# Bones wearing down the teeth?



## CookieTN (Sep 14, 2008)

I love the raw diet and it's benefitting my dogs greatly, but someone on another website voiced a concern that bones would wear down the dog's teeth over time. At first I was like







, but after some more thought, Treader's teeth *do* seem much sharper than they used to be.
Most of Treader's bone content comes from chicken bones, but he gets some pork bones, too. And sometimes he gets bones from an ox tail, the smaller sections. I don't feed him weight-bearing bones from larger animals, or the larger bones from pork.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Winnie and Tazer are both 10-11 and their teeth are fine. They have been raw fed for almost their whole lives.


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## sleachy (Aug 10, 2001)

My girl has been eating raw her entire life and yes, her teeth are all worn down. I don't think her regular raw diet did it. I think it was the large recreational bones she gets. She is not a dainty chewer by any means and sometimes I put her outside with the bone because the way she chews them gives me the willies! I am just waiting for her to break a tooth.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

I had ti quit giving Sashi the raw bones, big ones with the marrow in them? its a good thing the vet always checked his teeth, she told me he was an aggressive chewer and he had really worn one tooth down!!!! You wont want them to get to the point here they need a root canal or get a bad achey tooth! Hope this helps, this was my experience.....


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Chama broke one of her molars on a raw marrow bone. Very expensive bone.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

There is a BIG difference between a "raw diet" and "raw bones".

Most people are talking about the big knuckle or leg bones when they say they give their dogs raw bones for chewing.

Those CAN be damaging to their teeth.

Most raw MEATY bones (part of the diet) are easily chewed and cause no real danger to the teeth.


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## FourIsCompany (Jan 29, 2008)

One of my dogs teeth are worn down but it's from the frisbee, not raw.


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## CookieTN (Sep 14, 2008)

Well my dogs don't get any large marrow bones. Well, okay, once in a great while Cookie gets one. She had a pork picnic RMB the other day.

Treader's a little guy, so I never let him get huge bones from huge animals. I used to let him gnaw on beef ribs, until I noticed one of his smaller teeth missing. Though, there was no blood and no noticeable hole where the tooth had been, so it may have been like that for months. For all I know, that tooth could have been missing since before I got him. Still, I didn't want to take a gamble.
Cookie can handle beef ribs, and she's (obviously) a large dog, so I give them to her.


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