Even if you’re in the habit of brushing their teeth, dental chew treats help fight bacteria and plaque between brushings. By giving your dog one of these dental-style treats per day, you can help control bad breath and protect them from disease. Some of these treats are formed into the shape of brushes, while others simply provide texture for the mechanical abrasion that removes build-up.
These are best as once-a-day treats — I usually give them to my three dogs right before bed. Between brushings and cleanings, use one of these best dog dental chews to keep your dog’s breath fresh and their teeth clean.
Made by the same company that produces Frontline tick preventative (more on that in this post), this dental chew takes a decidedly pharmaceutical approach to the issue. The active ingredient in these is delmopinol HCl, which has long been used safely in humans.
The ingredient is exclusively licensed to Merial for use in dogs, resulting in this relatively soft chew that both eliminates existing plaque and forms a coating on the teeth that prevents new plaque from forming. The feeding guidelines suggest no more than one per day, so the 30 pack will last about a month. These are individually wrapped and will harden if left out; if your dog doesn’t eat it right away, be sure to toss it.
Just like Frontline, the doses are sized appropriately for the weight of your dog. Be sure to choose the correct weight range when buying.
We included The Missing Link in our glucosamine supplement post because of their high quality products. This takes the concept of a daily dental chew and increases the functionality by a significant margin.
Available in two formulations — Hip & Joint or Skin & Coat — these allow you to combine teeth cleaning and daily supplement rationing into one convenient portion. The teeth cleaning mechanism is primarily a physical action using the ridges, but vitamin C is present to promote gum health, as well. Both formulas are available in two sizes: Small/Medium or Large/Extra Large.
All are available in 14 count or 28 count packages.
First Six Ingredients (Hip & Joint):
Dried potato products
Ground flaxseed
Water
Vegetable glycerin
Pork gelatin
Powdered cellulose
Active ingredient:Calcium carbonate Country of manufacture: U.S.A. Grain-free?: No, but wheat- and gluten-free
Zuke’s made an appearance on our dog treats post because they focus on recognizable ingredients. These dental bones are no different and are made up primarily of fruits and vegetables, with parsley and fennel doing the heavy lifting to freshen breath. Choose from two flavors (Apple and Carrot) and three sizes:
Mini — 10 to 25 pounds
Regular — 25 to 60 pounds
Large — 60 pounds and up
First Six Ingredients:
Ground potatoes
Ground peas
Vegetable glycerin
Pea protein
Pea fiber
Apples
Active ingredient: Parsley and fennel Country of manufacture: U.S.A. Grain-free?: No, but wheat- and gluten-free
Virbac offers a number of enzyme-based oral health products for dogs. These naturally-occurring enzymes eliminate and prevent bacteria, which is why they’re commonly used as preservatives. In this application, they’re applied to cowhide, which means your dog will love to chew on it. The very action of chewing will help to clean teeth, as well. The four different sizes on these are merely to match the size of the dog, but there’s no weight consideration for the active ingredients.
Nearly as ubiquitous as Greenies, these Whimzees treats follow the path of the Natural Balance treats elsewhere on this list, providing a physical teeth cleaning more than a chemical one. The natural ingredients are all recognizable and pronounceable, though there isn’t anything in particular aimed at cleaning. They’ve been reformulated to be both grain free and to use no GMOs.
The value of these comes in the textured shapes that work along the dog’s gum line to break up tartar. These tend to be quite a lot stiffer than the Greenies, which is good for resistance, though can occasionally lead to breaking into shards. I buy them from time to time to give my dogs something new to chew and they seem to like them.
Whimzees come in four different shapes: this toothbrush shape, stix, alligators, and hedgehogs. There’s a variety pack so you can try all of them, too.
First Six Ingredients:
Potato starch
Glycerin
Powdered cellulose
Lecithin
Yeast
Malt extract
Active ingredient: N/A Country of manufacture: Netherlands Grain-free?: Yes
The original Milk-Bone has long been a favorite among dog owners for the express purpose of cleaning teeth and freshening breath. They’re definitely the first dog treat I can remember hearing about and the only one I knew for a number of years. They’ve now released an updated version that takes this a step further, adding texture and a new shape to increase the cleaning ability. These Brushing Chews are accepted by the Veterinary Oral Health Council for tartar control and come in three sizes: Mini for five to 24 pounds, Small/Medium for 24 to 49 pounds and Large for 50 pounds and up. In addition, you can choose betweent this product, which is the standard daily chew, or the Fresh Breath variant, which adds spearmint to the recipe.
