Last updated October 13, 2026
If your dog won't accept a toothbrush, the options with trials behind them are a dental chew it actually chews, a water additive, a vet's dental diet and seaweed given every day. Products with the VOHC seal have passed a set trial standard. Pick one or two you can keep up daily, since all of them only work while you keep using them.
None of them removes tartar that has already hardened. If you can see brown crust at the gumline, the first step is a cleaning at your vet, and home care keeps the teeth clean afterward. Brushing is still the most effective method, and brushing every other day already gives clearly better results than brushing once a week.
What works instead of a toothbrush
| Option | What the trials show | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental chews | One chew a day for 4 weeks gave less plaque and tartar, and healthier gums, than no chew (Brown and McGenity, 2005) | Dogs that chew slowly | Gulpers, hard chews, extra calories |
| Water additives | Roughly half the plaque of untreated dogs after 30 days on freshly cleaned teeth (Gawor and colleagues, 2023) | Dogs that won't let you near the mouth | Only works if it's in every bowl |
| Dental diets | Some carry the VOHC seal | Dogs already eating a dry diet | Prescription diets need your vet |
| Seaweed bites or powder | About 38% less plaque and 20% less tartar after 90 days in small dogs given seaweed dental bites (Gawor and colleagues, 2018) | Dogs that eat whatever is in the bowl | Iodine, and the main dog trial was paid for by one maker |
| Dental wipes or a finger brush | We couldn't find a controlled trial in dogs | Small dogs that tolerate a finger | Needs some handling |
Each trial tested one product against nothing, so the figures can't be ranked against each other. Two options together, such as an additive in the water and a chew in the evening, cover the days one of them gets missed.
Every option slows new plaque on clean teeth
The Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) awards the dental seal you see on chews, water additives and diets. It doesn't test products itself. It reviews the maker's trials against a fixed protocol, and the protocol shows what home care can and can't do.
On day zero, a vet scales and polishes every dog's teeth so the plaque and tartar scores are zero. For at least 28 days, some dogs get the product and a control group eats the same dry food with no dental product. To earn the seal, the product needs at least 15% less plaque or tartar than the control group in each of two trials, and 20% on average.
So the seal tells you a product slows new build-up on a clean mouth. The trials don't test it on tartar that was already there. Hard tartar bonds to the tooth and runs under the gumline, and the American Veterinary Dental College says scaling an awake dog is inappropriate because the part below the gumline can't be cleaned without anesthesia. The 2026 WSAVA dental guidelines call anesthesia-free dentistry "ineffective at best and damaging at worst".
If your dog's teeth are already brown, book the vet cleaning first and start the routine the week after.
Pick a routine that fits your dog
Small dogs need the routine most. In O'Neill and colleagues' 2021 study of 22,333 dogs in UK vet practices, Toy Poodles had nearly four times the odds of a periodontal disease diagnosis compared with crossbreds, and the odds fell steadily as adult body weight went up. A toy breed on a no-brush routine should still have its teeth checked at every vet visit.
A dog that swallows chews whole gets nothing from them, since chews clean by scraping as the dog bites down. Overweight dogs are better off with an additive or a powder on food, because a daily chew adds calories. Ask your vet before seaweed if your dog has a thyroid condition or takes thyroid medication, and before any dental diet or chew if your dog eats a prescription or kidney diet.
Seaweed powders and bites
Seaweed comes as a powder you sprinkle on food or as a treat. The best-known trial is Gawor and colleagues' 2018 study in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. Sixty small-breed dogs had their teeth cleaned under anesthesia, then got dental bites containing Ascophyllum nodosum, a brown seaweed, or a placebo bite for 90 days. The seaweed group ended with about 38% less plaque, 20% less tartar and 46% lower breath sulfur scores. The overall oral health score wasn't statistically different. The trial was funded by the maker of the product tested, and only small breeds took part.
A 2023 review by two of the same authors, Gawor and Jank, says the effect is on new build-up, so seaweed fits best after a professional cleaning. The only trial it found on problems already present was in cats, and it showed no benefit.
Caniclean is our seaweed powder. You sprinkle it on your dog's food, and it helps reduce plaque and new tartar. It won't lift tartar that is already hard, and it isn't VOHC-accepted. Seaweed contains iodine, so check with your vet first if your dog has a thyroid condition.
A customer with a 15-year-old dog wrote in a verified review on May 27, 2024, "He's not a fan of brushing, so Caniclean has been an amazing find. It's so easy to give it to him by sprinkling on his food."
Some brushing beats none
If your dog will let you touch its teeth at all, a partial routine counts. Harvey and colleagues (2015) brushed beagles' teeth daily, every other day, weekly or every other week. Brushing daily or every other day both gave clearly better results than weekly brushing, so missing the odd night doesn't cancel the benefit.
Stopping undoes it quickly. When Enlund and colleagues (2024) brushed 22 beagles daily for two weeks, plaque and gum scores improved within the first week. Two weeks after brushing stopped, both were back where they started. The dogs' stress scores also fell over those two weeks, so handling tends to get easier with practice.
