How to Brush Your Pet's Teeth—Veterinarians Weigh In (2025)

As the pet tech writer present astatine WIRED, I cognize conscionable however acold we've travel arsenic a pet-obsessed society. From automatic litter boxes with built-in cameras to interactive pet cameras connected wheels that sprout retired treats, if a quality has dreamed it, our pets person astir apt been subjected to it.

For a while, favored influencers were each astir hydration. My FYP was filled with tricks and tips to summation chronically dehydrated cats' h2o consumption, including via pet h2o fountains, which person since flooded the market. Most recently, I was influenced to effort at-home favored DNA trial kits. The astir absorbing uncovering from this investigating was the find that some of my cats' oral wellness was poor. That sent maine down a rabbit spread of accusation and countless queries for “how to brushwood your dog's teeth.”

So, I did tons of research, tested immoderate oral wellness favored products, talked with experts, and recovered that you truly should beryllium brushing your pet's teeth—daily if possible, oregon astatine slightest respective times a week. Let maine stock my hard-won knowledge, truthful you tin amended your pet's prime of beingness without losing a finger.

Benefits to Brushing a Cat and/or Dog's Teeth

Just similar successful humans, a feline oregon dog's oral wellness is intimately tied to the remainder of their body, importantly impacting their wide wellness and perchance starring to longer lives. Here are immoderate of the astir important benefits of brushing their teeth:

• Preventing dental disease: Brushing regularly helps cleanable the teeth, reducing plaque buildup that tin make into tartar wrong a substance of days. “Tartar traps bacteria nether the gum line, starring to gingivitis, bony decay, and yet periodontal disease,” says veterinarian Berkcan Yanar. Periodontal disease causes rima symptom and leads to gum recession, bony loss, and sometimes adjacent damages the jawbone. Cats tin adjacent make resorptive lesions if near untreated—painful areas wherever the bony really starts breaking down and the rima is severely inflamed.
• Helping with atrocious breath: Not lone is atrocious enactment unpleasant, it tin beryllium an denotation of an corruption oregon perchance harmful bacterial imbalance successful your pet's mouth. Brushing helps support things caller truthful you volition really privation to buss your fur babe again.
• Preventing further wellness issues: Infections tin besides dispersed beyond the mouth. Bacteria from the rima tin question successful the bloodstream and infect captious organs similar the heart, kidneys, and liver.
• Improving their prime of life: Teeth brushing is 1 of the easiest and astir cost-effective ways to support your pet's wide wellness and trim the request for costly (or traumatic) trips to the vet. And arsenic you get successful the wont of brushing and go much alert of what the wrong of your pet's rima usually looks like, you tin much easy drawback thing earlier it becomes a bigger issue.

Warning Signs of Poor Oral Health

• Significantly atrocious breath, different known arsenic halitosis.
• Red oregon bleeding gums, which tin beryllium indicative of gingivitis.
• Loose oregon missing teeth (that utilized to beryllium there).
• Accumulation of dental calculus, oregon tartar, (which looks brown) connected the teeth. “Calculus is coagulated buildup connected the teeth that provides hiding places for bacteria to replicate,” says prof of veterinary medicine Julie Hunt. “The replication of bacteria successful the rima tin besides trigger gingivitis and periodontal disease, which tin effect successful bony loss.”
• Eating habits person changed. Just observing the eating patterns of your favored is 1 of the easiest (and slightest invasive) ways of monitoring oral health. If they commencement drooling oregon pawing astatine the mouth, eating carefully, opening to favour 1 broadside of the mouth, progressively dropping food, oregon seeming reluctant to eat, these are each signs of deteriorating oral health. Even things similar swelling nether the eye, which “typically signifies an abscessed tooth,” says Yanar.

If you've noticed immoderate of these symptoms, docket an assignment with a vet instantly and statesman an oral wellness routine.

I took Basepaws DNA trial and recovered that my cats' oral hygiene was poor.

Specific Animals May Be Predisposed

All pets are susceptible to processing periodontal illness from mediocre oral care, truthful all cats and dogs necessitate dental care. However, determination are immoderate breeds that are much predisposed to oral disease, truthful wage other attraction to their rima and beryllium adjacent much proactive astir attraction if you person immoderate of these types.

• Small-breed dogs are peculiarly susceptible to bony nonaccomplishment and the nonaccomplishment of the bony that surrounds the teeth. Breeds similar Yorkies, Chihuahuas, and dachshunds often person crowded teeth, which trap nutrient and pb to an overgrowth of perchance harmful bacteria.
• Brachycephalic, oregon smush- oregon flat-faced, cats and dogs (e.g., bulldogs, Frenchies, Persian cats) are much prone to dental problems and eventual decay due to the fact that their teeth are compressed into a smaller abstraction and it's harder to region tartar buildup betwixt the teeth.
• Older cats successful wide are much prone to dental illness (which is wherefore you often perceive astir aged cats needing their teeth pulled). Cats tin make those antecedently mentioned resorptive lesions, wherever the bony really begins breaking down portion successful the gum, which causes immense pain.

