04/01/2023
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Dentasticks are often recommended by some health professionals. People will give them to you for your dogs at Christmas.
The product's ingredients are questionable.
The poor quality, high carbohydrate ingredients turn into sugar.
We are all aware what sugar does to teeth, as well as this, it plays havoc on the gut microbiome & this in turn impacts health negatively.
If you have ever tried cleaning your teeth with a chocolate bar first thing in the morning, you know it doesn’t work. (might taste nice though!)
Have you ever looked at the ingredient list to see what makes up a dentastix?
Pet food and treat companies aren’t legally obliged to list individual ingredients in their product.
Instead, they can simply list them by category.
As a result, a lot of ingredients may be hidden, and you may not be fully aware of what you’re giving to your beloved dog.
These categories will give you a clearer idea of what’s what:
1. Cereals
Some dog food companies use the term ‘cereals’ to describe all different types of grains.
With this blanket term, it is impossible to know what type of grains are in Dentastix or the quality of the grains.
If you have a dog who has a sensitive stomach or any food intolerances, not knowing what’s in the food can make it hard to identify the problem ingredient so we recommend sticking to products that clearly highlight exact ingredients.
2. Derivatives of vegetable origin
Again the vagueness of this term means you simply do not know what you’re getting in each dog chew.
One batch could be different to another depending on the vegetable products that are most cost-effective at the time.
3. Meat & animal derivatives
Meat and animal derivatives doesn’t clearly state what part or indeed which animal is being used.
It could be any part of any animal, from heads and brains to hair and feathers.
The issue with vague terms is that you can’t be sure if the quality is good or bad and once again the meat sources in the recipe could change batch to batch so steer clear if your pooch has any food intolerances.
Minerals including Sodium Tripolyphosphate
Sodium Tripolyphosphate is the active ingredient.
4. Oils & fats
This refers to all fats and oils from plants or animals, whether that’s beneficial oils and high-quality animal fats or potentially harmful, highly processed oils.
It’s impossible to know just by looking at the label.unique shape helps keep teeth clean but depending on the dog, the soft chew doesn’t do much to naturally rub away at plaque.
That’s why our dog dental chews are designed to have a crunch.
Yes, Dentastix do contain specific ingredients designed to clean your pooch’s teeth but the question is whether or not you think feeding these dental chews are good for your dog’s health overall.
5. Active ingredients
The main stix ingredient that cleans your dog’s teeth is Sodium Tripolyphosphate, a chemical which can break down plaque and tartar. However, the chemical only accounts for around 2.6% of each stix stick, so you want to be comfortable that the other 97.4% is good for your dog…
Hidden ingredients in dental sticks:
The majority of the ingredients in a stick are not actually doing much by way of teeth cleaning.
Extra additives are used to improve flavour, add texture and to appeal to the mass market.
However, these additional ingredients could actually be doing more harm than good.
Cereals, for instance, are turned into sugars when ingested, which can actually lead to cavities and bad breath – the very things you’re trying to prevent!
Sometimes a dog can be predisposed, genetically, to have poor dental health and can require a clean, or teeth taken out under anaesthesia.
Inflamed gums & rotten teeth can lead to periodontal disease, this then can lead to other serious health issues, heart disease in dogs being one.
What to give your dogs for cleaner teeth:
1. Natural beef tendons
2. Ostrich tendons
3. Raw meaty bones
4. Carrots
NB: All chewing must be supervised to prevent choking or ingesting of bone by fragments…