Hiya. My 6 and a half year old Malinois has some tartar buildup and is due for a professional clean.

We’ve never had it done before, and I had a question. Will the cleaning take care of her “dog breath”?

I’m not particularly offended by it, I just want to make sure it’s not a sign of a larger heath issue.

I’ll go over all of this with the vet, but I thought I’d chime in here first.

It usually does for our dogs...at least, most of it. Until one of them eats a turd.

Do you give your dog rawhide treats? They instantly take care of my dogs breath when I give them one every time. I usually give them ~1 every day or two.

Carrots are also great for their teeth.

I think it depends where the stank is coming from. We have a Boston Terrier who constantly smells like she ate a dead carp. After doing some research it appears that not only does this unholy stink come from deep within but it is fairly common to the breed. We feed her plain yogurt and the culture helps quite a bit

It’s tough giving her rawhide, teeth cleaners, as anything she eats other than her food gives her the runs.

Have you tried Greenies for Dogs. I give our two one of these once or twice a week. Generally, their breath stays tolerable and they haven't needed the deep cleaning. Gums and teeth look great.

It will help temporarily. Afterward, you should consider getting a dog toothbrush and dog toothpaste to help keep her mouth clean. Maybe 2-3 times a week for about a minute. It's easy.

You can also get dental chews at a reasonable price at Costco. After a meal, it helps clean their teeth and their breath, but the toothbrush route is cheaper.



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I confess. I've had a few dogs over the years and it never ever occurred to me to brush their teeth until we got an Australian Shepherd and my wife decided to try. We tried the chews and they help but long-term the word now is to occasionally brush their teeth to assist in fighting the tartar buildup. We use a flavored pet toothpaste that the dog loves.

Here's the kind of veterinarian toothpaste we use-

Virbac Animal Health C.E.T. Enzymatic Toothpaste Dentifrice Enzymatique, vanilla-mint favor.
The Aussie loves the flavor and it does help her breath...

Get one of those giant cow femur bones, Will keep dog occupied and happy for hours and afterward teeth will be sparkling white and breath will be what a dogs breath should smell like

The odor is caused by 2 things: bacteria trapped in a sugar "matrix" (no, not that Neo crap) on the teeth, and the fact that your dog eats (FITB).

When we clean teeth, we sedate and use a cavitron along with hand scaling to get the calculus and plaque off the teeth, evaluate which teeth are loose/too loose and which have slab fractures, holes, erosive conditions, or any other issues. We make recommendations to you (generally ahead of time we get our rules of engagement; how to proceed if we see x, y, or z when we're in there), repair or remove damaged teeth if needed, polish the teeth to remove microscopic barnacles that aid in new calculus formation on the teeth, and recover your pet.

If there is heavy subgingival infection, I usually send home an antibiotic, and we try to get them on something to help with slowing the onset of gum disease (since 90% of clients can't or won't brush their pet's teeth).

The odor will be virtually eliminated until the calculus comes back, which is variable according to the size of the pet and the care given after the cleaning. Almost all pets need yearly dental cleaning after the age of 7. Rarely do they get it, due to a variety of financial and personal reasons.

Be careful of places that sedate your dog to clean their teeth. Maligators can be tricky to sedate.

We've used this with pretty good results:

Oxyfresh

My lab is going in for an extraction of a major tooth and cleaning. I sent Slabsides an email. I just want my girl happy and healthy.

This stuff worries me sick. How did everything go if you happen to see this?

quote:

Maybe 2-3 times a week for about a minute. It's easy.

Clearly, you’ve never owned beagles
Trying to brush teeth or cut nails gets a reaction skin to what you’d expect from holding hot coals against their skin.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

Clearly, you’ve never owned beagles
Trying to brush teeth or cut nails gets a reaction skin to what you’d expect from holding hot coals against their skin.

hahahaha



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I give my Lab a dental stix every day. Not cheap but a whole lot cheaper than a cleaning under anesthesia.

I sent you an email back Oz, lemme know if you don’t get it soon.

Along with the rawhides, my dogs both get their teeth cleaned on a yearly basis. This has included teeth being pulled. No issues. I do feel uneasy every time they go under anesthesia but I don't imagine anyone doesn't.

When I was a kid , we never worried about our dogs teeth like today. They could eat anything and not get the runs. Different times, and not to mention the cost to sedate and clean. I have 2 Miniature Australian Shepard’s, and it costs me a fortune.....