Raw Feeding - Bones and Dental Health

Bones and Dental Health

Some proponents of raw diet claim noticeable benefit to the dental hygiene of pets who eat raw bones, while others believe that ground bone should be used instead, to prevent the possibility for intestinal puncturing and dental fractures. The abrasion between bone and teeth when chewing is believed to scrape off dental plaque, and the chewing of bones and ligaments considered to provide numerous other health benefits.

The use of large beef bone or weight-bearing bones (leg bones, hooves, etc.) creates a risk of dental fractures, Cooked bones tend to splinter more. However, it is advisable that owners watch their dog or stay close by whilst they are eating raw bones, just in case.

Wolf care managers questioned on the topic of feeding bones identified the presence of animal hide with hair as offering some protection from intestinal perforation in the wild. An analysis of the skulls of African wild dogs showed that the natural diet of wild carnivores does not prevent them from suffering the same oral disease as their domestic counterpart {cite journal| title = Oral and Dental Conditions in Adult African Wild Dog Skulls: A preliminary report, although other studies have had results that claim otherwise. Raw diet proponents note that the same risks of obstruction, puncturing, and dental fractures are present in dog chews, with little evidence indicating that this is a serious problem particular to raw diets with bones. Some veterinarians state that chewing raw bone is an inadequate substitute for regular dental cleaning and tooth brushing.