My dog Buffy!

I got a press release yesterday, encouraging me to practice good hygiene–on my dog.

You see, February is National Dental Health Month. (Actually, according to the American Dental Association, it’s National Children’s Dental Health Month.) It seems that some canine-oriented companies have jumped on the dental bandwagon.

Now as a human I understand the value of good dental hygiene: I brush twice a day, floss nightly, and rinse with Listerine to kill any bacteria–not only because this is important for my teeth but because there is a possible link between dental plaque and the kind of plaque that causes heart disease.

But my dog? I’m sure as heck not going to try to floss my dog’s teeth, and I’ve never considered brushing them (though I know that some dog owners use meat-flavored tooth paste to get the job done). Instead, the dog has more Nylabones lying around the house than my kids have toys, because Nylabones are supposed to get rid of the tartar on doggie teeth. Sure, they’re not cheap (about $5 a bone at PetSmart) but they last for years. We also feed him hard food and give him hard treats. I remember my vet telling me that this is best for the dog’s teeth.

Now here’s what gets me: this press release suggested that if I’m not taking my dog in for annual teeth cleanings at the vet, I should try giving him their product instead. First of all, I am intrigued by the product–Pedigree Dentastix and I found a $1 off coupon on the Pedigree site so I can try it out. But does Pedigree understand what a doggie dental cleaning entails? Putting your dog under. Not only is that potentially dangerous but it’s expensive, too.

While we humans can open up and get our teeth cleaned, in order to clean a dog’s teeth, the dog needs general anesthesia. The only time the vet has cleaned my dog’s teeth was last year, when the dog needed surgery for something unrelated. The bill, with the teeth cleaning, was hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Not only do I not have pet insurance to cover things like surgery, I don’t have pet dental insurance either. (I also don’t have human dental insurance at the moment either but that’s fodder for another blog post in the future.)

So where does that leave me? Pursuing doggie dental care on what I consider to be a reasonable budget of Nylabones, dry food and hard treats. And maybe those Pedigree Dentastix if the dog likes them.

What about you?