Truth on Tooth - Reality of Plaque and Tartar
Have you noticed your friends and family laughing jovially when greeted by your dog? Is it kind of an uncomfortable and awkward laugh? Perhaps you can imagine they are saying in their head, “P-ew! That is some damn awful breath”. You know it's true! It is embarrassing to have a dog with rank breath, but it is actually the sign of a real problem as well. Bad breath in pets stem from one of two places - the stomach or the mouth.
Check your pet’s gums for plaque and tartar. It will appear as a dark yellow build-up on the teeth just below the gums. If there isn’t a significant build-up then likely the bad breath originates from the gut. You will need to transition to a new food to solve the problem the healthy way. If you want to mask the problem temporarily, try pet treats that have charcoal in them. The charcoal has certain absorption properties that will help with neutralizing bad breath.
If there is significant tartar and plaque build-up, then the dog’s diet may still be the cause of the problem. There are some other solutions to try first. You could go to the vet for a very expensive teeth cleaning. I would tend to favor more reasonably-priced options. In my experience, treats manufactured to address plaque and tartar are totally bogus to that claim. There is also the claim that kibble reduces plaque and tartar. After many years of working in the pet health industry I have noticed zero correlation between kibble or tartar fighting treats and the reduction of development of plaque and tartar. I find it one of the most spurious marketing initiatives in the industry as both manufacturers of high-quality pet products and low-quality products participate in the swindle.
I do know of some products that actually work for reducing plaque and tartar, or simply clearing it up all together. Sobek, my Finnish Lapphund dog, is four years old now and has no significant or noticeable plaque and tartar build-up. He does not eat kibble and he does not receive commercial gimmicky treats that are marketed to address oral hygiene. However, he does receive one frozen marrow bone each week and a deer antler each month. The grinding action on these healthy treats is likely responsible for his great oral hygiene. "Tartar busters" are cow knee caps and operate in much the same way as the marrow bones and antlers. As the dog works away at these treats, they are grinding the ridges against their gums and working off plaque and tartar build-up.
There are some supplements that are also very effective. The company, Wysong, makes "Denta-Treat" and it is a blend of enzymatic cheeses. This supplement is put on the pet’s meal and is extremely effective in controlling plaque and tartar. Also, it doubles as an appetite stimulant. This is why I suggest only putting Denta-Treat on every other meal or every third meal. You do not want the dog’s palette to develop a dependency on this supplement. It is worth noting that your dog may not do well internally with that much cheese in their diet, so Denta-treat may not be the solution for you.
There is another supplement with an interesting story attached. A Swedish dentist was in the northern part of Sweden when he happened upon a town whose citizens did not have plaque or tartar issues. It turned out that a type of seaweed used in their local cuisine was responsible for the oral hygiene effects. The seaweed extract has been used in a product called ProDen PlaqueOff. It is not as palatable as Denta-Treat, but, it is effective.
You also have the option of using a toothbrush and there are lots of natural healthy toothpastes made for pets. I have heard mixed things about oral sprays. Some believe it simply uses alcohol to address the oral hygiene problem. Other individuals (like an old pet retail owner I once worked for) have proven that certain human grade oral sprays for pets can even reduce their own plaque and tartar effectively. Sometimes the issue with oral sprays is that the price over a year or two comes close to the cost of a professional cleaning at the vet.
You may think that well-known treats address plaque and tartar because their labels say so. You may believe that certain “Oral formulas” from the vet address oral hygiene effectively. Even if we thought that they did (which I do not), the ingredient lists on these products are of such a low quality that you are trading one health issue for another, in effect.
Here is some food for thought, as it were. If big kibble size relates to reducing plaque and tartar, then why are the multinational conglomerate gimmicky formulas the only ones that make pet food in this way? They do not have exclusive rights to any particular kibble shape or size and they do not have exclusive rights to being the only food manufacturer to promote the idea of big kibble being good for oral hygiene… yet they are the only companies that do so. The scariest part of the equation is that their formulas do in fact work in the capacity of reducing plaque and tartar! Clearly it isn’t the kibble size, otherwise many other companies would follow suit. So what is it? Why won’t they be candid and honest how their formulas actually reduce plaque and tartar build-up?
I have no political agenda with my book, Fur-Brained Theory. My book is about optimizing health for pets and it is based on years of experience in the pet health industry. I could name names of companies that have shown they are underhanded in how they do business and who have proven that they do not have the interests of the pet’s health in mind. That is not what my book is about. There are many books out there, written by reputable veterinarians that address these issues. The book you are reading right now is titled, “Fur Brained Theory” and it is about my personal conclusions regarding what works to optimize the physical and mental health of your pet - it is not an "expert" opinion as much as it is an "informed" opinion.
The information in Fur-Brained Theory is not a substitute for the advice and recommendations of a holistic veterinarian. That being said, I have discussed nutrition with dozens of traditional vets and have discovered that my own knowledge and experience far exceeds theirs across all areas of healthy pet products. Be very careful about what products you rely on for your pet’s diet and where you are getting information about these products. Millions of dollars are wasted each year by pet owners who are not properly informed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on hiring shills to plug poor products online. Thousands of pets are not as happy and healthy as they could be and should be. The relationships between pets and owners suffer needlessly.
