Dental care for dogs: tips for healthy teeth (2024)

  • Veterinarian Mag.med.vet. Emin Jasarevic
  • Updated: 2024-09-16

Dental care for dogs: tips for healthy teeth (1)

The most important facts in brief

  • Regular dental careDental care is essential for your dog's health to prevent tooth decay, gingivitis and other health problems.
  • Proper nutritionAvoid sugar and grains in food to promote dental health. Barfing can be a healthy alternative.
  • Professional controlVisit the vet once or twice a year for a dental check-up to detect and treat problems at an early stage.
  • Chews and toysSpecial chewing articles and dental care toys support dental hygiene in a natural way.
  • Brushing teethSlowly and stress-free get your dog used to brushing its teeth to effectively improve oral hygiene.

Want to know more about proper dog dental care? In this article, I'll tell you 7 valuable tips on how to properly care for your pet's teeth and how best to use them. Also, for this article we have chosen Advice from veterinarian Mag.med.vet. Emin Jasarevic obtained. Note: This article is written for the german country.

📖 Contents

Dental care and the associated dental health is extremely important for your dog. Teeth do a lot of preliminary work for a successful digestion.

Basic requirements for healthy teeth

First of all, we will address the topic of "healthy teeth". These are not self-evident and require a certain care.

The basic prerequisite for healthy teeth is the right dog food. Many products contain grain and sugar. This sugar promotes the formation of certain bacteria in the dog's mouth.

These bacteria and other ingredients in the food can attack the tooth enamel, destroy the natural protection and are therefore an easy target for bacteria and tooth decay.

At the same time, these teeth are more susceptible to the formation of tartar. This tartar is then an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, which can lead to gum inflammation and other problems.

If you resort to the wrong food, the health of your pet's teeth and general health will be impaired.

In addition, many dogs do not drink enough fluids. The lack of fluids also affects oral health.

Therefore, make sure that there is always enough water available - even during long walks or excursions.

Visit the vet's practice once or twice a year to have your pet's teeth checked. Just like you, your furry friend needs regular oral check-ups.

It is also important that you always provide your pet with special chews and prophylactic products.

These are given in the form of toys, treats or chews. Regular exposure to these items promotes dental health.

Why is dental care so important?

Dental care for your furry friend is indispensable. If the care is missing, it can bring many disadvantages.

Tooth decay, inflammation and general health problems are some of the disadvantages of a lack of care. If your four-legged friend's dental care suffers, the following risks can occur:

1. gum inflammation

Another term for inflammation of the gums is "gingivitis". It is a common disease in furry friends.

About 8 out of 10 dogs suffer from such inflammation once in their life. The main cause of inflammation of the gums is the lack - or lack of - dental care.

The symptoms of gingivitis can be the following:

  • Bad breath
  • reddened interior of the mouth
  • bloody saliva
  • purulent deposits in saliva and oral cavity
  • Loss of appetite
  • Feed refusal
  • Weight loss
  • Tooth loss
  • Fever spikes
  • unilateral mastication
  • pain.

2. caries

While caries often occurs in us humans, it is rather rare in dogs.

However, it is caused by a lack of dental care. Due to tooth decay, your pet's teeth can become loose and fall out.

The most common cause of tooth decay is the wrong diet. Many industrially manufactured products have a high sugar content.

Caries is an infection caused by certain acid-producing bacteria, which multiply due to a high-sugar diet and form acid by breaking down sugar. This acid attacks the tooth enamel and can thus destroy the tooth.

The lack of dental care increases the incidence of tooth decay. To prevent tooth decay, you should improve the dental care of your pet and change the food if necessary.

Plaque and tartar are harbingers of gum inflammation and tooth decay.

Your darling is not yet strongly limited with these symptoms, however plaque as well as tartar can already attack the health.

Due to the tartar, your furry nose is no longer able to chew the food properly.

