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As we've discussed on other dental pages, oral health is very important and there are only a few things we can do to help our pets enjoy better dental health.
We can do nothing. Sometimes this works for those pets with naturally great teeth and gums. At least until late middle age. And unfortunately, a lot of pets aren't lucky enough to enjoy good oral health without help.
So, here's what we and you can do.
1. Provide professional dental cleaning and care when needed. That's our job. This can also include using the new dental sealants available.
2. Use the new gum disease vaccine. We will recommend it if your pet has soft gums or suffers from chronic gingivitis.
3. If you're willing to do the work and your pet is willing, there are several choices of veterinary tooth pastes, brushless gels, and ointments available. That's what this page is about.
4. Another option are several choices of dental chews designed to help keep teeth and gums clean and healthy.
We have information about all these services on different pages on this site. Just click on the list to your left.
So, without further ado; my comments about veterinary tooth paste, MaxiGuard OraGel, and Biotene Ointment.
Veterinary Tooth Paste
Brushing your pet's teeth on a daily basis is the very most effective way to remove food debris and plaque. It would be great if everyone brushed their pet's teeth everyday.
But get real.
Most pets ... and most people ... just aren't willing or able.
But, if you have a well behaved pet that allows you to brush, I'm impressed, and we have flavored, high quality veterinary tooth pastes and brushes for your pet.
Note: Human toothpastes are not recommended. For one thing, they weren’t designed to be swallowed. And dogs and cats have different pH levels in their saliva making human toothpastes less effective.
MaxiGurad Ora Gel
The next best solution are the brushless gels that you smear on your pet's gums with your finger.
There are quite a few different brands of similar products on the market, but my very favorite is MaxiGuard.
It's an excellent and easy to use product. MaxiGuard combines enzymes, Zinc, and
vitamin C.
The enzymes do a good job of cleaning and the complexed zinc and vitamin C in the gel stimulate gum healing, oxidize bacteria, chelate the sulfur compounds that cause bad breath, and reduce the amount of destructive enzymes produced by mouth bacteria.
It's a war of the good enzymes in MaxiGuard and the bad enzymes from mouth bacteria.
And MaxiGuard wins. This is a great product and much easier than brushing.
You simply smear a little gel on the teeth with your finger or directly from the bottle. You don’t have to carefully apply it to each individual tooth as it will mix well with the saliva and distribute itself over the teeth and up into the pockets hidden by the gums.
Most cats and dogs accept this product well.
It’s alcohol free, tasteless, and has a bonding agent that helps it bond to the gums and mucus membranes.
MaxiGuard is also nice for pre-dentistry as it strengthens connective tissue and reduces bleeding time.
Biotene Brushless Ointment
Another good choice is MaxiGuard's competitor Biotene Gel which is also enzymatic and applied with a finger instead of a brush.
Biotene is better for treating gum sores, raw spots, and mouth wounds.
But Biotene is a thicker gel more suitable for spot treatment in the mouth.
If used as a general purpose oral hygiene gel you would need to apply it to all the teeth and not rely on the tongue to to swish it around like MaxiGuard.
Biotene is $12 More information about Biotene
Veterinary Tooth Paste,
MaxiGuard Brushless Oral Gel
& Biotene Oral Ointment
We have lots of information for you if you want to keep your pet happy, comfortable and healthy.
Oral hygiene and health is a big part of this mission and we have lots of dental information too:
This page is about veterinary tooth paste, MaxiGuard Brushless Gel, and Biotene Gel
For pages about all the other topics we discuss please go back to our Veterinary Services Page or our Home Page.
Thanks so much,
Roger Ross DVM
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The FoxNest Veterinary Hospital We're All God's Creatures
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