# Raw food diet equals good teeth



## Amazing Grace (Sep 22, 2015)

I've been reading alot about raw food diets and dog's teeth. Proponents claim
that the dogs fed raw food never need a dental! They took dogs with perfect white teeth ( on raw food) and fed them science diet kibble ( i believe) for 17 days and the tartar buildup was shocking. ( see before/ after pic below) 

Has anyone here been using raw food long enough to notice these benefits. I would love to hear about it.

I fed my dog gracie a very low carb diet ( grain free, no kibble) but it was small amount of canned food and high quality cooked protein and some veggies. Her teeth were excellent ( she died at 16 with All her teeth). But she did require dentals, and i really hated getting the last one at age 12. The vet insisted there was nothing to worry about with the anesthesia and that i could pick her up at 12:00 noon. Well it was 4pm before she was awake enough to come home, and even then she was so groggy it scared the daylights out of me. So if a raw diet prevents dentals, i'm all for it.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

Ray & MiMi have been on raw food for about a year. They have a little tartar, but not bad. However, I think that to have really clean teeth, they need to be given raw meaty bones. I just can't do that....I imagine them chewing on raw bones on the living room rug.


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## Malt Shoppe (Jul 20, 2011)

I recently heard a vet interviewed on news say to NEVER give any bones to dogs. Said they can splinter, pieces break off and damage internal organs.


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

We do raw and some dry..I haven'/t been up to doing the raw as much as I should this last couple years and I can see the difference in their teeth, sadly


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## Miyuki1.. (Dec 30, 2015)

I would love to switch to raw, rather freeze dried raw but she can't have beef, chicken or lamb and that's all they seem to come in here :s


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

Malt Shoppe said:


> I recently heard a vet interviewed on news say to NEVER give any bones to dogs. Said they can splinter, pieces break off and damage internal organs.


It is cooked bones that are dangerous. Raw bones are not brittle. I still think that you need to use caution. Ray chewed on raw knuckle bones, but I wouldn't give him something like a chicken leg. Neither would I give a big dog that gulped food any kind of a bone. We want to give them something to chew on, but it is so hard to find anything that is safe. :mellow:


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

I had Lacie on raw and now she only has 2 teeth left so I didn't see any correlation, however it did seem to help her seasonal allergies.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Miyuki1.. said:


> I would love to switch to raw, rather freeze dried raw but she can't have beef, chicken or lamb and that's all they seem to come in here :s


Addiction makes a dehydrated raw in kangaroo, venison and brushtail. They are based in New Zealand.


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Miyuki1.. said:


> I would love to switch to raw, rather freeze dried raw but she can't have beef, chicken or lamb and that's all they seem to come in here :s


You could research and make your own. I know kangaroo meat and other meats are available in Australia. You should be able to get venison and rabbit. Keep the tail wagging is a raw feeding blog that you might be interested in reading. She uses the honest kitchen base mixes to balance her dogs meals.

I plan on trying a new intergrative vet with our poodle pup and switching the boys over when they are due for a visit again. She actually sells raw bones for dental health, I am curious to see what she will recommend for tiny dogs like Maltese.


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

Mine have raw chicken wings or drumsticks about once a week. They love them. I´ve fed raw bones to my dogs for over 30 years, in addition to their main food, which has either been kibble or raw food. Never had a problem. And they´ve never needed dental work done.


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## Amazing Grace (Sep 22, 2015)

Sylie said:


> It is cooked bones that are dangerous. Raw bones are not brittle. I still think that you need to use caution. Ray chewed on raw knuckle bones, but I wouldn't give him something like a chicken leg. Neither would I give a big dog that gulped food any kind of a bone. We want to give them something to chew on, but it is so hard to find anything that is safe. :mellow:


I agree. Big bones break teeth, small bones (chicken wings) can choke, and owners can have a heart attack watching ( at least i would). The freeze dried options look do-able.


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