Feed intake therefore becomes a challenge. The stomach and intestines also suffer.

Plaque and tartar make chewing difficult. Most meals enter the stomach unchewed.

If this is the case, the stomach works more than usual. As a result, more gastric acid is produced. This in turn weakens the stomach lining and attacks it.

4. caution for older dogs

Lack of dental care in dogs can lead to dental problems. Special care should be taken with older dogs.

They no longer have a strong immune system and their organs lack strength.

If an older four-legged friend suffers from dental problems, it is much more likely that vital organs will be attacked.

7 tips for dental care

Proper dental care for your pet is composed of several points.

A healthy diet can prevent some problems, but it is not the only remedy for dental problems.

Through proper dental care, you will improve the quality of life of your hairy companion, increase its activity as well as its well-being.

So that you are well advised on this point, we have gone in search of the ideal dental care for the dog.

Here are our results:

  1. The right food
  2. Food and water supplements
  3. healthy treats
  4. Use of special chewing articles
  5. Dental care toy
  6. The teeth brushing

1. the right diet

The right diet is the be-all and end-all for dental care.

Do not give your four-legged friend any industrially produced products that are of poor quality.

As a rule, these products contain too much grain and too much sugar. This, in turn, weakens dental health.

Tip: Consider using barfing. Barfeeding is a healthy diet for your furry friend. In addition to ready-made products, you can also prepare the meals yourself.

Barfing is a natural form of nutrition in which you feed your pet raw ingredients. One advantage of barfing is that it promotes dental health.

2. nutritional supplements

Various supplements are increasingly used by dog owners. Here, the products are tailored to the dental care of the dog.

They are available for little money in pet stores or on the Internet. They are simply administered by adding the product to the food or water.

3. Treats

Treats play an important role in oral hygiene. Many treat products contain too much sugar.

For this reason, you should go for products that have the lowest possible sugar content and promote dental health.

You are welcome to make the treats yourself. Here is a great recipe:

Treat sticks

Ingredients:

  • 200 g ground oatmeal
  • 150 g granular cream cheese
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 150 °C
  2. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix together
  3. Shape treats as desired
  4. Line baking tray with baking paper
  5. Bake treats in the oven for 25 minutes
Vegetable treat

Ingredients:

  • 1 carrot
  • 300 g potatoes
  • ½ zucchini
  • 100 g polenta
  • 1 tablespoon low fat curd
  • 1 tsp coconut oil

Preparation:

  1. Peel and coarsely chop the carrot
  2. Potatoes also peel and cut into small pieces
  3. Grate zucchini
  4. Preheat oven to 150 °C
  5. Boil carrot and potatoes until soft
  6. Mix all ingredients together
  7. Shape treats as needed
  8. Line baking tray with baking paper
  9. Bake treats for 50 - 60 minutes

You can find more recipes in our article "How to bake dog cookies yourself.”

4. special chewing articles

Various chewing articles are a great help and an important part of dental care. The market is full of such articles.

This is the reason why more and more dog owners lose track of their choices. We have compiled the best options for you here.

If your pet has a strong and healthy set of teeth and is middle-aged, the following items may be helpful for dental care:

  • Ox Ears
  • Bullwhip
  • Salmon chewing bone
  • natural dental care chips
  • Peppermint snacks
  • Beef tendons
  • Beef bones
  • Beef lung snacks
  • Cattle hooves
  • Chewing roots
  • Wild Antlers

5. toys for dental care

You can allow your faithful companion to cleverly combine dental care with play activities.

There are more and more products that allow to promote the health of the biters with the help of toys. Please pay attention to the following:

Dental care toys are especially suitable for adult dogs. Do not use them for puppies or older dogs, otherwise the teeth can be damaged.

You need special toys. A visit to the pet store will clarify your most important questions.

6. brushing teeth

Opinions differ among dog owners when it comes to brushing teeth.

While some are against brushing teeth, others advocate this method as the optimal solution.

