Forums Home » Food & Nutrition

Wet food and dental health

Please keep discussions fun, friendly, and helpful at all times. Non-informative posts criticizing a particular brand or another poster’s choice of food are not allowed in this Forum. References to any brand of food as "junk," "garbage," or other harsh names will be removed.

Augusta, CGC Such a good dog!     Barked: Sat Mar 12, '11 10:13pm PST  I've always heard a diet of primarily wet food increases dental decay--dental problems . . . Is there any truth to that? Should I be extra vigilant about brushing teeth if my dog gets wet food mixed with dry or any sort of wet food? [notify]

Boston King of- everything     Barked: Sun Mar 13, '11 7:28am PST  Whether you feed kibble or wet you should brush at least once every other day. Both types of food will provide u with tartar build up. The only food that wont and will clean teeth is raw. I feed canned and kibble and I brush every day with tropiclean oral gel and my cats and dogs have pearly white teeth. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Augusta, CGC Such a good dog!     Barked: Sun Mar 13, '11 8:00am PST  Wow, your cats let you brush their teeth too?!! [notify]

Boston King of- everything     Barked: Sun Mar 13, '11 10:58am PST  O ya they are all good but snowflake I do it but quickly and she is fed raw as well and that has helped alot! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Leah, CGC All the Beauty- with none of the- Brains     Barked: Sun Mar 13, '11 2:09pm PST  Wet food and dry food both can get trap between the lips and gum line, where they sit holding bacteria close to gums. Ideally twice daily brushing should happen. Or at least any brushing more than 1-2x weekly (if you wait longer between brushing the tartar is too stuck on to be removed by brushing alone. If brushing is hard you can try running a gauze pad along the gum line after they eat to clear out any food that is stuck in the mouth. What some people have luck with is allowing their dogs to do the "brushing" for them. Giving rawhide, bully stick, rope, RMB, nylabones, Nutridents, greenies, or other chewing toys. There are also some fruits and vegetables that if left in large chunks will help to clear some of the food residue away too - apples with peel, pears, celery, carrot (try giving a whole large one to gnaw on), broccoli and cauliflower (a whole stalk) or cucumber (keep peel on). my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Baby (Heaven- Bound- 9-26-06) Eyes broke - nose is not!     Barked: Sun Mar 13, '11 2:26pm PST  Baby would eat cow poo. Took her to the vet and he went to check her teeth and had green fingers... eeeewwwww.... I had to brush her teeth ever day to keep the green stains off!! She loved having her teeth brushed with chicken flavored toothpaste..... my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Hershey Bear Silly old bear     Barked: Mon Mar 14, '11 6:34pm PST  No truth to it at all. I've seen many dogs who eat only dry food and never any wet, and they have awful teeth. Only guarantee for good teeth is brushing. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Taboo Crew- Max, Bindi,- Lily & Be the moose     Barked: Mon Mar 14, '11 10:46pm PST  Wet food vs Dry food makes no difference. Neither clean teeth, so both can cause decay, none more worse than the other. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Scooter Work hard; Play- harder.     Barked: Tue Mar 15, '11 1:19am PST  Leah hit the nail on the head with the twice daily brushing. Scooter recently had an appointment with a vet whose PHD dissertation was Evaluation of Periodontal Disease with Full-Mouth Radiography in Dogs that evaluated 8,308 existing teeth of 233 small breed dogs referred to his clinic for dental treatment between November 2008 and June 2010. It's very enlightening. He's REALLY big on brushing twice a day and on using the gauze method if you don't have time to do it immediately after meals. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

♥- Princess- ♥ One-eyed Wonder- Dog     Barked: Tue Mar 15, '11 5:59am PST  Well, because of severe health issues, I can only eat "wet food" (home cooking) and have all my life. I DO NOT let Momma brush my teeth so she knows there has to be substitutes to do the job. She gives me treats that "clean" my teeth (raw meat, chewy treats) and I have good oral health, according to my vet. Just as an aside, my Daddy is an oral surgeon and the key to removing tartar from teeth is not crunchy kibble that will become a paste and stick to teeth once it is wetted down with saliva. The key is to have chew things that require the dog to chew, chew, chew and RUB on the teeth.....like a big hunk of raw. The rubbing is key! my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

(Page 1 of 4: Viewing entries 1 to 10)   Page Links: 1  2  3  4