# Solution for terrible teeth and breath



## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

Dakota has the worst teeth I have ever seen. His breath is terrible. Taking him in for a dental is out of the question since he is 9 years old and has medical problems and a surgery may be too much for him. They are past the point where brushing will help and quite frankly, I cant brush his teeth because they are so disgusting and he drools. I do not give my dogs raw hide. However, when I used to Dakota was not good at breaking off small pieces. He would try to swallow big pieces. I know some people recommend other things for chewing, does anybody have any suggestions? Any toys with cleaning ability will not be beneficial since he doesn't like to play.


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

Have you tried raw knuckle bones ?
My friend adopted a ex racing greyhound, he had horrible teeth - we got him used to eating knuckle bones and they helped clean them really well!



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## VaBeachFamily (Apr 12, 2005)

Cullen is this way also. He's 3, and when we fed strictly raw, his teeth were awesome, but now that we are on kibble, and we can't give any rawhides due to Colitis flares, they got horrible. We just started buying these huge double knuckle ended buffalo bones and hope they will help. We were going to do a cleaning, but they said since he was under snesthesia already recently, not to have it done for a while..

True story... We had fleas this year pretty bad and he is sensitive, and even with Frontline, they were bad ( we are now on Trifexis, but not the point). He would constantly chew on his rear... well we went to a dog festival event and they had free dental exams, and the woman said " OMG, I just pulled HAIR from between his teeth, what would cause that" and I un-thinkingly replied " oh, he likes eating small animals, no biggie"... she turned white and looked at me with the more disgusted look... I guess she didn't catch the humor


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

vicky2200 said:


> Dakota has the worst teeth I have ever seen. His breath is terrible. Taking him in for a dental is out of the question since he is 9 years old and has medical problems and a surgery may be too much for him. They are past the point where brushing will help and quite frankly, I cant brush his teeth because they are so disgusting and he drools. I do not give my dogs raw hide. However, when I used to Dakota was not good at breaking off small pieces. He would try to swallow big pieces. I know some people recommend other things for chewing, does anybody have any suggestions? Any toys with cleaning ability will not be beneficial since he doesn't like to play.


Deer antlers are good. They also have a line of water additives made by arm and hammer that are suppose to make a dogs breath fresh.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

TO the OP -- anesthesia for dental cleaning is a very light anesthesia. Your dog would probably be fine. Ask your vet.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

There is a spray for plaque calledPlaque Blast . The girls teeth were so yellow but I havent used it yet as I dont know them Bully Sticks have really made a difference. My older dogs have a hard time w/ antleres but Daisy would chew some on them. I have to say bot girls teeth after the Bully sticks look much better . The spray would be easy.


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## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

February is Veterinary Dental Health Month.... so your vet might have some special deals.... and as posted above.... anesthesia like sevoflourane(?) is generally quite safe. If the teeth are horrible, you likely need to start a round of antirobe or other antibiotic first.
I would definitely talk with your vet.

I also 2nd, 3rd and 4th the raw knuckle bones! Super effective at maintaining dental health.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Along with keeping the teeth clean with fresh raw bones, probiotics for the gut help. Many times bad breath comes from the inside. I would begin a probi' regiment and give raw bones often. 
Dental procedures are very costly....bones and probiotic/digestive enzymes can eliminate them.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Daisy&Lucky's Mom said:


> There is a spray for plaque calledPlaque Blast . The girls teeth were so yellow but I havent used it yet as I dont know them Bully Sticks have really made a difference. My older dogs have a hard time w/ antleres but Daisy would chew some on them. I have to say bot girls teeth after the Bully sticks look much better . The spray would be easy.


I tried this spray on my golden, 3 months later he was getting a cleaning at the vet, it didn't work on him


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

llombardo said:


> I tried this spray on my golden, 3 months later he was getting a cleaning at the vet, it didn't work on him


Good to know.


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I am reluctant to try the spray because I don't know how safe the ingredients really are. The dental cleaning procedure may be relatively safe, but not when you have a 9 year old dog with a history of seizures and other medical problems. The stress from it could easily cause him to have a seizure. I will look for some knuckle bones or antlers and see if he will try them. He isn't much of a chewer anymore.


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## JackandMattie (Feb 4, 2013)

I adopted an 8-yr old female and her breath would knock you out from across the room. Her teeth weren't just yellow, they we're black in places from tartar buildup. After we switched from kibble to a raw diet, that all changed. You can still tell they are senior teeth, but there's been a marked improvement in they way they look. And I can stand for her to sit on the floor next to me on the couch now!

He may not really be into rawhide or toys, but I doubt he will pass up the opportunity to work his way through some raw meaty bones


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

One of those sprays has fluoride in it. Watch ingredients!


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## Bosco6 (Mar 29, 2013)

If your shepherd has bad teeth, the mouth is probably pain whether your dog shows signs or not.Bones and antlers can cause fractures in teeth, I would stay clear from them, though if the knuckle bone is uncooked it help with plaque build up very well though you run the risk of salmonella.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Bosco6, dogs can handle salmonella, they have enzymes in their saliva that breaks down bacteria. They eat worse things than fresh knucklebones with no problem!


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## RiverDan (Mar 22, 2013)

Can anyone recommend a good raw bone for my puppy? He's three months old. I want to keep his teeth nice. Thanks.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

go to a butcher or meat processer and get fresh beef knucklebones(not marrow bone) Some grocery's still cut meat and will carry them(they may sell them as soup bones) Never give smoked or dried bones as they splinter and the smoking process is essentially cooking them, also some dogs get digestive upset from that smoked flavor.


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## RiverDan (Mar 22, 2013)

onyx'girl said:


> go to a butcher or meat processer and get fresh beef knucklebones(not marrow bone) Some grocery's still cut meat and will carry them(they may sell them as soup bones) Never give smoked or dried bones as they splinter and the smoking process is essentially cooking them, also some dogs get digestive upset from that smoked flavor.


Thank you. Will go with the butcher.


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## vickip9 (Mar 28, 2012)

vicky2200 said:


> Dakota has the worst teeth I have ever seen. His breath is terrible. Taking him in for a dental is out of the question since he is 9 years old and has medical problems and a surgery may be too much for him. They are past the point where brushing will help and quite frankly, I cant brush his teeth because they are so disgusting and he drools. I do not give my dogs raw hide. However, when I used to Dakota was not good at breaking off small pieces. He would try to swallow big pieces. I know some people recommend other things for chewing, does anybody have any suggestions? Any toys with cleaning ability will not be beneficial since he doesn't like to play.



I bought something called ProDen PlaqueOff about 2-3 months ago and whoa! what a difference.. Seriously. My boy is 5 and he didn't have the best life before I adopted him, so he had some serious plaque buildup.. But after only a couple of months, the PlaqueOff has cleaned his teeth right up! I also use Zuke's Z-Bones as well, and the combination of the two has had amazing results!! I highly, HIGHLY recommend PlaqueOff and Z-Bones!


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## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

I use dental tools for animals on my dogs and give them a basic scaling or scraping about one time per month. The scalers/scrapers are available in pet supply catalogs. None of my dogs has ever gone to the vet for a teeth cleaning.


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