Teeth brushing

[DebraDownSouth]

I have found positioning Arwen on her back, bracing my thumb to keep her mouth open, allows me to thoroughly brush her teeth including the back ones.

That said, I am 54, and she is the only dog in my life I have brushed the teeth of. Have fed raw for most of the last 18 yrs, my vets have accused me of having the dogs' teeth cleaned at another vets office. No. But Arwen… issues since she was 4. Even with brushing, twistix dental, wipes and raw, we still have to have them cleaned every 6 mos and she has still lost 5 teeth so far (she is 8). I now brush Cara's just to get her used to in.
But couldn't take poll as not enough options... you left out both brush and have vet do it.

[Patty]

I use Logic Gel but with some of mine can only swipe it round their teeth - however it still seems to do some good. Ialso give them Fragraria for 5 days at a time which does seem to loosen the plaque.

I've also bought some Petzlife but haven't tried it yet.

[tanza]

I use the Petzlife Gel and the spray and like both of them…. the Basenjis, not so much...ggg

[Maya]

I brush Maya's teeth but I have to admit to only doing it maybe once or twice a week, I really should do it more but she hates it…

[dmcarty]

Sprinkle Denta Treat on their food - it's made by Wysong (and they should pay me a commission)

[DebraDownSouth]

Just a quick warning btw… I had used a product, Nolvadent which contains chlorhexidine, from my vet, then found it can CAUSE plaque. I contacted the company, they contacted my vet. After 4 mos without it, Arwens teeth and breathe are amazining better. Usually by the 2nd month after cleaning I started seeing plaque!

[nobarkus]

I just use water and a brush, nothing else. Teeth are white and breath is fresh. Brush a little and swish it in a cup of water, brush a little and swish in the cup. Basenjis like wet things in their mouth. Just keep doing that till you're done. Then wash the tooth brush out under full hot water and a little soap till it's squeaky clean.

[Kananga]

@tanza:

I use the Petzlife Gel and the spray and like both of them…. the Basenjis, not so much...ggg

I just switched to the spray recently, found it's a bit easier to apply (lift each side of their mouth open and spray once, then once on the tongue).

The gel would sometimes slide off my finger when there was a struggle to get Kananga to sit still. :rolleyes:

[tanza]

@Kananga:

I just switched to the spray recently, found it's a bit easier to apply (lift each side of their mouth open and spray once, then once on the tongue).

The gel would sometimes slide off my finger when there was a struggle to get Kananga to sit still. :rolleyes:

I use a brush with the gel….. they don't love it... but it gets done.gggg

[Patty]

I've always been wary of forcing those of mine that don't like their teeth brushed that it might spoil them for when judges open their mouths to look at teeth. It seems from what you say, Pat, that it doesn't do so - am I correct? Have you any tips on using the brush on the ones who dislike it?

[Maya]

@Patty:

I've always been wary of forcing those of mine that don't like their teeth brushed that it might spoil them for when judges open their mouths to look at teeth. It seems from what you say, Pat, that it doesn't do so - am I correct? Have you any tips on using the brush on the ones who dislike it?

I can only speak for my one dog, but Maya has always stood like a rock on the table and is perfectly happy having her teeth looked at by judges so i dont think it is a problem. I always make sure to give her a tasty treat (usually some primula cheese :o ) afterwards to take her mind off it.

[nobarkus]

@Patty:

I've always been wary of forcing those of mine that don't like their teeth brushed that it might spoil them for when judges open their mouths to look at teeth. It seems from what you say, Pat, that it doesn't do so - am I correct? Have you any tips on using the brush on the ones who dislike it?

Why use any of that gel?? I'm telling everybody Basenjis like wet things so stick a wet tooth brush out and they'll take it in their mouth. Try it. Don't start off trying to brush the teeth, let them chew just a little and lick it then move it around lightly brushing without holding their head. Just do that for the first few days or a week. Don't force it. They have to feel a little self determinism in this whole process.

[tlish]

well, i brushed what few teeth suki has today (puppy teeth falling out). she didn't hate it nearly as much as she hates having her nails clipped, so that was a positive. she was ok with it for awhile, and then she was done. but she seemed to find the poultry flavored toothpaste yummy!

[Patty]

Thanks Dan, I'll try a wet brush as you advise. It's only some of mine that object to having their teeth brushed, the others are no problem.

[curlytails]

@nobarkus:

Don't start off trying to brush the teeth, let them chew just a little and lick it then move it around lightly brushing without holding their head. Just do that for the first few days or a week. Don't force it. They have to feel a little self determinism in this whole process.

