The range includes a water additive which received a Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) approval after being shown to deliver a reduction in calculus of at least 20% in two studies¹.
The other products in the range are a gum spray and a malt flavoured toothpaste.
Animalcare says each has been designed to support owner compliance through ease of use and accompanying educational materials.
The company has also launched a website for veterinary professionals and pet owners: https://dental.pet.
For owners, the site has information on the importance of dental health in pets and advice on establishing a dental care regime.
For veterinary professionals, resources include 'talk tracks' to start discussions with clients about dental care and tools to help them recognise signs of dental pain.
Animalcare Product Manager Eleanor Workman Wright said: “Despite research showing that at least 80% of dogs and 70% of cats are likely to develop periodontal disease by the age of three², dental care is still often neglected.
"While tooth-brushing is cited as the gold standard, it has to be used daily to achieve a significant degree of efficacy.
"This is often just not possible in the ‘real world’ and a more flexible approach can be helpful, with products such as water additives and gum sprays offering a practical, less time-consuming solution in some circumstances."
“Products should be grounded in science which is why we are delighted that the Plaqtiv+ Water Additive has just become the first European product of its type to earn approval from the VOHC.”
References
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Highly commendable and thanks for sharing, Arlo.
But, in the opinion of the veterinary dentists on here, is a 20% reduction in calculus likely to make any significant difference in the progression of periodontal disease? Even assuming that the product is used regularly from eruption of permanent teeth or after professional cleaning?
I always thought that the VOHC criteria for efficacy were set rather low: 20-25% effectiveness in most areas of veterinary prophylaxis wouldn't get a person very excited...
I’m going to try and access the VOHC submission to find out a bit more. The reduction in calculus is not the big picture. A consistent reduction in plaque on a daily basis is what would be useful. Plaque becomes pathogenic over time - not much time usually - whereby calculus is inert and forms more slowly on top of undisturbed plaque. In itself the significance of calculus is the rough surface that encourages more plaque to form, apart from being unsightly. My initial thoughts were that the aims are nothing new and unless the chemistry is novel I’m not overly impressed.
Having said that anything that adds to the armoury and engages the owner is worthwhile but nothing - absolutely nothing- compares to daily brushing.
A wee story. I didn’t brush my own dog’s teeth that diligently and every 6-9 months he accumulated enough calculus to make a dental procedure necessary. The last thing I did as a real vet was to clean his teeth. Since that date more than three years ago I’ve brushed his teeth daily and he still doesn’t need a dental procedure anytime soon. Although brushing is only the buccal surfaces the toothpaste seems to have enough of a calculus retarding effect to remove the calcium and other minerals from tye mouth and slow down calculus formation.
So the real story might be putting more resources into education of owners assisting them getting brushing going rather than some spray or additive that can’t really match the brush for effectiveness. It’s always easier to sell something that has a grand claim than take the time and effort to educate, motivate and assist an owner.
The bottom line always is that brushing is cheap and very effective and everything else isn’t. Tell that to owners.
The toothpaste is Virbac enzymatic. It’s been around since the late 1980’s
I spent some time today looking into this. The reference for VOHC is just the list of what a product requires to be evaluated. The VOHC does not list Plaqtiv and it's not on the Ani la are site either. The VOHC did list a product called Tropicare in 2021 which this might be with the following contents. Active Ingredients per ½ capful (5ml): Cetylpyridinium Chloride (4mg), Green Tea Extract (0.6mg), Zinc Gluconate (0.5mg) Inactive Ingredients: Citric Acid, Glycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Water.
If information is that hard to find with disingenuous references it almost looks like they don’t want you to know what’s in it.
Personally I like a company that introduces a “novel” product to the UK to be up front and transparent about it and ensure sales staff are fully briefed and able to answer the hard questions.
A company a few years back introduced a vet version of Arm and Hammer toothpaste. This contains sodium bicarbonate. Humans rinse and spit while dogs swallow their toothpaste. Had this potential overload of salts been checked? I asked and never got an answer and shortly after it seemed to disappear.
if you are potentially going to stock something I’d make sure that it has a real benefit for your patient and can explain what it does to the owner. They deserve nothing less from a vet professional
Hey Norman, good discussion! I don't think it's listed on the VOHC website, because their website is ancient :) They should have the products listed on a regular web page, but you see that they upload the list on a PDF, so I'd say they are just slow to add newly certified products.
About this comment:>> If information is that hard to find with disingenuous references it almost looks like they don’t want you to know what’s in it. I am not quite sure what is in the product, what attracted me to it is that it targets the removal of biofilm rather than trying to mask the problem - this is a very hot topic now and worth you and others looking into.Delighted to see the british firm animalcare recognising this as biofilm are still quite misunderstood.