How Often Should You Be Brushing?

“I urge daily brushing if feasible, but adjacent brushing 3 oregon 4 times a week tin truly dilatory down plaque buildup,” says Yanar. All of the experts I spoke to urge regular brushing, but archer owners to effort to brushwood at slightest 3 times a week minimum.

How to Brush Your Pet’s Teeth

Introduce bony brushing slowly, by archetypal letting your favored lick favored toothpaste disconnected your finger. Then enactment the toothpaste connected the brushwood and fto them lick from that. I fto my feline Clover wound down connected the toothbrush and commencement there, arsenic the bristles volition determination betwixt the teeth. My cats tin beryllium precise squirmy, truthful I enactment them successful my thigh (one astatine a time) and propulsion up oregon down connected their articulator portion brushing. If you person a larger dog, it whitethorn beryllium easier to person them beryllium oregon straddle them from supra to get afloat entree to the mouth.

“Let your favored lick a tiny magnitude of flavored pet toothpaste—poultry, beef, oregon food flavors are popular—off your digit for a fewer days truthful they subordinate it with thing pleasant. Then present a soft-bristled toothbrush oregon a digit brush,” says Yanar. “Put the brushwood astatine a 45-degree angle to the gum enactment and brush successful tiny circles on the outer aspects of the teeth, focusing connected the rear molars and canine teeth, wherever plaque astir commonly accumulates. Work up to 30 to 60 seconds of brushing per side. Dental wipes, oral rinses, and veterinary-approved dental chews tin besides beryllium large additions but should ne'er regenerate brushing.”

Products to Use

• A pet-specific enzymatic toothpaste
• A small, pet-size soft-bristled toothbrush oregon ribbed finger covering

“Always usage a pet-specific, enzymatic toothpaste. Never usage quality toothpaste, arsenic it tin incorporate fluoride and the artificial sweetener xylitol, some of which are toxic to dogs,” says licensed veterinarian Liza Cahn. “Dental products approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council tin besides beryllium utilized successful summation to brushing, oregon if brushing is not possible, to assistance beforehand oral health.”

There are different ways (in summation to brushing) that you tin beforehand oral wellness successful your pets. Below are immoderate dental products I've tried and liked.

• Dental treats for cats oregon chews for dogs that person porous textures assistance combat plaque buildup and person added vitamins and minerals to beforehand oral health.
  Pro tip: look for immoderate dental chews endorsed by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (there volition beryllium a “VOHC Accepted” label).
• Dental pulverization food oregon h2o additive for cats oregon dogs that gives owners a sneaky mode to beforehand a steadfast oral biome and dental health. (I've ordered Pet Honesty Dental Powder ($21), but it has not arrived yet astatine the clip of writing.)
• Dental wipes shouldn't afloat regenerate bristled brushing with an enzymatic toothpaste, but they tin supplement occasionally oregon beryllium utilized successful summation to bristled brushing. I've utilized Uproot Clean Dental Wipes ($20) arsenic good arsenic their eye and ear wipes, each of which tin beryllium utilized for some cats and dogs.

Professional Veterinarian Cleaning

Like humans, cats and dogs should get professional cleanings astatine slightest erstwhile a year (you whitethorn request each six to 9 months oregon truthful if you person a breed that is predisposed to oral problems, similar pugs oregon Persian cats). In these exams, for the information of the carnal and the veterinarian, the carnal volition spell nether anesthesia, and the vet volition execute the exam and thorough cleaning.

“A nonrecreational cleaning allows america to not lone cleanable the disposable crown but besides underneath the gum line, an country owners simply can't scope astatine home. While nether wide anesthesia, we execute a thorough oral examination, standard the teeth supra and beneath the gum line, polish the enamel to dilatory down aboriginal plaque buildup, and typically instrumentality dental x-rays to look for hidden disease,” says Yanar.

Since getting a nonrecreational cleaning besides includes an oral and radiographic exam, vets are capable to “diagnose broken, decayed, oregon infected teeth. The doc volition enactment each the surfaces of the teeth—probing for pockets of insubstantial that are not firmly attached, growths oregon tumors, inflammation, bleeding, oregon mobile teeth—and volition instrumentality x-rays to look beneath the gum line,” says veterinarian Stephanie Liff.

Meet the Experts

• Berkcan Yanar, licensed veterinarian and reviewer astatine PawsRank.
• Julie Hunt, associate dean of objective sciences and prof of veterinary medicine astatine Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine.
• Liza Cahn, tiny carnal veterinarian and veterinary advisor with Embrace Pet Insurance.
• Stephanie Liff, veterinarian and co-owner of Pure Paws Veterinary Care.

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