You love your pet but hate those nasty teeth, those foul gums that awful breath. The brush can be at times too much fuss. Veterinarians say one of the most common reasons for kidney disease in dogs is bad teeth, but Plaque Attack claims it can help that. The infomercial says thousands of vets have used this formula to improve the oral health of nearly a million dogs and cats.
The makers say it works as Plaque Attack's own natural ingredients mix with saliva and coat the teeth and gums reducing harmful bacteria and loosening built up layers of plaque and tarter. It promises to be safe to spray, effective and easy to use. Four out of 5 dogs over the age of three will suffer from it. We caught up with our local Veterinarian Dr. John Bentley. He says most dogs have plaque because their teeth are never brushed and it's a serious health concern. "Even if all it's teeth fall out it can still eat and do fine. The problem is the plaque allows bacteria to enter the bloodstream and then it settles on the heart valves and from there it generally causes heart disease and kidney disease and lung disease," says Dr. Bentley.
Dental cleaning can be very pricey and may endanger your pets life. "We have an ultrasonic device that vibrates the little blunt metal pick and you just touch it to the plaque and it pops the tarter off, and gets the tooth real clean," says Dr. Bentley. "But because it's a dog u cant tell it hold still while I put this loud piece of metal on your mouth so they have to be put to sleep," says Dr. Bentley.
Dr. Bentley wanted to put it to the test on his dog Pearl. "You can see this kind of greenish brown stuff that's on the teeth. You can see a little bit on the front tooth starting to form right up near the gum line. Tarter that's mechanically bonded to the enamel so you can't get a tooth brush and brush it off," says Dr. Bentley. So following the instructions, he sprayed Pearl's mouth. "The applicator works very well, and it must not taste bad, she doesn't seem to react to it at all," says Dr. Bentley. He went on to spray her mouth twice a day for a month.
We checked back in for results. "I didn't see any improvement with the plaque at all," says Dr. Bentley.
In your opinion is this a deal or a dud? "It's a dud," says Dr. Bentley.
