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the upper lips, rub the toothpaste on the incisors/
canines in a circular motion for a few seconds. Build
the time up gradually over the week to about 40
seconds.

Week 3
Take a pea sized amount of toothpaste on your index
finger, use your other hand to lift the upper lips, rub
the toothpaste on the incisors/canines as if your finger
were a toothbrush. Start to move onto the pre-molars
building up gradually over the week until you can ‘brush’
all of them.

Week 4
Continue to use your finger as if it were a toothbrush and gradually build up to cover all
the teeth in the mouth that you can reach.

Week 5
Choose a toothbrush you are comfortable with. Put a pea sized amount of toothpaste on it
and let your pet sniff it. Introduce it to just the incisors with just one or two circular
movements. Gradually build this up over the week until you are brushing all the incisors &
canines.

Week 6
Brush the incisors & canines and then gradually move up to the premolars as you did
before with your finger.

Week 7
Brush the incisors, canines & pre-molars and move on to cover all of the molars. By the
end of this week you can be an efficient pet tooth brusher!

Why do I need to brush my pets teeth every day?

Plaque starts to build up on the tooth surface again within an hour of brushing. Tartar or
calculus begins to form within 24-48 hours. This cannot be removed by a toothbrush. You
need to brush every day to beat the build up of calculus.

I really can’t brush my pets teeth, what should I do?

Book an appointment with the nurse for a demonstration.
Don’t rush things, be patient and only give in if you are
really not making any progress at all. The nurse can advise
you on other options to aid dental health and slow the
disease process down. However you must be aware that
tooth brushing is the single most effective treatment for
prevention of dental disease.

Leigh Sobye BVSc MRCVS

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