So no gel, just a wet toothbrush to get them used to it?

So far, Bowpi does two things… she either licks the gel right off the bristles, or tries to pull the bristles out of the stem, like I'm holding a raw drumstick for her (I've been holding her raw meaty bones as she tears off the meat and crunches the bones, otherwise she drags them all around the room, and she's sort of loathe to hold the bones down with her paws).

It's only been a few days, so I'll keep at it. Not sure how I should progress to actually brushing her teeth yet, but at least she seems to be enjoying the attention.

The shiba came in while we were doing this once. Bowpi was cradled in my lap, belly out and leaned up against my stomach. She's very easy to manipulate, and I thought this would be a good angle to eventually work my way to her back teeth. Anyway, Bowdu came over to sniff the toothbrush, then he gave her this utter look of disgust, huffed in her face and flounced out of the room.

[nobarkus]

Another reason to start very, very slow is that the gums are very sensitive and brush could cause pain. Little by little the gums will get strong. So if you start off brushing like you had been doing it for a while it may cause the dog pain and will create a bad experience. To help with this put the brush under running hot water first to get the bristles softened up.

[DebraDownSouth]

Well, as I posted, we have had to take Arwen in for teeth cleaning every six mos. The this year she was in Feb, then in JULY had to have 3 teeth pulled. I noticed red gums while brushing and thought I had damaged but it was getting worse.

So took her to vet today, back bottom tooth on BOTH sides need pulling, infection, and her liver enzymes up. I know enough about blood work to know the infection can elevate liver enzymes, but this isn't my usual vet and she INSISTED it could be hep or anything and we MUST treat now. I let her bully me but the more I think about it the madder I am.

The logical thing would be antibiotics, pull the teeth in 2 wks, then test blood w/n 30 to 45 days to see if liver enzymes up.. THEN treat or test more. But I am going to give the anti-inflammatory med and doggie Sam-e for 30 days since I already paid a bloody fortune for them, but then going to stop them completely and wait a month to retest. I adore my other vet, but this one less all the time. If it is a med I can get at the drugstore, the other vet writes me Rx because she said they don't get the big discounts pharmacies do so always much cheaper than they can sell them. $63 bucks for 30 days worth of sam-e for a 27 pound dog? HOLY COW.

Anyway, the only good news is she said the other teeth look great (it's only been 4 mos! so this is 3rd visit for teeth in 9 mos!) and she thinks I can keep the others good with brushing, these were just too close into gums and back of mouth.

[tanza]

By the way everyone, I mentioned that I was told about another product to assist with removing Plaque in dogs. I have now had my babies on it for about a month. It is very reasonable in price and for the small amount given, the jar will last a long time. I didn't expect to see any changes in my kids because they are still just pups and their teeth look great, so can't really attest if it works or not (and I will bush) but since it is not that bad in price, easy to use, I will keep them on it. The person that told me about it swears by it….
Here is the link
http://www.plaqueoff.com/proden_plaqueoff_animal/proden_plaqueoff_animal_faqs.htm

[DebraDownSouth]

Reading it, not so impressed Pat. But surely doesn't look like it would hurt!

There are only a couple of dental products researched enough that are proven to help. Nolvadent is supposed to help BUT oddly can also cause build up.. which it did with Arwen. Stopped using it and now only issue is 2 back teeth and not the horrible build up on all teeth we were seeing before I found a research article about Nolvadent. Sigh.

The other proven is sodium hexametaphosphate but good luck finding chews with it. I finally found it in a tooth paste called Dentacetic and in dentacetic wipes, which I have been using. I can only imagine she would be toothless by now if I hadn't been doing all I could, but it is utterly discouraging.
http://www.amazon.com/DentAcetic-Dental-Gel-2-oz/dp/B0002XJ01A

[Kananga]

I've been experimenting with using just the Petzlife Oral Spray and rawhide strips. No brushing.

I wanted to see what was more effective (brushing a couple times a week w/ a few sprays of petzlife weekly was my prior method).

Turns out, and I really should have gotten before and after pics, this new method made a huge improvement. Kananga gets a flat strip rawhide once a day, usually after dinner, and then I use the petzlife spray 3-4x a week at bedtime. I'm quite happy with the results and I haven't had to brush his teeth at all. I figure the rawhide chewing is doing a thorough job at stimulating his gums and cleaning his teeth.

The flat strips work really well because they use their back teeth efficiently. I know my vet recommended this awhile back and now I've gotten in the habit of giving him one daily. A bag of these things is usually $6 or so, probably lasts a month.