Tucker just came back from his first dental appointment and the vet has reccommended HealthyMouth water additive. Just wondering what if people have used this and if anyone has found it effective. It looks like a green sludge that you add to their drinking water. It's VOHC (Veterinary Oral Health Council) accepted, apparently the only one that is (?).
www.healthymouth.com if anyone is interested in checking it out.
I've seen similar products, but haven't tried any of them… Am interested in hearing from others about this and other water additives though.
My first question would be who is the Veterinary Oral Health Council, and does it really matter if HealthyMouth has been VOHC-approved? Or is the list of approved products based on who pays to have it approved, etc.?
http://www.vohc.org/accepted_products.htm
I started to look a little at this organization, but don't really have a sense of how legitimate it is.
They look fairly legit (but the truth is, ever single research says nothing short of brushing REALLY helps. So brush, use whatever supplement makes you feel better.
This will be in conjunction with daily brushing. It's supposed to help reduce plaque by up to 70%. Tucker lost a couple of teeth and looks like he may have some lesions due to the plaque, so possibly CUPS. The vet Tucker sees is a specialist and swears by the stuff so we will try this out and see how it works.
My guys would not touch it in their water….. and depending on how often you change their water could get a bit expensive.....
We have no experience with it. We give Lela and Binti a good quality rawhide chew every night for about 15 minutes and their teeth are fine, said the vet at the last check-up.
Well the dogs seem to have no problem with the HealthyMouth water. I diluted it right down then gradually increased it until the full mixture was achieved. Now I mix it in a two litre milk jug and fill their bowls from there. This way it never sits longer than a couple of days.
Off to town today to buy a toothbrush for the doggies. Does anyone have any reccomendations? The specialist he saw said to try an electric toothbrush. What do other people use??
I just make sure to get one with a very small head so I can manipulate it in his mouth and get all the teeth..I've tried the three sided toothbrushes and for me..they're impossible..
Oh dear, I have a DO NOT GET recommendation. The stupid ones that have brushes on both sides are an utter waste. Wish I had read Amazon reviews before I got one.
I have 8 toothbrushes of various bristle shapes and sizes and I rotate them every day so I know I am hitting different surfaces, but remember I have a dog with a problem so I am fanatical about it.
I tried electric, and I might again one day but Arwen nearly had a stroke over it so just wasn't worth it. My vet also recommended a water pik and I told her sure, send me her vet tech over around midnight each night to help. I am happy to say though the vet didn't even want to clean them last week, said they were great. I said don't care, keep them that way. But I may try to go back to every 4 mos instead of 3.
Arwen has CUPS right DDS? When we were at the specialist for Tucker he thinks Tuck may have cups too. This sparked the need for drastic change. Next time they put him under for a cleaning I will get him fixed as well. He also said he had bad periodontal disease. Since then I have been brushing their teeth every night, so if I get most of the teeth right now I am happy. They have to learn that it just needs to be done. Of course my female is much more ok with the situation than my male and yet he's the one who needs the most attention. Along with an electric toothbrush experience yesterday, they also got spring baths. They are fully hating me right now!
Yes, she has CUPS.
LOL on being hated. If it helps, Arwen was AWFUL for the longest, would try to get under the covers other side of bed etc. Now, she actually comes over at bed time and waits for brushing. She doesn't like it, but as long as we keep her abscess free, she puts up with it. I have also managed to cut her from steroids every 2 days for almost 3 yrs to ever 3 days for the last 8 months with no abscesses, so we are doing better. Do I hate doing her teeth… yes. But I couldn't bear to just pull all her teeth so I don't have to do it, and really, it doesn't take me 5 mins from the moment i get the toothbrush with paste to go put the toothbrush in the cleaning solution. It is so worth it to not have her lose any more teeth. 