Of course, those who are hyper-focused on the ingredients found in what their dog eats will probably not go for these. This pick would be for those who have good luck with Milk-Bone in the past and want good value in their dental chews.
First Six Ingredients:
Rice
Modified food starch
Chicken by-product meal
Powdered cellulose
Water
Propylene glycol
Active ingredient:Phosphoric acid Country of manufacture: U.S.A. Grain-free?: No
This offering from Blue Buffalo uses a similar form factor to the Natural Balance and Zuke’s offerings on this list. They combine calcium carbonate with parsley to achieve the clean. They recently reformulated these to remove the rice and rice bran that was in the original formula, making them free of grains, gluten, corn, wheat or soy, as well as preservatives and colors. There are four sizes to correspond with your dog’s weight: Mini (5-15 pounds), Small (15-25 pounds), Regular (25-50 pounds), and Large (over 50 pounds).
First Six Ingredients:
Potatoes Powdered Cellulose Vegetable Glycerin Water Gelatin Pea Protein
Active ingredient: Calcium carbonate and parsley Country of manufacture: U.S.A. Grain-free?: Yes
Utilizing familiar compounds from other dental products, these chews call themselves “brushless toothpaste” and are aimed at replacing brushing. We’re not sure about that claim exactly, but they do indeed look a bit like someone squeezed something out of a tube and left it to form into a treat. The ingredients are all naturally-occurring and squarely aimed at destroying bad breath and removing plaque, especially with the inclusion of natural odor fighters like chlorophyll and clove. This is a nice middle ground between purely physical-action dental chews and something more akin to actual toothpaste, making this a strong contender for your consideration.
Focusing more on mechanical cleaning, these treats don’t have any specific chemical that acts on tartar. Rather, the ridges in these treats physically break up the junk on your dog’s teeth as they chew. The inclusion of spinach, coconut oil, kale, and spearmint means these naturally freshen breath just as they would in humans. Vitamin C is added to promote immune health and encourage healthy gum growth.
You can buy these in three different sizes and in addition to the pictured Fresh & Clean Formula, they have Duck Meal, Sweet Potato, and Pumpkin & Chicken.
First Six Ingredients (Fresh & Clean Formula):
Sweet potato
Potato starch
Vegetable glycerin
Brewer’s dried yeast
Spinach
Yeast extract
Active ingredient: Coconut oil and spearmint Country of manufacture: U.S.A. Grain-free?: Yes
Probably the most famous dental chew going, Greenies are widely available and well-tolerated by most dogs. They’re tough enough to inspire a lot of chewing and it’s that mechanism that works these into a healthy lather which cleans your dog’s mouth. Minerals found in human toothpaste provide the cleaning mechanism here and they’re approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council.
I have successfully used these on my three dogs on and off over the course of several years. They do love them and at least for a little while, their breath is quite a lot fresher. They come in four different treat sizes across six different package sizes:
Dental chews tend to be on the pricy side, so these Dentastix from Pedigree offer a less expensive counterpoint. Admittedly, if you’re an avid Dog Food Advisor reader, these may not especially appeal to you. Nevertheless, these do a fine job of cleaning up your dog’s mouth, employing many of the same ideas from other treats. The simple X pattern provides good texture for physical cleaning, with an assist from calcium carbonate.
Flavor options include Original, Fresh, Bacon, and Beef in several different package sizes across the following treat sizes:
Additionally, the Dentastix line offers biscuits and bites.
First Six Ingredients:
Rice flour
Wheat starch
Glycerin
Gelatin
Gum arabic
Calcium carbonate
Active ingredient:calcium carbonate, parsley, and eucalyptus oil Country of manufacture: Possibly Canada; company only indicates North America Grain-free?: No
Purina has a competitor to the Milk-Bone and Greenies offerings in this chicken-flavored dog dental chew. The porous texture helps scrub tartar from the surface of your dog’s teeth. The active ingredients are fairly standard and the fillers are what you’d expect from a mass-market brands, but the price is a touch less expensive than some other brands, depending on which size and quantity you go for. Sizes include: Mini, Small/Medium, and Large.
In addition to these standard DentaLife treats, they also offer an ActivFresh version that adds a proprietary active ingredient based around spirulina and honey, and an Advanced Clean version that’s denser for a longer chew.
