How often should I brush my dog’s teeth?

I get that asked frequently, and I always look the client in the eye and say, "How frequently do you brush your teeth?" Hopefully, it's two or three times a day. That would be ideal. The truth is that I would be ecstatic if you were brushing your pet's teeth two or three times a week. The more, the better. But if you could do it two to three times a week, that will make a big difference in keeping your dog's mouth healthy.

I get asked that question all the time, and the answer is that unless you're going to commit to brushing your dog's teeth twice a day every day, it's not beneficial to do an occasional brushing here or there. The veterinary dentists do recommend twice-daily brushing, which, if you're like me, that's hard to fit into my busy schedule. So, what I like to do instead is give things like dental treats, dental chews, or even something like water additives because then I feel like I'm rewarding my dog with a treat, and it's helping take care of their teeth.

Tooth brushing is a critical task. We recommend you brush your dog's teeth every day, but there's a tiny percentage of people going to do that. So I'll be honest, I can't even do that for my dogs. But have your goal be at least three times a week. If you can only do it once a month, honestly, don't waste your time. You're not helping them. You need to get in there regularly so that you can remove plaque. Once plaque turns into tartar, you can't brush it off. So that's where they need a complete scaling anesthetic dental, and it takes about three days for plaque to turn into tartar. So that's why brushing every three days is so imperative.

And then, as far as how to brush your dog's teeth, we recommend flavored toothpaste made for dogs. My dogs love the poultry-flavored one, but it's important that it has an enzymatic action. That means it's going to do some good even if you are only smearing it on the tooth. It's going to work on that plaque buildup, and then getting your toothbrush in there with some abrasive action is even better. There's a video on our website that shows you exactly how to do it, and I demonstrate how to do it, but starting with the canine teeth is an essential part. We have a little model here that shows the teeth. The canine tooth is the big fangtooth, and most dogs get tartar right at the gum line of the canine tooth. So focusing on that upper canine on both sides, and then if that's going well, you can move on to the back teeth or the cheek area. Another really common spot is this upper fourth premolar, so right at the gum line in those four spots. The right and left canine and premolar are the most critical spots.

Ideally, every day, but every other day will suffice if you can't. At least every other day.

Good question. Ideally, every day. We realize that could be a challenge for some pet owners and also some pets, but every day would be ideal. Think about it, the gold standard for people is still brushing their teeth daily. Most people do it twice a day, morning and evening. If you can do it every day with your pet, awesome. At the bare minimum, to really be effective, we need to do it at least every other day. Here's the reason. If you ever went to bed one night and forgot to brush your teeth and woke up the next morning, your teeth feel a bit mossy, as my dentist used to describe back when I was a kid. That is plaque. It's actually bacteria that are forming on the teeth. We know that in dogs, the plaque takes about two days to really adhere to the teeth. So if you're brushing at least every other day, you're going to be able to stay ahead of that plaque formation and the plaque sticking to the teeth fairly effectively. The plaque is what sticks to the teeth and builds and builds, then results in tarter after a while. If you can brush at least every other day, that's the bare minimum. But if you can do it daily, that's the gold standard.

Just think of yourself. To take care of your teeth, you brush them a minimum of twice a day. So I would say, to make a difference in your dog, you must brush them daily. That being said, anything is better than nothing, so the more you can brush them, the better off your dog's teeth will be, and the further apart their dental cleanings will be needed. The more you can brush, the better.

They're just like us, so ideally, we want to brush them twice a day. Every time they eat, they're going to get bacteria in their mouth, but I tell people, it's just not feasible sometimes, and we understand that. If you're going to brush your dog's teeth, try to aim for at least three days a week. The more, the better, but a minimum of three days a week is needed to make a difference.

Ideally, you should brush your dog's teeth once or twice a day, just like you would with your own teeth. Dogs have teeth similar to ours and need regular care to maintain their oral health. Daily tooth brushing is the best way to achieve this.