Teeth brushing; This is considered to be the ‘gold standard’ of preventative dental care. There are many different teeth cleaning kits that include different flavour toothpastes (poultry and beef) and different toothbrush shapes and sizes. The main limitation people find is their pet’s willingness for their teeth to be brushed! It is best to start examining your pets mouth and looking at their teeth at an early age to give you the best chance of being able to do this. They key is to start with little steps and work your way upwards to teeth cleaning. Holding your pet and forcing them to have a full teeth clean at the very start will make them very resentful and anxious of the entire process. 

Diet; in general a solely dry diet is most likely to help keep your pets teeth clean. There are also specially formulated diets which can help with dental health. The basis behind a lot of these diets is that the kibble shape and size is designed to increase abrasion of the teeth. That being said, if your pet’s food barely touches the sides then a dry diet can make little difference!

Dental chews; these chews can help to abrase the surface of your pets teeth too and therefore reduce tartar build up. The same applies as above however with regards to how these chews are eaten! It is also very important to note that these should be used in moderation; they can be very calorific and your pets can quickly gain weight if used too regularly.

Other dental Products; there are different liquid and powder formulations aimed at reducing tartar build up and freshening breath.  

Dental surgery; all of your hard work above will be helping but regular dental checks and appropriate dental procedures are also needed to identify and address dental disease sooner rather than later. Watch out for part 3 where we explain what a dental entails!

If you would like your pet’s teeth examining then our nurses are able assess your pets teeth and discuss the above approaches with you in a free nurse dental check. Please note that if you think your pet is off their food, painful or otherwise unwell then a vet appointment is recommended. Please phone 01606 880890