The Epic Showdown – Dogs vs. Toothbrushes

	80% of dogs have periodontal disease by 2.5 years old. If left untreated, it can lead to life threatening health problems including heart, liver and kidney damage
	Plaque begins to develop within hours of brushing your pet’s teeth and in as little as three days, can convert to tartar
	Only 4% of pet owners brush their dogs teeth daily

Staggering, isn’t it?

Dogs’ teeth, not unlike human teeth, need to be brushed every day to prevent infections and more dangerous conditions such as periodontal disease. If a strong, consistent oral care regimen is maintained, your dog may even live up to 2-4 years longer because of it!

My dog hates ‘teeth time,’ what do I do?

Although nothing truly replaces brushing, there are a variety of products on sale today to help improve doggy dental care. You can go to most pet stores and buy toothpaste, toothbrushes, finger brushes, water additives, gels, foams, sprays, breath mints, breath strips, chews, bones and chew toys to try out with your dog. You could also read dog owner forums and blogs for out of the box tips and tricks, I Heart Dogs, FidoseofReality, Dogster, and Reddit are just a few. With anything new, it’s best to start out small and train your dog to adopt the new skill over time.

I’ve literally tried everything, what now?

If you consider yourself creative, you could come up with a new solution to help your dog and more like him/her. Arm & Hammer, one of the leading brands in oral care, makes many pet dental products and is searching for new ideas to develop and offer to dog owners around the world. The brand came to Quirky, the community invention platform, to launch the Doggy Dental Invention Challenge and work with everyday ideators and dog owners to invent a useful new doggy dental product that isn’t on the market today. Whether you have invention experience, or not, you can enter the challenge for a chance for your product to be made (and make a buck or two in the process).

It is estimated that sales of pet oral care products will outpace the overall pet market; the forecast is estimated to grow to nearly $1 billion by 2020. A focus on functional and value-added products are at the heart of innovation for items in this growing category. Consumers are willing to pay more than ever for pet products, but they are also more educated in terms of product benefits. Source: Packaged Facts. 

Click here to learn more about how to enter the Quirky and Arm & Hammer Doggy Dental Invention Challenge. Share your idea for a chance to win before May 18th, 2018.