Q: Can dental chews help my dog's teeth? If so, what kind should I buy?
A: While brushing your dog's teeth daily is the gold standard for keeping teeth and gums healthy, chances are good that you do it only sporadically — if at all. You really should brush, but dental chews can aid in reducing tartar and keeping pet teeth clean. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Animal Science found that giving a daily dental chew could help slow the development and progression of periodontal disease in dogs.
Avoid chews that are too hard, like bones or antlers. If a chew would hurt if you banged your knee with it, it's too hard. Veterinary dentist Jan Bellows offered these tips for choosing chews.
1. The chew must be safe, digestible and soluble so it will dissolve rapidly and not get caught in the esophagus or intestines, requiring surgery.
2. The chew should contain GRAS (generally regarded as safe) ingredients with few chemicals.
3. The chew should be nutritionally complete.
4. The chew should have proven dental benefits (decreased production of plaque and/or tartar).
5. Most important, the chew should be accepted by the Veterinary Oral Health Council, which reviews applications from chews that have conducted two double-blinded studies that show the chews offer at least 20% plaque/tartar retardation and are safe.
