The best way to clean your dog's teeth at home is to brush them with a soft brush and a toothpaste made for dogs. Daily is ideal. Three times a week keeps healthy gums healthy, while once a week isn't enough. Teach your dog to accept it over a week or two, with short sessions and treats.
Dental chews, water additives, dental diets and seaweed powders can all help, but as extras next to the brush, or as the fallback when brushing won't happen. No home method removes tartar that has already hardened or cleans under the gum line. Those need your vet, and so does a loose tooth.
Every method, ranked by its evidence
| Method | What the evidence says | Your time a day | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brushing with dog toothpaste | The best-tested method, and it beat both a daily chew and a dental diet when all three were tried in the same dogs (Allan and colleagues, 2019) | A minute or two once your dog is used to it | Any dog that lets you handle its mouth |
| Dental chew with the VOHC seal | Less plaque and tartar than no chew (Brown and McGenity, 2005), and close to brushing every other day on teeth that were already coated (Gawor and colleagues, 2025) | None beyond handing it over | Dogs that chew slowly. Not gulpers, and it adds calories |
| Dental diet with the VOHC seal | No better than a daily chew when the two were tested side by side (Allan and colleagues, 2019) | None, it replaces the usual food | Dogs already on dry food. Prescription diets go through your vet |
| Water additive | Slows new plaque if you start it right after a cleaning (Gawor and colleagues, 2023), but did little on its own for coated teeth (Gawor and colleagues, 2025) | Seconds at each refill | Dogs that resist any handling of the mouth |
| Seaweed powder or bites | Less new plaque and tartar in small dogs after a vet cleaning, in one trial paid for by the maker (Gawor and colleagues, 2018) | Seconds at mealtime | Dogs that eat whatever is in the bowl |
| Raw bones, soft and non-weight-bearing | Scraped off most of the visible tartar in two short Beagle studies (Marx and colleagues, 2016, and Pinto and colleagues, 2020) | Supervised chewing time | Dogs that chew rather than gulp. Never cooked bones or dense leg bones such as beef shin |
| Wipes, finger brush or gauze | No controlled trial in dogs that we could find | About a minute | Small mouths, and as a first step toward a brush |
| Coconut oil, baking soda | No dental trial in dogs | Not worth any | None. Skip them |
Only two studies put methods against each other in the same dogs, and brushing came out on top or level in both. Every other row rests on a single trial with its own scoring, so read each one as "this works" rather than as a place in a league table.
If brushing isn't going to be your main tool, the choice usually comes down to a chew, something in the water bowl or a powder on food. The three-way comparison of powders, chews and water additives puts them side by side and says which kind of dog each one suits.
Whichever you pick, look for the VOHC seal on the pack. The Veterinary Oral Health Council gives it when the maker's trials show slower build-up on teeth that started clean. That isn't the same as clearing old tartar, and our look at whether dental chews work explains how a product earns the seal.
Coconut oil and baking soda turn up in most homemade dog toothpaste recipes. A little plain coconut oil can make the brush more welcome, but it's there for the taste, and the brushing does the cleaning.
Brushing comes first
A tooth that has just been brushed starts gathering plaque again within a day, and that film can begin to harden within a few days. So it's the gaps between brushes that decide how clean the teeth stay.
In the beagle trials behind the chart below, brushing three days a week was enough to stop healthy gums getting worse, while gums that were already inflamed only recovered with daily brushing (Tromp and colleagues, 1986).
Give the small front teeth their turn as well as the big back ones. In a study of 160 racing greyhounds, the front teeth were the part of the mouth that didn't improve with brushing (Rooney and colleagues, 2021).
Most of the work is getting your dog to accept the brush at all. That takes a week or two of short daily steps, starting with a finger and a taste of paste before the brush goes in. Our step-by-step brushing guide covers the brushing angle, a plan for a nervous dog, and why the upper back teeth get the most time.
Use a toothpaste made for dogs, because your dog will swallow every bit of it. Human toothpaste can contain xylitol, a sweetener that is dangerous to dogs. The paste matters less than the brushing, and a dog toothpaste mainly earns its place by tasting good to a dog. Our guide to why human toothpaste isn't safe for dogs explains what to check on the label and what to do if your dog has already eaten some.
Baking soda is the other swap people try, and it's a poor one. A dog can't spit it out, it carries a lot of sodium for a dog's size, and nobody has shown that it cleans a dog's teeth. Our article on whether baking soda is safe for your dog's teeth does the sums and says what to do if your dog got into the box.
If yellow teeth are what bother you, most of that color is build-up on the tooth rather than the tooth itself, so brushing and a vet cleaning are what whiten them. Our guide to whitening your dog's teeth safely has a shade table for telling the two apart, and explains why peroxide whiteners stay out of a dog's mouth.
A vet cleaning gets the teeth back to clean, but the gums only stay healthy if daily care follows. Our guide to keeping teeth clean after a dental cleaning covers the first days at home and when you can start brushing again, which is sooner after a plain cleaning than after extractions.
When brushing doesn't happen
Most owners don't manage daily brushing. In a survey of nearly 60,000 Swedish dog owners, fewer than 4% brushed daily and about half never brushed at all (Enlund and colleagues, 2020). Owners of dogs treated for periodontitis named uncooperative dogs and trouble keeping a routine among their challenges (Svärd and Enlund, 2023).
So plan for the days you miss, with brushing on most days and one option that needs no handling for the rest. Missing the odd day matters far less than skipping whole weeks. In a beagle trial by Harvey and colleagues (2015), brushing every other day still kept the teeth clearly cleaner than weekly brushing.
