cleaning gnashers

[ips]

my cocker used to like the hide chews but now isn't interested. She has a denty stick but just devours them consequently she has plaque build up on her gnashers.

any advice as to how to deal with this, is it a vet job for a dental hygiene visit or some other cunning plan. ???

 

[Nicko]

Depends how bad the build up of plaque is and how tolerant your dog is.  For light plaque removal and a natural approach you can give her a big RAW bone.   It's surprising how much plaque comes off after an hour munching on it. 

For a more regular little and often approach tripe sticks are excellent.  They really stink but become very fibrous when chewed and act just like a toothbrush.  Way better than any denta stick and better for them. 

For really stubborn plaque we use a tooth descaler.   It's double ended with a sort of hook on one end and a scraper on the other.  It's just a case of exposing the effected area and scraping the plaque from the teeth.  Some of it comes away surprisingly easily and comes away in flakes.  You do need a very tolerant and well behaved dog though. 

If non of that works it's a vets job.  Descaling is more often than not done under GA and starts about £100 and goes up from there.  If any extractions are needed they can be up to £25 a tooth. 

 

[ips]

thanks nicko we tried her with lamb rib but she devoured them that quick it was useless. Might try the manual approach you mention as she is generally tolerant of general grooming. I have heard of a product called placque off which you put in food, cant see how that works though. ??

 

[Nicko]

 I have heard of a product called placque off which you put in food, cant see how that works though. ??

Some customers have said it worked and others didn't.  It works by altering the dogs saliva and making the plaque unable to stick to the teeth.  For dogs that already have plaque it's meant to make it porous and it falls off.  

Although it's meant to be made of seaweed I am always sceptical of anything like that, especially as I feed my dogs a raw diet and they don't get anything processed or commercial dog food. 

 

[ips]

well the tripe sticks have improved things but nicko was correct, boy do they stink terrible