Teeth & the Havanese
Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 5:39PM 
I am a puppy so my teeth are still coming out and new ones are coming in. My teeth are rather white but what if you have an adult with plaque? What should you do?
Someone who follows the blog mentioned that they took their nail and scraped it off - well you can do that and many a show person does. It surely beats going to the vet to be put under.
The tartar can be irritating to the gums and can cause an inflammation called gingivitis. This can be seen as reddening of the gums adjacent to the teeth. It also causes bad breath. At this point it is necessary to remove the tartar with a special instrument called a scaler - that works much like your fingernail does. Problem with this method is it works but it also doesn't polish the teeth. If plaque is bad, you may still want to have it done at your vets office. They not only clean them but polish them.
But if you are simply trying to stay on top of the issue, you can brush daily, use a scaler to take off minor plaque and/or use a product called Leba. Leba works but it is pricey.
What else can you do? Bones - chewing on bones helps scrape the plaque of naturally and most times it does an excellent job.
Well, today was bath time for some - hang out time with daddy outside but now it's raining yet again.
Now where is that sun? The lack of it surely didn't stop this play.
Reader Comments (2)
Most informative part of the blog.Thank you.
But also some 1 mantioned about (baking) or plain soda to use on dogs teeth?
Its done to babys teeth , why not on a dogs?
Good whitening agent, if to use sparangly.
Should I be experementing or just call the vet.
All dog owners have to learn!!!!
I would use the many dog toothpastes as it would be more enjoyable for your dog. I am not sure they would love baking soda taste but I haven't tried it. If you brush regularly, - at least a few times a week - it goes a long way and you can get a finger toothpaste that makes it easy.