Enzymes vs bones for teeth

[stinkweasels]

I've been reading both can help with keeping teeth clean, but was curious about ya'lls opinion on which is more important.

I've phased out kibble and have been feeding freeze-dried foods, moistened and dry and have noticed marked improvment in my ferrets' teeth. Especially my DMK's that had nasty chicklets

Most of the raw feeders or vets I know tell me its the enzymes in the meat that prevent the build up and are more of a factor for healthy teeth, but they say bones do play a part.

[Forum Administrator]

I was always told that it was the chewing and ripping motion that helped to clean teeth. That as their teeth sunk into the meat it helped to rub the teeth down.

I was also told that the fur on whole prey acted like a natural toothbrush to help "wipe" the teeth down.

Chewing on appropriately sized, edible bones helps to scrape tarter off the teeth (whereas meat wipes off the easier to remove plaque).

Each of these components (bones, meat, and fur) play a role in cleaning teeth.

I had not heard about the enzyme thing though. This interests me, do you have any websites/sources etc that I could look at on this topic? If enzymes do in fact play a part, I'd love to know so that I can include that info the HF site when it opens this august.

Thanks John for bringing this up!

[tako]

Enzymes help in the bacterial mouth cleaning department.

Most pet specific toothpastes, and all natural toothpastes for humans contain larger amounts of the enzymes that are normally present in the mouths of the species they are intended for. The same enzymes that are working in all animals' mouths against harmful bacteria to keep them from getting into the body are keeping them from causing tooth and gum infections and decay. Also in the case of many breath freshening/teeth cleaning pet treats enzymes are added to help combat "bad-breath germs"

I'm having a hard time tracking down any specific sources, but from a strictly scientific standpoint enzymes attack and break down microorganisms and such, that is their "job" so to speak, and they play a large role in regulating the bacterial colonies inside the mouths and bodies of all critters. Harmful bacteria in excess, logically, could lead to infection and such, so it seems to be a reasonable conclusion that enzymes also play an important role in tooth health and cleaning, just on a smaller/more microscopic scale.

[mustelidmusk]

My brats will NOT chew on bones - they eat mostly frozen raw (commercial diet) and freeze dried diet/meats. all the bone pieces are small in theses foods. with this diet, my kid get very little plaque...I clean their teeth (scale them myself) about 4 times per year, and there's not much to clean off.

Bone and enzymes may help, but you have to wonder if simple elimination of starches (sugar!) that hold kibble together isn't a primary factor in reducing plaque.

-jennifer

[stinkweasels]

I'll try to find specific articles, it was just little bits that I noticed in a few I was reading

[Forum Administrator]

I'd really love to see what you come up with, John.

[josiesmom]

I'd venture a guess that it is more the mechanical means of the teeth ripping through skin and flesh and scraping against bones that keeps them clean. Of course in humans its been shown that saliva plays a significant role in keeping teeth clean, which is why many gums work to clean your teeth. It may be too that the high moisture content of meat encourages saliva to wash across the teeth and since there are no sugars to bind with, there is no plaque build up to start a tartar build up.

Cheers,
Kim