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Posted by Alyssa on June 22, 2009, 9:07 pm, in reply to "Re: teeth tarter build-up"
72.208.133.61
Ditto what Elizabeth says. Kibble, by its very composition (grains and/or starchy potatoes/peas), becomes gluey when mixed with saliva. It sticks to teeth as well as getting ground in between the gums/teeth -- and that's when it is actually chewed. As we all know, most dogs don't chew their kibble very much at all anyway, so there's even less scraping/massaging of the gums going on, so whatever sticks there is going to pretty much stay stuck. By contrast, having to chew raw meals (big pieces of chewy meat and significantly sized portions of meaty bones) on a daily basis gives gums a good massaging -- increasing the blood flow and "flossing" to dislodge colonies of bacteria - and the raw bones scrape off any starts of plaque or tartar before it can really get established. The chemistry of dog saliva is also such that its enzymes work very well on raw meats, but not so well on grains.
My dogs (9, 7.5, and 3.5 yrs. old) do have some buildup on their teeth -- the canines, mostly, and a few random icky spots here and there on the old boys. Ollie, in fact, is slated for a full dental cleaning (and lipoma removal) in July, but that will be his first and probably last cleaning for his lifetime. Lilly's, on the other hand, are pretty much spotless.
I've used Petz Life gel on my dogs and cats and it does work. I just got lazy about doing it with the cats since they absolutely hated it.
http://www.petzlife.com/
Apparently it's now available through Petsmart.
-- Alyssa.
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