A low-stress start is a finger wrapped in gauze or a dental wipe, with a dab of dog toothpaste. Lift the lip and rub the outside of the back teeth for a few seconds, then stop before your dog objects. Plaque lifts off with a wipe while it's still soft. Our guide to getting plaque off your dog's teeth covers what to do once it has built up.
What to skip
Cooked bones, dense leg bones such as beef shin or femur, antlers, hooves and hard nylon chews break teeth, usually the big chewing teeth at the back. A useful rule is that if you can't dent a chew with your thumbnail, it is hard enough to fracture a tooth. Cooked bones also splinter.
Soft raw bones are a different case. Raw feeders give non-weight-bearing bones such as chicken wings and necks, and in two small studies of Beagles a daily piece of beef bone removed most of the visible tartar within two weeks (Marx and colleagues, 2016; Pinto and colleagues, 2020). Pick a size your dog has to chew rather than swallow, stay with it while it eats, and handle raw chicken as you would in your kitchen.
Human toothpaste isn't safe. The Merck Veterinary Manual lists toothpastes among the products that can contain xylitol, which can cause a dangerous drop in blood sugar in dogs and, less often, liver damage. Baking soda isn't a substitute either, so stick to toothpaste made for dogs.
Coconut oil is a popular home remedy, but we couldn't find a controlled trial showing it reduces plaque or tartar in dogs. It's also high in fat. If your dog likes it as a treat, that's fine in small amounts, but don't count it as dental care.
Scraping tartar at home and anesthesia-free cleanings only reach what you can see. The tartar under the gumline stays, and a scraper can cut the gums.
When home care isn't enough
See your vet if you notice any of these.
- Brown or yellow crust at the gumline that doesn't wipe off
- Red, swollen or bleeding gums
- Bad breath that doesn't improve after a few weeks of daily care
- A loose, broken or discolored tooth
- Chewing on one side, dropping food or pawing at the mouth
- Swelling on the face or under an eye
Red gums along the tooth edge are the first stage, gingivitis, and it is the stage a cleaning and daily home care can still turn around. Our guide to gingivitis and periodontitis in dogs explains what the vet checks and how the stages differ.
Questions owners ask
What removes plaque off dogs' teeth?
Fresh plaque is soft and comes off with a brush, a finger wipe or the scraping action of a chew. Once it hardens into tartar, only a vet cleaning removes it.
What is the best natural way to clean dogs' teeth?
Brushing with a dog toothpaste, even every other day. Without a brush, a chew your dog chews properly, a water additive or seaweed given daily has trial evidence for slowing new plaque.
How do you clean a dog's teeth if they won't let you brush them?
Use options that need no handling, such as a water additive, a dental diet or a seaweed powder on food. Start right after a vet cleaning, and try a few seconds with a finger wipe on calm days.
What can I do instead of brushing my dog's teeth?
Dental chews, water additives, dental diets and seaweed all slow new plaque in trials. None removes existing tartar, so pair them with regular vet checks.
References
- Brown WY, McGenity P. Effective periodontal disease control using dental hygiene chews. J Vet Dent. 2005;22(1), 16-19.
- Enlund KB, Rahunen N, Thelander S, Olsén L. Evaluation of a thiol-detection test to assess tooth brushing efficacy in dogs. J Vet Dent. 2024;41(3), 183-191.
- Gawor J, Jank M, Jodkowska K, Klim E, Svensson UK. Effects of edible treats containing Ascophyllum nodosum on the oral health of dogs. Front Vet Sci. 2018;5, 168.
- Gawor J, Jank M. Ascophyllum nodosum as a nutrient supporting oral health in dogs and cats, a review. Pol J Vet Sci. 2023;26(3), 511-520.
- Gawor JP, Ziemann D, Nicolas CS. A water additive with pomegranate can reduce dental plaque and calculus accumulation in dogs. Front Vet Sci. 2023;10, 1241197.
- Harvey C, Serfilippi L, Barnvos D. Effect of frequency of brushing teeth on plaque and calculus accumulation, and gingivitis in dogs. J Vet Dent. 2015;32(1), 16-21.
- Marx FR, Machado GS, Pezzali JG, et al. Raw beef bones as chewing items to reduce dental calculus in Beagle dogs. Aust Vet J. 2016;94(1-2), 18-23.
- Niemiec B, Gawor J, Nemec A, et al. World Small Animal Veterinary Association global dental guidelines. J Small Anim Pract. 2026. doi:10.1111/jsap.70057.
- O'Neill DG, Mitchell CE, Humphrey J, Church DB, Brodbelt DC, Pegram C. Epidemiology of periodontal disease in dogs in the UK primary-care veterinary setting. J Small Anim Pract. 2021;62(12), 1051-1061.
- American Veterinary Dental College. Position statement on companion animal dental scaling without anesthesia. avdc.org.
- Merck Veterinary Manual. Xylitol toxicosis in dogs. Updated June 2025. merckvetmanual.com.
- Pinto CFD, Lehr W, Pignone VN, Chain CP, Trevizan L. Evaluation of teeth injuries in Beagle dogs caused by autoclaved beef bones used as a chewing item to remove dental calculus. PLoS One. 2020;15(2), e0228146.
- Veterinary Oral Health Council. Trial protocol requirements, vohc.org.