Dental Health and Pet Food

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Diet and Dental Health

Food For Thought™ Technical Bulletin No. 30R
Innovative Research in Dog and Cat Nutrition™

: :	Why Is Dental Health Important To Pets?
: :	Can A Dental Diet Help?
: :	Dental Diet Study
: :	Application

Why Is Dental Health Important To Pets?
ams research is advancing antioxidant nutrients for cats and dogs. Teeth are important players in the digestive process. As they grind up food, debris accumulates on the tooth surface and attracts bacteria. This accumulation of debris and bacteria is called plaque. Plaque is easily removed from teeth by brushing - when teeth are brushed frequently.

If the plaque isn't brushed away, mineral deposits cause it to harden on the teeth. This is called tartar. Dark yellow or brown accumulations on the teeth are indicators of tartar, which is difficult to remove.

If left untreated, plaque can lead to damage of the gums (gingivitis) or the jawbones and teeth (periodontitis).

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Can A Dental Diet Help?
Keeping a pet's teeth and gums healthy involves regular brushing and professional cleaning. Unfortunately, many owners have problems brushing their dog or cat's teeth on a regular basis.

Special diets can also help reduce tartar buildup between cleanings. Most dental diets are formulated with a tough kibble that is texturized to scrape off some plaque.

Our dental technology uses a patent-pending manufacturing process that enables dry food kibbles to control tartar buildup. This process does not affect the nutrient content of the food or the size of the kibble.

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Dental Diet Study
ams researchers have looked at the effects of feeding dry diets with our dental technology in dogs and cats. In each of these studies, two groups of animals were fed our formula, either with (control) or without our dental technology.

All animals had their teeth thoroughly cleaned
After 28 days of feeding one diet, their teeth were examined for tartar
All animals then received another thorough cleaning
Then diets were switched for another feeding period

In dogs, feeding the diets with our dental technology reduced tartar accumulation as much as 50% compared with dogs fed the control diet.

In cats, feeding the diets with our dental technology reduced tartar buildup as much as 40% compared with cats fed the control diets.

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Application
All of our dry adult dog and cat foods and selected dry Eukanuba Veterinary Diets formulas contain our dental technology to help reduced tartar buildup with every meal

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