Dear Dr. Jody:  Our nine year old toy poodle, “Micro”, has developed bad breath recently.  We give him dental chews every day and he eats nothing but dry food.  Why is his breath so bad, and what can we do about it?

Boy, have you come to the right place!  Having just returned from an exhausting four day veterinary dental conference in Boston, I am bursting with new knowledge and fine-tuned skills that I am eager to share. 

Firstly, it is important to stress that feeding dry food does not prevent dental disease in pets any more than eating crunchy foods such as carrots and granola will prevent dental disease in humans.  You and I brush our teeth multiple times a day, including right before we go to bed.  But when we wake up in the morning, our teeth are anything but clean.  Bacteria multiply in the mouth very quickly.  The sticky filmy plaque that forms on teeth is made up of these bacteria and their waste products.  Yuck!  These microorganisms can quickly lead to gingivitis (red, inflamed gums) if not removed regularly.  Gingivitis, in turn, will lead to periodontal disease (disease around the tooth root, below the gum surface), if not treated promptly.  Imagine what your teeth would look like – and feel like! – if you did not brush your teeth for a whole year.  Dogs and cats are no different.  If we want their teeth remain comfortable and functional for a lifetime, they require the same degree of dental care we provide for ourselves. 

But what about coyotes and cougars?  Nobody is brushing their teeth in the wild and they do just fine, don’t they?  Well, yes and no.  Have you ever performed a dental exam on a wild predator?  I have, and it isn’t pretty.  Most of these wild creatures have multiple fractured, decaying, and abscessed teeth.  Unfortunately, they don’t have the luxury of professional dental care, so they must exist with diseased mouths.  But surely our beloved pets deserve better.  I believe all pets deserve a mouth that is comfortable and free from pain and infection. 

In a recent study conducted in the United States, approximately 80% of dogs and cats older than three years of age had some degree of periodontal disease, but only 20% of pet owners actually believed their pet had an unhealthy mouth.  Nearly 50% of dog owners and 25% of cat owners surveyed believed they were managing their pet’s dental health by feeding dental treats and dry kibble.  There are countless dental treats and chews available, all claiming to reduce or prevent dental disease.  Sadly, there is no law requiring a dental product to actually do what it says it can do.  So how do we know which products work and which don’t?

Here’s where a fabulous organization called the VOHC comes in.  The VOHC (Veterinary Oral Health Council) is an unbiased third party that was developed to carefully scrutinize the claims of these countless dental products.  There is no requirement for products to be VOHC certified, however, products that do carry the VOHC seal of approval have been put through rigorous controlled clinical trials over long periods of time.  These trials have confirmed that the label claims made by the product are true. 

For a list of VOHC approved treats that you can confidently offer your pet as well as other tips on how to ensure your pet enjoys lifelong dental health, visit www.vohc.org.  And, as always, if you believe your pet has unpleasant breath despite feeding dental treats, please contact your veterinarian.  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.  And where there’s bad breath, there is likely periodontal disease, even if your pet isn’t saying “ouch”.