Which fallback to lean on depends on the dog. A dog that bolts its chews whole gets little from them, a dog carrying extra weight doesn't need the calories, and a dog on a kidney diet needs the vet's go-ahead before anything changes. We work through those cases one by one, and the remedies to skip, in how to clean dog teeth without brushing.
For the days the brush stays in the drawer, a seaweed powder on food needs no handling at all. Caniclean is ours. Like the other add-ons, it slows new build-up rather than removing tartar that has set. It isn't VOHC-accepted. Because seaweed contains iodine, a dog with a thyroid condition, or one on thyroid medication, should get the vet's OK before it starts.
Soft plaque that has already built up still comes off at home, and a quick rub with gauze tells you whether it's plaque or tartar. What to try first, and the point where it becomes a job for the vet, are in our plaque removal guide.
What no home method can do
Home care works on the crown, the part of the tooth you can see. Below the gum line it can't reach tartar in a pocket around the root, which the American Veterinary Medical Association names as where most dental disease occurs. Scraping the teeth of an awake dog doesn't get there either, and the American Veterinary Dental College is against it for that reason. Our page on anesthesia-free dental cleaning explains what that kind of cleaning leaves behind.
Gingivitis, red gums with no loss of the tissue holding the tooth, is the stage that can still be reversed. Once periodontitis has destroyed the bone around a root, that bone doesn't grow back, and a tooth that moves when touched is a sign of that loss. Brushing still helps the rest of the mouth, but it won't save that tooth.
In the 2025 trial on coated teeth, no routine brought the mouth back to normal, and the authors still recommend a professional cleaning wherever the dog's health allows it (Gawor and colleagues, 2025). An ultrasonic toothbrush held on each tooth for six minutes in a single session left no visible reduction in tartar in a 2026 pilot study (Enlund and colleagues).
If your dog's teeth already have brown crust, book the vet cleaning first and start brushing once the mouth has healed. What each condition looks like, and which ones home care can't help, is set out in our overview of dental disease in dogs.
When to see your vet
Even with a good routine, have your vet look at your dog's teeth and gums at least once a year, as the American Veterinary Medical Association advises. Go sooner if you notice any of these.
- Bad breath that stays bad after a few weeks of daily care
- Tartar, or teeth that look discolored
- A loose or broken tooth
- Red, swollen or bleeding gums
- Chewing oddly, drooling or dropping food
- Eating less, or pawing at the mouth
- Swelling around the mouth or under an eye
Take care when you look, because a dog with a painful mouth may bite.
Older dogs often need the order turned around, with the vet first and the brush after. Gum disease is common in dogs over 12, and brushing gums that are already sore is painful, which can turn a dog against the brush. Our guide to dental care for senior dogs at home sets out how to start once any pain is under control.
Questions owners ask
Which home method should I start with?
Brushing, if your dog will let you near its mouth, even if you only manage most days. If it won't, pick one option that needs no handling, such as something in the water bowl or a powder on the food, and keep it up every day.
What do dog groomers use to clean teeth?
A groomer's tooth brushing uses the same soft brush and dog toothpaste you can use at home. Scraping tartar off an awake dog only cleans the part you can see, so it isn't a substitute for a vet cleaning.
References
- Allan RM, Adams VJ, Johnston NW. Prospective randomised blinded clinical trial assessing effectiveness of three dental plaque control methods in dogs. J Small Anim Pract. 2019;60(4), 212-217.
- Brown WY, McGenity P. Effective periodontal disease control using dental hygiene chews. J Vet Dent. 2005;22(1), 16-19.
- Enlund KB, Brunius C, Hanson J, et al. Dental home care in dogs, a questionnaire study among Swedish dog owners, veterinarians and veterinary nurses. BMC Vet Res. 2020;16, 90.
- Enlund KB, Andersson G, Dolfei L, et al. A pilot study on the novel use of an ultrasonic toothbrush in dogs. Acta Vet Scand. 2026;68, 15.
- 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 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.
- Gawor J, Jank M, Harvey CE, Nicolas CS. Effectiveness of dental homecare protocols in unscaled dogs. J Vet Dent. 2025;42(3), 176-181.
- 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.
- 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.
- Rooney NJ, Wonham KL, McIndoe KS, et al. Weekly and daily tooth brushing by care staff reduces gingivitis and calculus in racing greyhounds. Animals. 2021;11(7), 1869.
- Svärd J, Enlund KB. Adherence to dental home care in dogs with periodontitis, a post-treatment survey. Acta Vet Scand. 2023;65, 59.
- Tromp JA, Jansen J, Pilot T. Gingival health and frequency of tooth brushing in the beagle dog model. J Clin Periodontol. 1986;13(2), 164-168.
- Tromp JA, van Rijn LJ, Jansen J. Experimental gingivitis and frequency of tooth brushing in the beagle dog model. J Clin Periodontol. 1986;13(3), 190-194.
- American Veterinary Dental College. Position statement on companion animal dental scaling without anesthesia. https://avdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/AVDC-pos-stmts/Dental_Scaling_Without_Anesthesia.pdf
- American Veterinary Dental College. Nomenclature (periodontal disease stages). https://avdc.org/avdc-nomenclature/
- American Veterinary Medical Association. Pet dental care. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/pet-dental-care
- Merck Veterinary Manual. Xylitol toxicosis in dogs. Updated June 2025. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/toxicology/food-hazards/xylitol-toxicosis-in-dogs
- 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.
- Veterinary Oral Health Council. Trial protocol requirements. https://vohc.org/trial-protocol-requirements/