also order your book and get them on your Dog Dish Diet. I always thought it wasn’t good to give them people food but it makes complete sense actually after researching your website and your http://www.youtube.com videos. I learned so much and have already started telling my friends about it!:) Thank you SO much Dr. Greg! It’s nice to know that there are veterinarians out there who think outside the box for our babies well-being! Also, I am sending you an e-mail with some questions re: cats on the Dog Dish Diet! Thank you again and I will definitely continue to “spread the word.” People definitely need this information for their pets:)
Deborah,
Thanks for being brave and trying the “bone therapy” We have been conditioned to think kibble contains all the ingredients needed for good health. Millions of dogs and cats suffer from the results of high grain, low fat, allergenic diets. Giving our pets the joy of something they evolved to eat is convincing isn’t it?
I have been brushing my German Sheperd’s teeth daily for five months with C.E.T. Enzynmatic toothpaste. But I recently became aware that it has two ingrediants which bother me: Dextrose and Sorbitol. Dextrose is a sugar and I think that sorbitol is an alcohol sugar. All the other popular brands of pet toothpaste have these two ingrediants also.
Question: Will these ingrediants — dextrose and sorbitol –harm my dogs teeth?
I’m afraid to continue brushing my dog’s teeth because of these ingrediants, even though my vet recommended this toothpaste to me.
Another question: Are the big raw frozen Bravo knucklebones that are sold in pet stores good to give to my dog for his teeth? (He is not an aggresive chewer and I’ve been letting him have them as directed, until the meat is stripped, so I only let him have the knucklebones for a few hours before I throw them out.)
(I am new to raw feeding, just using a lot of the Stella and Chewy’s freeze dried for now while I read more and try to work up the courage to do things like you’re talking about, like give my dogs frozen chicken thighs, if he will even eat them. He won’t eat the frozen patties of different brands , just freeze dried. He loves that, so I buy it in great bulk to make the cost the same as if it were frozen. But that won’t give him the dental benefits of a RMB diet.)
Greg,
Sorbitrol has been used as an artificial sweetener.Sorbitol also may aggravate irritable bowel syndrome,[8] and similar gastrointestinal conditions, resulting in severe abdominal pain for those affected, even from small amounts ingested. This may apply to dogs too, I wouldn’t be surprised.However this is from human sources.
I use meaty bones and frozen chicken thighs to keep my dogs teeth clean. You can see the videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ieNMvfpQQ. Put the chicken in the the micro for 30 secs to defrost the outside skin a bit to make it taste and smell better.
You may want to let him eat some of the cartilage on the knuckle too, it will supply his joints with great nutrition, protect his joints from wearing out and getting arthritis, as well as polish his teeth