Tooth Brushing in Largish Dogs: Experiences?

[sandgrubber]

I have never brushed my dogs' teeth and never had a vet recommend that they needed cleaning. I've mostly had Labs though now I have a couple Springers.

 

I'm an oldie, and have lost count of the dogs I have owned.  More than 20.  

 

I recently got flamed in a discussion for stating that I have never brushed and my dogs teeth have always been fine.

 

Just curious, are there others who don't brush, and haven't seen a need to?

[Mairead]

I never brushed my medium sized dogs' teeth. I fed beef marrow bone pieces, the fresh piece given straight after a meal and removed when the soft ends were gone, the shafts being the harder section. 

This cleaned most of the teeth except the canines. These I cleaned (chipped the tartar away) with the side of the spoon end of a stainless steel teaspoon. You can probably buy a specialised tool that may do a more precise job. 

My dogs didn't have any dental problems until their teens, with the occasional broken or dead tooth needing to be removed. 

Edited 22 hours ago by Mairead
Clarity

[Rebanne]

No I have never brushed my dogs teeth in over 40 years of owning German Shepherds and Greyhounds. Never needed too. But I now have my second Greyhound who suffers from periodontal disease and no amount of brushing would help. I also had a cat who developed periodontal disease. Cure for 2 of the 3 was to remove all teeth. Ranger has few teeth left but if he goes under again I will request all teeth go. I tried everything with my first Greyhound and nothing worked

 

[_PL_]

It's a fairly modern thing I think.

You can now by toothpaste and specific brushes and additives to put in their water (which I absolutely do not trust).

 

I've found that mostly you need to train them from a puppy to let them put things in their mouths and poke around.

 

It's not a fail or flame worthy to not manually brush their teeth! Bones and natural chew treats were always good enough until this trend of retail add-on sales and people being told to be scared of cracked teeth or salmonella poisoning from natural products.