How to choose a great Dog Toothpaste?
Why do you need a great dog toothpaste?
Believe it or not, dogs need dental care as much as we do. If you want to keep your dog’s teeth and gums nice and healthy, you should use a great dog toothpaste. Dog toothpaste is similar to human toothpaste, but there are some key differences. For one, dog toothpaste is meant to be swallowed without harming your dog, since your dog doesn’t really know how to spit all of it out.
Dog toothpaste doesn’t have harmful chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate or xylitol, which are in human toothpaste and likely harmful to your body or at least give you an upset stomach if swallowed. Dog toothpaste also comes in more agreeable flavors for the dog like fruit flavor or peanut butter. Ideally, you should be brushing your dog’s teeth 2 or 3 times a week. We think one of the biggest misconceptions out there is that dogs don’t need to clean their teeth because they are always healthy.
Like humans, dogs can build up tartar, calculus, and plaque on their gums and teeth, so it is important to remove them frequently before they spread and lead to cavities or gum disease. To help your dog avoid dental diseases, you can also give it dental chews. A great dog toothpaste will be environmentally safe and promote healthy gums for your dog. They usually require no rinse and do not foam up so they are safe to swallow. We recommend getting dog toothpaste made mostly from all-natural ingredients and various oils and extracts. If you want to know more about how to pick a great dog toothpaste, please see our buyer’s guide below.
How to choose a great Dog Toothpaste – A Buyer Guide
Using the finest dog toothpaste on your dog can mean the difference between your dog getting teeth and gum disease or not. In fact, many other diseases such as heart disease can be linked to gum disease. If you want to prolong your dog’s life as well as maintain healthy teeth and gums, you should brush your dog’s teeth at least twice a week.
Brushing your dog’s teeth is a pretty straightforward process. You need to find the right dog toothbrush first. Then with the most suitable dog toothpaste, you should apply it all over your dog’s teeth and gums with your fingers.
At first, you may need to get your dog to lick it off of your fingers to get used to the taste. Next, gently brush your dog’s teeth making sure you get the gums as well. Use a circular motion and if you are holding a toothbrush use light force. The general rule of thumb is to use as much force as you would if you were holding the toothbrush with two fingers.
Most dog toothpaste is non-rinse, so you don’t have to give the dog water afterward. Your dog will most likely swallow the toothpaste later. To figure out what is the most satisfactory dog toothpaste, please see below for some features to consider before sticking to a brand.
Ingredients
Some of the most common ingredients for dog toothpaste include silica, enzymes, emulsifiers, and sorbitol. Silica is an abrasive that helps remove plaque and tartar. Various enzymes in the toothpaste help kill bacteria in your dog’s mouth.
There are also emulsifiers which are salts that prevent and contain the build of tartar in your dog’s mouth and gums. Finally, you have sorbitol, which is a type of natural sweetener found in some fruits. We think the key here is to make sure there are no harmful ingredients such as fluoride or xylitol, because more likely than not, your dog will be swallowing the toothpaste.
Remember, that you absolutely cannot use your toothpaste for your dog unless you want your dog to have an upset stomach. Your toothpaste has harmful chemicals that are not designed to be swallowed. In terms of cleaning power, most dog toothpastes do a similar job and it really depends on how well you brush your dog’s teeth.
Taste
The taste and even the smell of the toothpaste are incredibly important for your dog. The first step to brushing your dog’s teeth is to make sure your dog accepts the toothpaste. If your dog is jerking around and rejects the toothpaste, it doesn’t matter how good the toothpaste cleans, you won’t be getting that stuff near your dog’s mouth anytime soon.
Of course, the taste is always subjective to your dog’s preferences, but in general, we find that dogs like toothpaste that is sweet or meat-flavored. Once you find a brand and a flavor that your dog likes, you should stick to that brand to make it easier for yourself and your dog.
Other features
You may want to consider other features of dog toothpaste such as the ability for the toothpaste to not foam up. Usually, dogs react negatively to toothpaste that foams up, and also it makes it hard for your dog to swallow the foam. Most toothpastes are also rinsed-free so you don’t need to give your dog water to wash it down. Also, you should look for toothpaste with a lot of natural substances because your dog will be ingesting most of them.