How DOG dental chews work to promote oral hygiene

If you ask most dog owners what they think ‘oral hygiene’ is in a dog, they will probably exclusively think it means that the dog’s breath doesn’t smell.

Now that clearly is a great goal, but good dental dog treats do much more than prevent this unpleasant side effect of a dog’s breath smelling like they have eaten something rotten. It Actually ensures that their teeth are effectively cleaned, naturally, and without you having to stick a toothbrush into their mouths.

This article looks at what it means to give your dog good oral hygiene, because besides good breath, and clean teeth, it can prevent a LOT of pain or even tooth loss.  A dog is programmed not to show weakness, not to display pain, so many dogs can be living with annoying mouth pain for a long time, before an owner realises. But even then, we have several tell-tale signs you should be aware of.

To recap good dog dental hygiene (and the use of natural dental sticks, prevents dental issues like plaque buildup on the teeth, which then forms tartar accumulation, which then can cause gum disease, and of course bad breath (during any of these stages).

Why Oral health of dogs is vital to their overall health

After eating food, dogs will start forming plaque on their teeth if not cleaned soon.  Plague is mainly comprised of bacteria, saliva, and food particles.

One VERY vital point about the components of plaque is that bacteria in your dog’s mouth multiplies and creates plaque when it feeds upon sugar (for instance carbs) or starchy foods like milk,  Or even the starch in bread, pasta and fruit.

I specifically spell these foods out, because as raw feeder, and seller of natural MEAT based dog treats (that contain NO carbs), the bacteria that get to cause plaque can’t multiply when there is no sugar or starch. Kibble and wet commercial food both contain species inappropriate amounts of sugar and starch via the grains and vegetables they contain as filler.

The mouth bacteria thrive on eating the sugars. But they release acids that break down carbohydrates. These acids are a major issue with the slurry known as plaque.

If you feed your dog one of the many composite dog foods on the market, they will invariably promote bad dental hygiene and bad breath, because the cause plaque.  Regardless of what the kibble pack advertising says.

People also like to feed their dogs fruit (because human omnivores eat fruit) and dogs like to eat most things their owners give them.  But as you can see non-meat or offal foods and treats are the active breeding grounds for the bacteria that do all this damage to dogs who don’t NEED sugars and starch in the first place!

Plaque in itself isn’t that bad you might think. Just a little more acid in the mix of things in their mouth.  But when plaque isn’t regularly removed it hardens into TARTAR,

Tartar is virtually impossible to remove with a tooth brush.  And the build-up of tartar leads to dog gum inflammation (gingivitis) and often periodontal disease.  Pain, difficulty in eating, tooth loss are some of the minor issues.

We only downplay these very serious issues, because sustained gum disease can also cause ‘systemic health issues’ – which affect the heart, liver, and kidneys. Yes, bad food, and bad oral hygiene in dogs can lead to either expensive vet visits for major organs or a shortened dog life. It is that serious.

Why natural dog dental sticks?

What a toothbrush, or a natural dental chew does is clean the dog’s teeth by mechanical action. The dog chews on the healthy treat, gets great nutrition and cleans plaque from their teeth at the same time.

An appropriate dog dental chew will even prevent tartar buildup.

While you could buy a cheap or expensive plastic or rubber or plant based dental chew. NONE of these things are good when they swallow them.  Dog’s digestion is geared to eat meat so well, that meat is typically much more bio-available than any grain or plant matter in natural form.

Because things like a kangaroo lumbar bone, or even Roo jerky are NATURAL, they have big and small areas, and pieces pointing in all directions. This means that they are bound to find a piece that perfectly fits into small gaps between the teeth too, and help scrape off kibble or plaque from between the teeth as well as have a go at the tartar.

While some unnatural plant based corporate chews are “formulated with ingredients like enzymes and antimicrobial agents, which further combat bacteria.” They are only fighting a battle caused by plant material in the first place.  And notice the word “formulated” that reeks of being lab-based, and added as cost allows.  It can never be natural or organic in nature.

That is why again we recommend natural bones or jerkies to do the cleaning of your dog’s teeth.  Because they have NATURAL enzymes in them that accomplish the same task, but only better.

Natural dental chews (jerkies and bones) also provide high quality protein at the same time, this is often important because plant-based dog foods only have to have a minimum of 18% protein (from any source) – as recommended by the deeply flawed affco standards.

During this chewing, your dogs jaws are strengthened, they get mental stimulation, they get primal satisfaction and endorphins as well as releasing enzymes in the saliva they generate – which not only helps flow away the plaque debris, but also balance the pH back to neutral (ie reduce the acid content caused by the bacteria feasting on the sugars from the kibble).

OBVIOUS conclusions

You wouldn’t let your child chew on a plastic or rubber toy once they have outgrown the baby teething stage, because that would cause a danger of swallowing something that could cause a blockage.

You wouldn’t feed your pet rabbit meat (because you know it’s a herbivore).  But you might not know that cats are obligate carnivores (must eat meat only) yet many cat foods slip in sizeable amounts of plant matter just to keep costs down.

If you can’t trust your pet food supplier to do the right thing by cats, you can understand how they will cheat even more with your dog food ( to maximise their profit) but that lack of meat in their dog food, means a lack of quality protein in your dog’s diet, that they need for many vital systems to function optimally in their body.

We don’t expect that anyone will stop feeding their favourite dog food because of this article.  But we do suggest that perhaps giving your dog a dental chew, made out of meat, that has a high level of quality protein, and cleans your dog’s teeth better than a fake dental stick made out of plant material will – will always be your best choice.

Consider it as the ultimate teeth cleaner (between vet visits) while providing a protein supplement.  No point wasting calories on food that won’t provide decent protein at the same time.  In human terms we would call that empty calories.