Neem Bark

[dante2zoe]

I have read about the beneficial properties of neem bark. My 8.5 YO grey has decent teeth, but not so good gums. I brush or use PetGel but the gums could still be better. I wanted to try the neem bark and when I search for it, all kinds of stuff comes up. It varies so much that I cannot tell what is good and what is not. Any suggestions? TIA

[ahicks51]

I was thinking maybe you'd take a shortcut and use neem oil toothpaste, but I don't see any specifically for pets.

 

But they DO make a tea tree oil toothpaste for pets.

 

http://www.sitstay.com/dog/supplies/servle...z._13280_22701_

[shel0306]

here is the site I was told about http://67.99.205.169/Merchant2/merchant.mv...egory_Code=TGH4 Have not ordered any yet but I was told you need to buy the oil and the powder and mix them to form a paste and then apply that to the teeth and gums. I emailed them and they said they have the oil and powder although I only saw the oil online so you may have to call to order both.

[Guest VanillaBean]

This is where I got mine:

 

Neem Tree Farms

601 Southwood Cove

Brandon FL 33511

Linky

 

 

Quick shipping too. Only been using a week, so don't know how well it works yet.

[dante2zoe]

Thanks for the suggestions. Vanilla Bean, are you using the powder and oil or just the powder. If the claims come close to what they allege, I think that this would really work for my boy.

[Guest VanillaBean]

Thanks for the suggestions. Vanilla Bean, are you using the powder and oil or just the powder. If the claims come close to what they allege, I think that this would really work for my boy.

 

 

Just the powders, as I hadn't heard about using the oil. For my guy with REALLY bad teeth, I take a QTip, moisten the tips, dip it in the powder and rub on his teeth and gums. He really HATES his toothbrush, so figured I would try a less painful way.

They may have the oil as well, Didn't think to look!

 

[Guest longdogs]

Not sure about this. I don't know about the use of neem bark but I assume it will also contain neem oil. Neem oil is quite toxic although safe enough in small quantities in shampoos etc for external application and more toxic to insects than warm-blooded creatures. Even so, I would think twice about putting it in my dog's mouth. It also tastes and smells foul even to human, heaven knows what it would be like for a dog. Neem oil is my standard garden insecticide and insect repellent so I use it regularly. I've come to really dislike the way the scent hangs around on my clothes and hands and it's no surprise it is a good fly repellent. Personally, I would choose something else in a toothpaste. What is its supposed benefit anyway?

[Guest VanillaBean]

Here is what I found HERE:

 

NEEM AND PERIODONTAL DISEASE

 

One of the first things we notice about people is their teeth. Are they all there? Are they straight? Are they white? Teeth tell us a lot about the person and affect how we respond to them, especially on a first impression. I'm reminded of the commercial where a nice looking man and woman are glancing at each other at a party and starting to flirt. Then, the man smiles a friendly smile and shows a set of yellow teeth.

 

The woman immediately stops flirting and looks away. The possibilities end there. The commercial is perhaps a bit extreme, but similar occurances are not uncommon when it comes to teeth and the reactions they evoke.

 

Scientists investigating neem extracts have found that they have much to recommend for dental hygiene. The microorganisms found in inflamed gums are resistant to penicillin and tetracycline but are not resistant to antibacterial plant extracts like neem. Unlike antibiotics, antibacterial plant extracts produced no allergy in the gingiva that could inhibit their effectiveness.

 

In a clinical study, 50 patients with confirmed gingivitis were selected, 40 showed severe bleeding and pustular discharges from the gums. After just three weeks of brushing twice a day with paste including neem leaf extracts, eight out of ten patients showed significant improvement. The patients also showed a reduction in bacterial populations and elimination of halitosis (bad breath) with no side effects.

 

Pyorrhea is an advanced gum disease characterized by an inflammation of the gums and membranes covering the roots of the teeth. More teeth are lost by people over age 35 because of this disease than any other cause. Using a neem-based toothpaste and mouthwash healed bleeding gums, stopped the secretion from pockets around the teeth and returned blue-tinted gums to a healthy pale pink color.

 

As a personal testimonial, my father was scheduled to undergo a long and painful process of visiting a periodontist to correct bleeding gums. He was to have his gums cut between the teeth, and then have each tooth scraped to remove accumulated plaque and bacteria. I gave him some neem bark powder and told him to dip his toothbrush into the powder each time he brushed his teeth.

