How Raw Diets Improve Dogs' Teeth & Oral Hygiene

By feeding a raw diet, your dog's teeth and gums are cleaner and healthier. When gnawing or crunching on a suitably sized bone, plaque is scraped of their teeth. Chewing a large chunk of meat occasionally, is also a very effective natural toothbrush.

Chewing on bones offers a great source of mental and physical enrichment for your dog too.

When feeding a natural raw diet, you can expect

• cleaner teeth
• healthier gums
• less build up of tar tar
• better breath
• less tooth decay
• physical and mental enrichment
• no refined sugars or carbohydrates

If you are concerned about feeding whole bones, don't worry. When feeding our minced completes, your dog is still benefiting from better oral hygiene. Minces have bone in them which act as an abrasive cleaner, perhaps less effective than whole bones but still very beneficial.

All our food is 100% natural, so there are no nasty additives, sugars or carbs that cause and accelerate periodontal disease. Like feeding too many sweets to kids, we know it is bad for dental health!

Bone should be fed sparingly and should always be supervised. Cooked bones should never fed.

It is a sad fact that around 80% of dogs will exhibit signs of periodontal disease before the age of 3. This is almost entirely down to diet. Feeding kibble, which is very high in refined sugars and carbohydrates, helps to create the perfect environment for harmful bacteria to flourish.

Sticky residue stays on the teeth and accumulates at the gum line, leading to

• build-up of plaque and tar tar
• inflamed and sore gums
• bad breath
• tooth decay
• painful tooth extractions

It is also very important to remember when you are feeding a raw diet, it is totally devoid of the refined sugars and starch found in all kibbles. These are a key driver in the shocking statistic: that 80% of dogs show signs of periodontal disease before reaching 3 years of age.

Dog's have the correct heads and dentition along with digestive systems to chew and digest bone very easily. Since domestication, we have created many different sizes and breeds of dogs. They all look different externally, but their dentition and internal anatomy are almost identical to their carnivorous ancestors.

Your adult dog has 42 mostly sharp and jagged teeth which are designed for

• grabbing
• ripping
• tearing
• crushing bones

Carnivore jaws hinge open widely, allowing them to gulp large chunks of meat and bone. Their powerful jaws and teeth are designed to crush bones, Carnivores cannot chew as they have no lateral movement in their jaws.

For more information please see Your Dog the Carnivore