Check your pet’s gums for plaque and tartar. It will appear as a dark yellow build-up on the teeth just below the gums. If there isn’t a significant build-up then likely the bad breath originates from the gut. You will need to transition to a new food to solve the problem the healthy way. If you want to mask the problem temporarily, try pet treats that have charcoal in them. The charcoal has certain absorption properties that will help with neutralizing bad breath.
If there is significant tartar and plaque build-up, then the dog’s diet may still be the cause of the problem. There are some other solutions to try first. You could go to the vet for a very expensive teeth cleaning. I would tend to favor more reasonably-priced options. In my experience, treats manufactured to address plaque and tartar are totally bogus to that claim. There is also the claim that kibble reduces plaque and tartar. After many years of working in the pet health industry I have noticed zero correlation between kibble or tartar fighting treats and the reduction of development of plaque and tartar. I find it one of the most spurious marketing initiatives in the industry as both manufacturers of high-quality pet products and low-quality products participate in the swindle.
I do know of some products that actually work for reducing plaque and tartar, or simply clearing it up all together. Sobek, my Finnish Lapphund dog, is four years old now and has no significant or noticeable plaque and tartar build-up. He does not eat kibble and he does not receive commercial gimmicky treats that are marketed to address oral hygiene. However, he does receive one frozen marrow bone each week and a deer antler each month. The grinding action on these healthy treats is likely responsible for his great oral hygiene. "Tartar busters" are cow knee caps and operate in much the same way as the marrow bones and antlers. As the dog works away at these treats, they are grinding the ridges against their gums and working off plaque and tartar build-up.
There are some supplements that are also very effective. The company, Wysong, makes "Denta-Treat" and it is a blend of enzymatic cheeses. This supplement is put on the pet’s meal and is extremely effective in controlling plaque and tartar. Also, it doubles as an appetite stimulant. This is why I suggest only putting Denta-Treat on every other meal or every third meal. You do not want the dog’s palette to develop a dependency on this supplement. It is worth noting that your dog may not do well internally with that much cheese in their diet, so Denta-treat may not be the solution for you.
There is another supplement with an interesting story attached. A Swedish dentist was in the northern part of Sweden when he happened upon a town whose citizens did not have plaque or tartar issues. It turned out that a type of seaweed used in their local cuisine was responsible for the oral hygiene effects. The seaweed extract has been used in a product called ProDen PlaqueOff. It is not as palatable as Denta-Treat, but, it is effective.
You also have the option of using a toothbrush and there are lots of natural healthy toothpastes made for pets. I have heard mixed things about oral sprays. Some believe it simply uses alcohol to address the oral hygiene problem. Other individuals (like an old pet retail owner I once worked for) have proven that certain human grade oral sprays for pets can even reduce their own plaque and tartar effectively. Sometimes the issue with oral sprays is that the price over a year or two comes close to the cost of a professional cleaning at the vet.
You may think that well-known treats address plaque and tartar because their labels say so. You may believe that certain “Oral formulas” from the vet address oral hygiene effectively. Even if we thought that they did (which I do not), the ingredient lists on these products are of such a low quality that you are trading one health issue for another, in effect.
Here is some food for thought, as it were. If big kibble size relates to reducing plaque and tartar, then why are the multinational conglomerate gimmicky formulas the only ones that make pet food in this way? They do not have exclusive rights to any particular kibble shape or size and they do not have exclusive rights to being the only food manufacturer to promote the idea of big kibble being good for oral hygiene… yet they are the only companies that do so. The scariest part of the equation is that their formulas do in fact work in the capacity of reducing plaque and tartar! Clearly it isn’t the kibble size, otherwise many other companies would follow suit. So what is it? Why won’t they be candid and honest how their formulas actually reduce plaque and tartar build-up?
I have no political agenda with my book, Fur-Brained Theory. My book is about optimizing health for pets and it is based on years of experience in the pet health industry. I could name names of companies that have shown they are underhanded in how they do business and who have proven that they do not have the interests of the pet’s health in mind. That is not what my book is about. There are many books out there, written by reputable veterinarians that address these issues. The book you are reading right now is titled, “Fur Brained Theory” and it is about my personal conclusions regarding what works to optimize the physical and mental health of your pet - it is not an "expert" opinion as much as it is an "informed" opinion.
The information in Fur-Brained Theory is not a substitute for the advice and recommendations of a holistic veterinarian. That being said, I have discussed nutrition with dozens of traditional vets and have discovered that my own knowledge and experience far exceeds theirs across all areas of healthy pet products. Be very careful about what products you rely on for your pet’s diet and where you are getting information about these products. Millions of dollars are wasted each year by pet owners who are not properly informed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on hiring shills to plug poor products online. Thousands of pets are not as happy and healthy as they could be and should be. The relationships between pets and owners suffer needlessly.
Sobek the Finnish Lapphund - Sleeping Puppy