 

He agreed to try it for a month before the recommended surgery. Within a week, he noticed his gums felt better and had stopped bleeding, and his teeth seemed more firmly set in the gums. By the end of the month, his dentist was examining his teeth to have a last look before the surgery, but the dentist no longer felt surgery was necessary. He asked my father what he had been doing because his teeth and gums were almost normal. The dentist, when told, said he had never heard of neem, but told my father definitely not to stop because it was working - keeping him from a series of painful scrapings.

 

Since then, I have given the powdered bark or leaf extract to several other friends who faced dental surgery and all have been able to cancel the procedures. They all continue to brush with neem.

 

Seems the oil is the insecticide.

 

Neem Oil: Same source.

 

NEEM FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

 

Neem is quickly becoming the best friend of many of the world's farmers, especially in the more impoverished areas of the tropics. Neem oil is an effective insecticide, miticide, fungicide, nematacide, and an insect antifeedant and repellant. (An insect antiieedant is a substance that discourages insect feeding but does not directly kill the insect.) As an antifeedant, neem oil is so effective that desert locust, a major crop destroyer, will starve to death before eating plants treated with neem oil.

 

Because neem products are used for human consumption and medication, exposure to neem in the process of treating plants with neem oil poses no threat to humans or other higher animals. Moreover, neem is not a contact poison so does little harm to beneficial insects, affecting primarily those insects feeding on plants treated with neem. Since most predator insects do not feed on plants, they are rarely harmed by the presence of neem. Neem biodegrades in a matter of weeks when exposed to sunlight or in soil.

 

Naturally occurring compounds in neem have been shown to be an effective antifeedant and growth regulator for more than 200 species of insect pests and yet are surprisingly nontoxic to birds, mammals and beneficial predators like ladybugs, spiders, bees and wasps.

 

Implementation of environmentally friendly horticultural practices is essential to the preservation of the quality of life on Earth. Ecologically sound practices which rely less upon synthetic chemical pesticides and more upon integrated pest management (IPM) practices including the use of naturally occurring pest controls like neem oil are imperative to maintain soil productivity and reduce ancillary poisoning of people and animals.

 

In third-world countries where the tropical neem tree grows, farmers can make crude insect control directly from neem seeds. Crushed neem seeds soaked in water overnight provide a very effective spray that protects crops from attack by insects. Neem seeds are readily available to the farmer since the tree grows in the yard or is used as a windbreak. Making their own insect control from neem saves the fanner hard-earned money that would normally have been spent on commercial pesticides. It also protects their health because it protects without being toxic. Neem makes the ideal insect control for impoverished farmers worldwide.

 

After taking the highly valuable oil from them the remaining kernels of neem seeds are not wasted. They are used, as they have been for centuries, as a soil amendment. Experience has taught farmers that working the leftover neem kernels into the soil of a garden produces larger, healthier plants that have few problems with insect pests.

 

The neem tree can save millions of people from starvation caused by insects that are growing increasingly resistant to our current arsenal of nerve toxins and biological pesticides. Neem can also prevent countless deaths and physical suffering caused by using chemical pesticides. It can do this for large farming corporations and backyard gardeners in industrialized nations as well as for subsistence farmers who grow a few trees for their own use in rural villages of third-world countries. Providing a safe, inexpensive and very effective insect control for both ends of the agricultural spectrum is a truly remarkable quality of the amazing neem tree.

 

Source: Neem: The Miraculous Healing Herb by John Conrick

[Guest longdogs]

To me the above quote is simply an anecdote and no proof either of efficacy or desirability. It also confirms the oil is what is apparently active in the powdered extracts, not anything special about the bark. Neem oil is useful, as is the Neem tree generally (where it is not an environmental weed, as here) and it is a reasonable insecticide, but there is nothing magical about that. Many other plants produce insecticides. Insecticides are also toxins of one sort or another and Neem has several. Many plant oils have anti-microbial properties and there is nothing in the above to say that eucalyptus oil, or another oil, wouldn't have worked just as well. It's only my opinion but I really wouldn't choose to use something as a toothpaste that is both toxic and tastes bad. What is wrong with real dog toothpaste?