Teeth Brushing

[Guest thebiz34]

I was in the pet store about to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste to brush Choles teeth. Then another greyhound owner came over and picked up the "mouthwash" to add to the dogs water. Says that's all he uses for his grey. Question is which is better to use. If I used the mouthwash would it be necessary to brush her teeth.

[Wonder]

Brushing teeth is the best thing to do. Some greys have good teeth and some don't.

I brush twice a day, use plaqueoff and give meaty bones and Lucky's teeth are horrible.

[Guest ShanYu]

I brush every day. Nike LOVES the peanut butter flavour toothpaste. He always gets a dried chicken foot afterwards so he looks forward to teeth brushing time - and reminds me if I forget.

[ramonaghan]

I don't think there's anything that can totally replace brushing, but I do use a water additive because Sweep acts like I am torturing her every time I attempt brushing. It has really helped with her breath if nothing else. She also gets bones, beef tracheas, bully sticks, and lamb ears regularly, which my vet recommends and uses for her own greys.

[krissy]

The best thing you can do for your dog's teeth is to brush them daily. Most greyhounds are pretty laid back when it comes to handling so we're pretty lucky that way. If your dog absolutely will not allow you to brush the teeth then try HealthyMouth. It's a water additive that is clinically proven to reduce tartar and plaque. As far as I know it is the only water additive with clinical trials. It's only available from your veterinarian.

 

Also kind of neat, Dr. Jean Dodds did most of the clinical research on this product and she is involved in HemoPet.

[Guest Doggone]

Autumn is generally very cooperative ...........except.........no toothbrush!!! I've been adding stuff to her drinking water and giving her chew bones (knuckle, etc.). I may eventually try the chicken feet (presuming Miss Picky will even eat them ) but I'm waiting until it gets cooler so that she can have them outdoors (blech!). Otherwise, she'd drag them onto one of my area rugs to eat .

Her teeth look okay; no worse than when I got her in March, and maybe marginally nicer.

[Guest Addie]

We use petz life tooth gel and the vetz life spray. London only had a dental when he was neutered 7 years ago and a little tartar scraped off from my friend whos a vet tech and his teeth are very good (except for the front ones that are messed up from his over bite) but Logan's are not good and his were cleaned last February. Its weird how some grey's teeth are good and some are so bad

[Guest thebiz34]

Thanks for the responses. Chloe is still very shy and she is afraid of everything... i think she will open up more when she has lived with us for longer than 5 days. I think im going to start with the water additive and then hopefully she will let me touch her teeth. I was also told i can use a solution of half peroxide and half water with soaked cotton balls and use those to rub on her teeth. Anyone else do that

[Guest Rhea]

I tried to brush Dane's teeth last night (with a finger brush), and he flinched away from me as soon as my fingers touched his teeth. I didn't really get to clean them. Not sure if I should persist, or try a different brush/toothpaste combo at this point or what s:

 

It's probably been close to half a year since his last dental cleaning, since he was with the adoption group for 5 months or so. His teeth don't look like they're in the best of condition tbh.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Rhea

[greyhoundlady]

Petzlife gel here. I put it on my finger and rub it on their teeth. I first use a damp gauze pad wrapped on my finger and run it over their teeth, then put the gel in their mouth.

 

I agree with the others that brushing is best - but neither of mine cooperate with brushing and the 4 seconds I can get a toothbrush in their mouths accomplishes very little. They tolerate the gauze pad and gel. Luckily for me, the also tolerate my fingers!

 

I also give them a tiny treat before and after the teeth cleaning to help with the cooperation factor.

[Guest AngelPup]

At first Brady loved me to brush his teeth--mainly because he liked the chicken flavored toothpaste. I tried another flavored toothpaste and he would have nothing to do with it, so I went back to the chicken flavored. The novelty has now worn off, but he still tolerates it. He does seem to prefer the rubber finger brush as opposed to the toothbrush. I brush his teeth on most nights and then give him a Milkbone for a treat afterward.

 

I would start off slow. Find a flavor that he likes and just put a dab on your finger and let him lick it off the first few days. Then progress to a tooth brush and just brush the front teeth very briefly for a few days and over time extend to all the teeth (Brady's vet said it's only necessary to brush on the outside of the mouth as the tongue helps to clean the inside). Treat him/her with a biscuit afterward and praise, praise, praise.

[NeedlenoseJake]

We've only had our dog for a few weeks. The first time we tried to brush his teeth it was a failure and miserable for all of us. Over the past couple of weeks he's progressed from it taking both of us to hold him to just get a quick swipe to tolerating a full brushing. He still doesn't like it, but he doesn't run away and always looks for the treat at the end.

 

I didn't know you just had to brush the outside- that's good to know because I was wondering how we were going to progress to the inside of his teeth!