Preventing Dental Disease

1) To prevent  Periodontitis ( affects 75 to 85% of pets over age 2)

Best resource for products:   Veterinary Oral Health Council  vohc.org

Best assurance of quality:  VOHC seal of approval given if food is at least 20% better than typical commercial brand in preventing.  Plaque claim is better than just a tartar claim

Specialists viewpoints Dr Fraser Hale DVM FAVD Dip AVDC

Dr Jan Bellows DVM FAVD Dip AVDC

Products

Rx Foods Hills T/D ® & Oral Care ® (VOHC accepted plaque & tartar claim) &  Purina DH ®  (plaque & tartar for cats, tartar only for dogs)  Iams Dental Defense ® (VOHC tartar claim one product in family)

Rawhide chews Purina rawhide chews®  have VOHC  acceptance, CET Hextras are not VOHC listed but are similar product with added evidence based ingredients

Water additive healthymouth.com 1st VOHC seal for a water additive (dog product) cat product is identical in formulation so should work as well in theory

Brushing using tooth pastes is the gold standard of dental homecare, a plaque retardant gel (Oravet®)  and a periodontal vaccine are outside the scope of this nutritional discussion but are the mainstays of prevention and should be discussed with your veterinarian.  more information

Breeds we specifically need to watch

All dogs under 20#, all Brachycephalics (bulldogs, pugs, etc) because of teeth crowding and thin bone around teeth that is rapidly destroyed by bacteria. Greyhounds have a genetic predisposition towards periodontitis.

Best one to one resource: a dentistry oriented veterinarian- ideally an American Veterinary Dental Society Member (AVDS) or a board certified veterinary dentist (We have 3 at U of Wisconsin!)