We also think you should resort to brushing your teeth to improve mouth hygiene.

The claim that quadrupeds used to take care of their teeth on their own before they were domesticated is true. However, you can not compare this with today.

7. the feeding behavior has changed

Due to dog keeping, their natural lifestyle is lost. The feeding behavior suffers as a result.

While dogs used to mainly eat raw food, industrially produced food products with too high a sugar content or other ingredients ensure poor dental care.

Therefore, it is recommended to occasionally resort to brushing teeth.

You should make it a fun experience for your pet. Stress and pressure are out of place and are more detrimental than beneficial.

This is how brushing teeth works

Here we give you a quick step-by-step guide on how to make brushing your charge's teeth easier:

1. selection of a command

Through the command your furry identifies brushing teeth with the current situation. The command can be any word.

But at best, make sure that the word you choose is not too long and also only applies to the situation of brushing your teeth.

2. touching the mouth area

A permanent touch to the mouth area will help you get your pet used to the procedure.

Simply start by touching the muzzle. Open its mouth occasionally and tell it the selected command.

Everything should take place casually and without pressure. You can apply the second step for some time. It's better to take too much time than too little.

After your dog gets used to being touched, you can bring the toothbrush into play. Touch his muzzle with the toothbrush and try to push it casually into his mouth.

3. accustoming the toothpaste

Once you have successfully applied the previous steps and your dog has become accustomed to them, you can move on to the third step.

In this step, you get your pet used to the toothpaste. As a rule, dog toothpaste already have a pleasant taste for quadrupeds.

Start by touching the muzzle a little with the toothpaste so that your little one gets a taste of this product.

4. combination toothbrush and toothpaste

After you have used steps 2 and 3 for a long time, you can repeat these steps - but this time in combination. This means that you use the toothpaste in combination with the toothbrush.

Additional tip: Make your own toothpaste

Making your own dog toothpaste is not as difficult as you think. You need few ingredients and likewise you must invest little time.

Below you will find instructions for making your own dog toothpaste:

Ingredients:

  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp beef-flavored broth powder (e.g. beef broth)
  • 1 tsp coconut oil (helps against tartar)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly chopped peppermint
  • ½ tsp seaweed

Preparation:

  1. Put all ingredients in a bowl
  2. Mix ingredients
  3. Put toothpaste in a container and always keep it cold

Frequently Asked Questions

Your dog can get diseases in his mouth, just like humans, if his dental hygiene is neglected. These include tooth decay or gingivitis, which can cause pain.

To maintain your dog's dental health, it is recommended to brush his teeth once a day. You should also provide him with enough chew toys, so he can help clean his teeth himself.

You will need a dog toothbrush and special toothpaste. Get your dog used to brushing his teeth slowly, without pressure and from an early age. You can find detailed step-by-step instructions in our article.

Bad breath in your dog is a sign of too much plaque on the teeth or of tooth decay and gingivitis. In any case, you should take care of oral hygiene if your dog has bad breath.

Like human babies, puppies first develop milk teeth before they grow permanent teeth. The change of teeth takes place around the 16th week of life.

Veterinarian’s Recommendation

You can do a few things to ensure adequate dental care.

Lack of dental care is counterproductive for the health of your pet. For this reason, daily dental care should be a top priority.

The most important points here are using the ideal food and brushing teeth.

Find out if the current dog food is beneficial or more detrimental to your dog's dental health and make a change if needed.

Slowly get your little one used to brushing their teeth. No matter which option you use for dental care.

Stress and pressure are counterproductive and should be avoided. Heed our tips and promote the dental health of your pelt nose.

Dental care for dogs: tips for healthy teeth (2)

Veterinarian Mag.med.vet. Emin Jasarevic

I am a veterinarian and writer on animal health topics. Animals are my passion, and it is my personal goal to create medically accurate articles and videos to educate pet owners as much as possible.

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